Mr. Cramond's meeting.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 54, 22 July 1875, Page 6

Mr. Cramond's meeting.

• :: . . Recording to announcement .made ; at the: nomination", at) noon, Mr Cramond had a meeting' itf' Sfc i Johns .Hall/ ai| o'clock, oh Saturday ; evening; i There/ was la-iiare-e att^hdancey* nnd i shortly after; 8 o'clock i Councillor ".Kilgour 'Was called to the chair. '. ..The Chairman having briefly seated the object of the meeting, Mr Cramond read the following address :— GBNTLB"^Ek-- i I have no-doubt many of you will consider it presumption oh my part to appear as a candidate for the' Mayoralty, of the town in, opposition ;tb a. gentleman possessing the extensive influence my opponent is reputed to have. I have only to ask your indul- : gehce for a few minutes, when, if I do

not enlist your sympathies in my favor^ I think I shall have at least, convinced; t y.ou. that a radical change is necessary in the management of the affairs of the town, and that my opponent is not in = every respect at least the most desirable candidate for the office of Mayor. I don't know whether my statement will influence you to the extent that will receive for me a majority of, votes on Wednesday first, but if I succeed in opening the eyes of the general body of the ratepayers to the very unsatisfactory state in which the Municipality at present financially is, then my candidature snail not have been in vain; and I shall be satisfied with the result. I have

first to mention that so far as I have been able to find out the present over draft at* the Bank, and other liabilities of the municipality, amount to about £700. I must however say this, that from the secrecy with which the Council keeps their financial position, it is impossible for an outsider to find it out with perfect accuracy. The same time I believe it is not far from what I have stated* The amount of the rates for the present year, even with a tax of Is 6d in the £, is about L4OO, so that with interest it would take the rates of two years to pay off our debt. Ido not however object to incurring. & reasonable amount of debt for the purpose of

carrying out necessary and reproductive works ; but Ido object to incurring debt for works which are neither neees* sary nor reproductive. This, I maintain has been the nature of the works carried out by the Council, and which has resulted in the present debt. I shall only refer to a few as examples. There is the formation of footpaths, or rather canal embankments, as they have been called, in Clyde street." These .cost about L 220, and so far trom being desirable work, the only result will be that in consequence of those embank^ ments, a much larger expenditure will be required to form the road-way. Next, comes the publishing in a newspaper owned Jby a majority of the Town Council an extraordinary lot of Byelaws for the Municipality, and which has occasioned ns being held up to ridicule ail over the country, This item amounted to I think LB2. This expendditure was unnecessary, inasmuch as the Bye-laws did not require to be published at all. If my memory serves me right, the offer from the Clutha Leader to publish these laws was at L 2 a column for fourteen columns, which would have amounted to L2B, and yet the Council reverse the order of the figures and pass an account for LB2. I hold that this is clearly a misappropriation bf public funds,, and that the amount ought to be refunded by the Council. . There is again the fencing in of the 80-acre paddock^ Which is not the property of the Municipality, and the least inquiry upon their part would have informed them that it was

not theirs. This again is clearly a misappropriation, and the amount also falls to be paid out of the private purse of the Councillors. Other matters might be mentioned, such as the felling of the bush in the Crown reserve for the

benefit of the Jockey Club; but these are only small accounts. Here then we have a sum of L 422 misappropriated, and it is for the ratepayers to say whether the Municipality is in a position to bear this or not In order that you may judge of this let us see what is the true position of the Municipality. The present debt as I have already said is L 700; but there are works which are necessary^ and the Council can be called upon to see into, and . therefore the amount necessary for that purpose, may be put down as partaking very much of I the character of a debt-^-I refer to the | main road through the town, and for which wa receive the licenses and other fees. From a calculation I have made I find that to form metal, .arid to put this road into a thorough state of repair, similar to what has been- done to other municipalities, would cost (channelling not included) a sum of L 3058. This added to the amount of the present actual debt of L7OO, gives a sum of L 3758 — a sum almost equal to the annual value of every house and section' |in the town. This is a pretty, stato. of matters, and I wish ; the ratepayers to . think. ovdr it. Now, gentlemen, I iask you is Balclutha in a position to expend this money 1 I say it cannot, and that! Government assistance must • lie got ; but yon are all aware of what has bfe-j cubed between- the Council -fend .the Government with reference, tpi.the bridge, the request to ;remOve the -Police Camp and Cbart 3ttousb^anti^you i know very?w«ll that the; Coundl 05 at' pfeßan| constituted dare, not 'q^&jfafiiff^ the 4»rt #>mr tao:v(^ they are at loggerheads. ~\ So hot islhe

