The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, JULY 12.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 207, 12 July 1878, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, JULY 12.

. - . p . —_— A special meeting of the -Borough Council will be held this evening, to consider a matter of a most important nature, viz., the vexed question of the by-laws, and their alleged non-receipt by the Colonial Secretary. Certain correspondence was read at the ordinary meeting held on Wednesday as the matter is one demanding the strictest investigation, its consideration was rightly deferred to a special meeting. The following is the correspondence '■ referred to :— • • [telegram.] " Government Buildings, - « July 2, 1878. " H. G. Watkins, Esq. " Your telegram of 20th ult. states you were writing particulars by post respecting by-laws. No such letter explaining matters has yet reached this office, although many mails have arrived from South. Letter by mail. " G. S. Cooper," " Colonial Secretary's Office, "Wellington, 2nd July, 1878. "Sir,—On the 18th ultimo, the Colonial Secretary brought to your notice, by telegraph, the report of the proceedings of the Borough Council of of Akaroa. of the 12th ultimo, in which blame was imputed to this Department by Councillor Bridge for not having acknowledged the receipt of certain bylaws supposed to have been sent to the Colonial Secretary.

" In the telegram of the 18th ultimo, above referred to, your Worship was informed that no such by-laws had been received, and that not one letter or telegram on the subject had ever reached this office.

" Your Worship replied by giving the date of the transmission of the by-laws, and stated that you were writing particulars. As this telegram was dated the 20th June, and many mails have arrived from the South without any such explanatory letter having been received, I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to draw your attention to the matter, and to request you to be so good as to afford him all the infrrmation in jour power respecting the transmission of the bylaws, in order that a full enquiry may be instituted with as little delay as possible. " I have the honor to be, Sir, " Your mcst obedient servant, " G. S. Cooper. " His Worship the Mayor, Akaroa." [telegram.] , " Government Buildings, " July 4, 1878. " H. G. Watkins, Esq. "Town Clerk's letter received, with by-laws, but not a word of explanation or apology for the virulent abuse which has been heaped upon the Government. Your Worship telegraphed on 20th June that the by-laws were sent on 14th May, 1877. Town Clerk now says that they were understood to have been sent some time ago by the late Mayor, but of this the Council have no certainty; and this, after Councillor Bridge's motion having been passed, succeeded by an unique leader in the local print, a. copy of which was specially addressed to me from the newspaper office. " G. S. Cooper." Now the first thing that must strike any one on reading these letters is, that the correspondence is incomplete Where is the telegram of the 18th June, referred to in the Colonial Secretary's letter of the 2nd of July 1 Again, this telegram appears to have been answered by the Mayor on the 20th June. Since then two meetings of the Council have been held, and yet neither telegram nor reply has been laid before them. In his telegram of the 4th July, the Under Secretary says :—" Your Clerk now says they were understood to be sent some time ago by the late Mayor, but of this the Council have no certain knowledge." No letter containing such words has been read at a meeting of the Council.

Further on, reference is made to "an unique leader ", which appeared in our columns. We should hope it was " unique." We hope the circumstances producing. it are " unique," or unparalleled. If a journalist is not to take the official records of a public body, such as the Akaroa Borough Council for facts, we are at a loss to know where he is to look for reliable information. On the supposition that these words were fact and not fiction, we wrote the " unique " leader. If we have been misled, it has. been in common with two Mayors, two Councils, and the whole public of Akaroa, who have accepted the despatch of the by-laws as an accomplished fact.

We have no wisli to prejudice the merits of the case, which has now assumed a painful character, and is at present sub judice ; but in the interests of truth, in the interests of public justice, and in justification of our own action, we state unhesitatingly that the case demands the most searching investigation, and if the neglect be proved to have been that of the Council, they are bound to take such steps as to render any such " mistake " an impossibility for the future.