ASHBURTON CALEDONIAN SOCIETY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 747, 23 January 1888, Page 2

ASHBURTON CALEDONIAN SOCIETY.

The a.nual general meeting of members of the Aahbnrton Caledonian Society waa held on Saturday. Thera waa a fcir attendance, and Mr C. Reld wae voted to tbe chair,

REFORT The Direotora* report was read as follows ; —

In laying before you the ninth annnal report and balance-sheet we have th ? pleasure of stating that the y«ar now ended has been a successful ono, inasmuch as tbe Society will ent<>r the Ineo-.uin i finanoial y.ir £20 m a better position thin Hb predecessor, and the membership has inoreaaed from 140 I >. 1836 to over 160 In 1887 — tho latter we attribute to. tha popularity of the lagleside meetings. — Ths reproduction of the •' Rob Roy " play resulted m a profit to the Soolety <>f »b:>ut £10. — Tbe Ingk'sideawere an unparalleled success, but we wonld reoommend to ou; auccesaors that a charge should somehow be made for refreshments, and ttiue lessen the expense theae meetings are to the Society, and also lighten the burden of those few members who so generously oorne forward m supplying the refreshments* — The annual oonoert and ball was held on Bhow Night m October, and wvs about the most creditable one tbat haa ye: been produced. The hall was crowded to overflowing, and the Soolety profited to the extent of about £37.— Tbe Society's annual sporta were held, as heretofore, on Boxing Day, and were, notwithstanding the oheap railway exoursion to Christohurob on the samo day, exoellently well Attended, but resulted m a loss at usual, 'i this time to about £16. We would strongly advise tbe Incoming Direotora, when the time comes, to apply to the Railway Department that next Boxing Day aoh j ap exoursion should be laid on from Ohristohoroh to Aahburton. The balance-sheet showed a debit at the bank of £1 9i 6d. There were alao outstanding liabilities to the extent of £57 13 1 3d, but against thia amount there waa £20 to oome In for members tloiieu. as yet unpaid, but whloh was considered good. The report and balance-sheet were adopted. REOISTBATION. Mr Kneen asVed if anything had been done m the way of registering the Society. The Chairman aald that he had Interviewed Mr Stitt who had promised to bave the matter attended to the firat time tbat he was ln the town. OFFICERS The eleotion of offioera was then prooeeded with. The following were elected : — President, Mr D. McLean. Vice-Presidents, Messrs W. H. Kneen and W. J Steward. Mr Patterson proposed Mr J, O. Dun oin for the office of Secretary. Mr W. Anderson asked if something 1 o^uld not be done ln the way of getting one of the members of the Soolety to do ■■ the oterioat work gratuitously. In the present state of the finances he did not think they could well afford to keep a paid Secretary. The Chairman, Mr Reid, said he had been spoken to on this matter, and oonaiderlng the state the Soolety was m. Ho was willing to offer his services. If th>y were accepted, he would do all he oould to make the Society a suooeas. It was 1 certainly not a large salary they were now paying the Secretary, but if It ware saved It would go towards reducing the overdraft It would now be neoeseary to arrange for an overdraft of £59, aa there was no oertaloty of the £20, outstanding members' subscriptions, oomlog ln. Mr Lamb asked what amount of salary the Secretary got. The C lafrman aald that the Seoretary wai paid 5 per oent on the grosa prooeeda. Tdo Secrete -y aald tbat the percentage came to £11 13s 6d. Mr Anderson propoaed Mr Reld as Seoretary. Mr Lamb seconded the nomination^ Mr Patterson thought that If they conld j not maintain a paid Seoretary it waa about time they wound the Soolety up, An unpaid man would not work so well, nor oould they expect bim to do ao, oa a m»n who was remunerated for hia services. Ha might alao inform the meeting that a number of members would leave the Sco'ety if Mr Reld beoame the Saoretary. Mr Elston advocated saving all they oould, bot stilt he thought it would be bad polioy to get theii olerloal work done by an unpaid man.

, Mr Reld did not wish to blow his own t trumpet, bnt be had beon Seoretary of the Society onoe before. They started tbe year with an overdraft of £30, but when 1 he left office they bad £9 to thetr credit —so muoh for Mr Patterson's flittering compliment. He had nothing to gain , In undertaking the Secretaryship ; he offered to do the work, simply through | love of the Society. He would only take 1 the work for one year to get the Soolety i ont of the difficulty it was getting into t deeper every year. He would leave the j matter entirely m their hands and lm- ( partially accept their deoiaioo. j. Mr MoKenzle approred of payment to the Seoretary, but ho did not think the 8 Sroiety was now ln a position to continue 1 such payment. Although Mr Beid bad had differences with some of the members ] he thought auoh matters should be alloaed to drop, and he deprecated Mr Patterson's remarks. 1 Mr Patterson denied having soted m ' the spirit Mr McKenzte aoemed to anppose I He bad only stated, and he oould prove r lt, that if Mr Beid became Seoretary i many members wonld leave the Society. r Mr Lamb did not think the affairs of i tbe Seoretaty wonld Buffer at the hands of Mr Reid, who was an emhueiaatio * member. I Mr Cnthbertson aald that either of the nominees would make a good beoretary, i bnt be thought it would be unfair to j txpeCt the work to be dove without aaiary. Mr Duncan's pnaitlon gave him great facilities for transacting the Society's buaineaa, and, m addition, he was moat j euergetio m looking after the Seolety's interests. There was no doubt aa to the | Chairman's ability, bnt his business kept him further away from the publio, so tbat 1 he bad not the name advantages that Mr Duncan ponaeaaed. Thore waa not only a great deal of work ln connection with the office of Seoretary bnt there waa also a large amount of responsibility, and ha thought It waa unfair to axpeot the work to be done wltout remuneration. Mr Duncan said that he was sorry to see any animosity In the Soolety. He bad served live years and had made np his mind to withdraw, but on acoount of certain rumors which he bad heard he had determined to seek re-election for another year. The Chairman had referred to his having wiped off an overdraft of £30, but he did not mention tbat tbe dobt whloh the Sooletly waa now faolng had been Incurred through tbe production of " Bob Boy," and would not ocour again. For tbe amount of work requiring to be done, and the time that was taken up the Secretary's salary was no salary at all. It was very good of Mr Reld to offVr to do the work free, but he (Mr Duncan) thought that there was aome other motive. However, he waa quite willing to give way if hia atandlng againat Mr Keid would oauae any dUsenalon. beoause he had the k threat of the Soolety al> hoalt. The Society waa Inore.**ing In popularity, and' he would be sorry if any dlaseneim am ing tbe mr Habere were to arise If tlHere was any , aeotion of the Soolety against him he hoped they w-uld say so and he would : withdraw. j Mr«Ltmb aald that porßonVly it would ' not m the leaai affjbt bjm which of the 1 two candidates was elected . Mr Reld wished to reply to some of the re- j marks of Mr Outhbertson, who had referred i In fin tor log terms to Mr Daaotn's energy <