;ne v w#apers that Councillors laid tbey i^eedjnot write to tlfel&b^nmenT about j I anything, as -^ey-Would^Ufunswer j *heirj letters^ 3 This "ts.^sßjigus affaiijSi and-ifc has i {'j^n^t : ,^p|i'' m a g^aatimpagnrej f>|/t|e r^p^on7of=mj; ; j QPfionety A&&-4W . friends, in the Conn?" j ciU |It isfp| you. to consio^r wnetneY it would be for, $£j > good /of the 'town' thatjhe should bVraisedto a postfibii 6f "still -greater respoMb|lity; !, You aiiist 1 understaiid ji^at jthe 1 Government knows; veryj^eil wWat ia going- r im? 'and also ! the individuals who are doing those sort! of things: They knoW also: that you (disapproved of* the aotion of the Council, and pulled them over the; coals pretty severely for it. Ar«you how to reverse your unanimous decision, and to elect as Mayor one of tbose , whose aotion you con-; demned. ~ If you do so what will the Government or any one else think of you. I have another charge to bring ; against the Council, viz., that they do not devote the time arid consideration necessary to properly conducting Council affairs. Neither do I; believe they bave the experience and ability necessary for carrying out stfeb works. rWit^ ness the manner in which the footpaths in Lanark street were: formed and gravelled — two men and one horge dray, which made the cost about 5s instead of 2s per yard. Take, another example, nothbly, the John istreet; Railway, and thd canal embankments — I mean the embankments ; in Clyde street . Had these embankments been reduced even one foot, the cost of the forma tion of the road would be lessened by L 500 .: Now, gentlemen, I ask you if you think ; ahy any of them is capable of discovering such results as those in* connection with the works ? But look at the whole town in every part of -it,", and you rwill find, palpable mismanagement and waste of your money every where. It compares most unfovorably with any other, municipality in> tho Province, and the Government will see that the money js likely td be put to better purposes before they trust any in the hands of the I Balclutha Town . Council, as at present constituted. I have now laid my case before you. I have shown you how , the Council . bas misappropriated and otherwise squandered your money, and kept the town in a Btate unworthy of the liberality of the ratepayers. I have shown you how they have deteriorated the value of -your hard-earned: properties, and how they have alienated .the good feelings of the Government towards you, Gentlemen, I have astake ib Balclutha. and I will not stand by idly and see my interests or yours either neglected or ruined by a few individuals who wish merely to obtain municipal honors^ but. without giving attention to municipal.business. I feel, that in. coming forward at this crisis I am simply doing a duty ito myself, , to you, ana the public generally. I have placed the matter clearly before you, so that you may think of it ; and I now leave it in your hands. You only can , remedy the 9vils I have mentioned and referred to, and I would ask thafrattbe j forthcoming election you will do your duty fearlessly and without favour!.. You have my opponent's past services in the Council to* enable you to arrive , at a correct conclusion as to what you i have to expect from him in the future t if you elect him as your Mayor j s and, I gentlemen,. you have .also my past services in the Council to judge by, and I defy any one to point to a single, six-' pence which was either misappropriated or injudiciously spent during the time I . held office. To our past actions therefore I appeal,, and if you judge impartially of those you can only arrive at one conclusion, aad that is— to elect me as your Mayor. Mr Russell asked. Mr Cramond why he he had put down'the debt at L7OO since he had told him a few days ago what the amount of the overdraft was ?