iv geiting m subacrlptfons. He (Mr. Reid) held a diffrmt r pinion, aa there w<*a £20 outstanding at the present time. When he (Mr Reid) left the Seoretary. ship there was not a Blngle pound re|tm(ning uncollected. I A member aaid that it waa not Mr Duncan's fault that all the subscriptions had not been oolleoted. Tiokets wero Btjpplled to the country Directors to sell, and some of then had not yet accounted for all the money they had received. Mr Duuoan said that although p-<rh.Ap& ho had not been ao e'iergeUo as he miyht, still tha hirdoeaa of the times waa tha i chief cause why all the subscriptions had not b oa got m. A ballot for the eleotion of Secretary waa then proceeded with, Mesara Oa h bettaon ao£ W. Craighead belug appointed scrutineers. Tha reaulf was as follows :— Duncan, 9 ; Reid, 4. The office of Treasurer was the next to be filled. Several gentlemen were pro* posed but all deolined. The Seoratary then said that he felt osrtain a section of the Soolety bad a «■ dead set " against him. Notwithstanding that they had done bim the honor to elect h«m Secretary he would stand out if It was desired. Several members : No, no. The Chairman aaid that It ill became Mr Dudcid, seeing that he bad had auoh a sweeping majority, to say there was a spirit of hostility to him. The Seoretary said that perhaps he might be over sensitive. Mr Elston aaid that he had deolined the Trcasureehlp beoauae he thought there were members better fitted for the position than he waa. The Chairman said that If anyone had a right to ooooplaia it was himself, and he waa surprised at tha charge made by the Secretary. Tbe Seoretary said that the absence of spirit shown led him to think there wae something at the bottom and that it might he better if be stood aside for a year. Mr Reid bad t_ade a generous cffcr, but, aa he bad said before, he thought that there wa« something behind it. , Mr McGregor thought that the Secretary was out of order io speaking He was a paid Seoretary and nut a member of the Society Tne Seoretary aald that he had spoken beoauae be did not like belug m the way, He might have been out of order. The Chairmau said that tne Seoretary waa a Director of the Society, Mr MoKenzie asked how it waa the Seoretary had been made a Director lf be was not a member. Mr Oothbertson presumed the Seoretary waa a mamber. The Chairman said the Seoretary was not a member ; he had Blot paid ai.y sob oription for the last two or three years. The Seoretary said that it would be ridiculous for a paid Seoretary to pay a aubacrlptlon. If it was required that he should pay 10j 6d, however, he would do ao. After some discussion of an irregular nature the matter dropped. Mr Elston ultimately agreed ta aooept the office of Treasurer, and he was accordingly eleoted The further eleotion of officers wa* then proceeded with, and resulted as follows:— Patrons : Messrs W. 0, Walker, M.H.R,, M. Stitt, J. Jackaon and Hon J. MoLean. Director*: Methven— Mesars J. Jackson aad Donald Oameton ; Lao riaton— Measr b J, Devery and D. Brick ; Alford Forest— Mr H. Knight ; Weaterfield— Mr D. Oliver; Tinwald— Mr M. Soott; Aahburton Forks— -Mesars J. W. Oliver, W. Sutherland and R. Patterson ; Willowby —Mr H. Collen; Longbeach— Mr G, Gllmonr ; Wakanui— Meaara Jaa Brown, John Cochrane, P. Innes P Oha mers, O. Lamb and 0. Hogg ; Kyie-Mr J. Lambie ; Beafield— Mr M. Broce ; Rakala —Mr W. L, Allan; Chertsey— Mesara W. Straohanandß Campbell; Rangitata— Mr J Ooaksrie ; Winob more— Meaara M. Stitt and R Miller; Allemon— Mesars D. Williamson, J. Taoker aud W. Craighead : Town Direotora— Maeers J L. Brown, W Anderaon, R. McUweu, T. Bullock, G. Kidd, T. Quill, D. Thomai, J. Sim, T. *«'_ y, J. cseaiy, E. J Paul, Ebtoa, iii»ee,, Dunn, McKen_ie, Moltae, Outhoertaon, Elliott, McGregor and B-iity. Auditors : Mesars Minnls and Shury, UATB MONEY. It was deoided to refund gate money paid for admittance to the sports, by two members. S_OBTB GBOrjJKD. Mr Porter wrote making an offsr foi tne use of tbe sports ground. The matter was referred to a subcommittee consisting of Messrs Craighead, Kneen and Reld. PAYMENTS. Accounts were passed for payment, some other business was transacted, and the meeting adjourned.