Mr Cramond said he had put down the overdraft at 1-400., Then there was the weighbridge to be be paid for, L2OO, and other liabilitesLlOO— in all L7OO. Mr Robert Grigor asked why Mr Cramond had reckoned the amount to be paid for the weighbridge as a debt,; ■seeing the machine had, not T)een deliverednor paid .for ?., When received it would be a good asset. Mr Cramondsaid it had been ordered, would be delivered in a few weeks, and would have to be paid for.' If was a -question whether it would prove areproductive expenditure. Mr Grigor said Mr Cramond had used the word " misappropriation*" which meant downright robbery — thieving. He objected to the term, and wished Mr Cramond to explain. Mr^. Bain: Retract the word and; please his Worship. Mr Cramond said. 1 he did not mean! that any Councillor had made away with j the money, but they had appropriated it: to a wrong purpose, ':. .... j Mr Russell -said the ißye-daws were! passed when' Mr^^^Crsmond was in: -the! ,(}ouncU.., ; . ''y] \ yy.y' : "'\ -.-■ ■ Mr /Crnmpnd : Jßot the $atj have been published. He would vde^l any man to prove that . herj&ad^iss^ctibned thdr -publication* in a newspaper. ,It was mrije^unieceisa^f Jo "to publish r them., 1, I|ls }hi] t^(i^^2^j)h:fix ; Ushihg^ili th^ Balclutha/otTOfeny^ye.aTS '.to comev 7 ; What iwaiir^^^pf^^%jlaws regarding Wharves, jetties, chips; » Ui '''Mr -iMiine 'ask^ 1 &e f ia-fiatd-k-a tf $tl

knew[ Wjhfit 'rfkgffltv •£, hnnpial^positaoncof' the town "Woyear^a^o'f ; " ; '" Mr Cramond replied that he did not knOW."-.f :<> -ru^r;-.^*; j,-> sp'-m.]' h-P' ; T Mr itf. .d^bjfc,) and "had" fd6ipaths yMd"*b*o^r'wpjfks.,^o undertake j „^nd r^-^JnsJeAd r of having the r.'^ohey^ they weire e in Jthey { were,.i wo .' "ye»»* , /' J \^4'" r a«ilc E «i4 ; " the caJnaM|.te3*wibether jyie.'dia ;not;like ? iiiea of a weigKbridge ? r ' J Mir Cramdrfd>:.'Yes,:l*do;> ; -, ;r ,f i* " '" • %&,t:;i .ipunri^,: ( ' Yotr:; have '• ittada t-ctp/- a" falsei sheet to 7'pay^]^fpre^the;p^b|^^;^ v '•■■• Mr Cramoud: Ihavemot. q The way ; the Woney. has been'' expended speaks for iitself. ,; .".;.,...; "; ". ■' -•; Mr Dunned :.-.-Am you in. a! position ?to testitheabilityof'the SuTveyorf" 'Mr Cramond, did not wish to say a single word^gainst '$%jsnjjffi& t perr sonally j but » the works carried but were Si; great, absurdity. ' • Mr ftunne,:f Are ypu, aware ..that it has j been passed in the Council to form Clyde street ? • f W Cranabhd ft^id he was not,.and.if it was passed; be: was sorry to/bear iti as- it was too much -fori Balclutha?' to undertake. When the Council i agreed to take ; Over, the -main street tbe Government r had 'prdnajsed to put it, into a proper state of repair^' and - the Council should haTe.seen t^afcthey, did so. Mr Dunne : Whatisfthe state of ; the , Municipality compared with others ? Mr Cramond : Take Milton 'for example. It has its t streets properly formed and is not in debt* Baloiutaa has not, and is deep in debt. Mr Grigor : Did you ever see works carried out.any other yray than by doing bit by 'bify and making permanent work as far as you go % Would you not have made the footpaths up to the permanent level at once 1 .; iMr Cramond : : Yes. But the -canal embankments, oi footpaths, are eighteen inches above the permanent level. , I object to the, permanent level altogether. Mr;Ai Bain i : What would ypu.propose to do to rectify matters regarding the 80-acre reserve ? Mr Cramond : Get our representative to lay the matter before the Government, and try to. get the p&dddek for the Municipality. As to the. formation ofj the main street, he believed the- Government would do the work if properly asked. | Mr Marr : Are you aware that the Council have fenced' iri the side of a ■ section, which is now advertised for sale. Mr Cramond was not aware. : In reply to another- question, -Mr Cramond said he would be in favor of procuring gravel and doing 1 all works by tender, although there were small jobs which would have to be done by a dayman, Mr Bain proposed that Mr Cramond I is a fit and proper person tb be Mayor. The motion was hot seconded. Mr Cramond returned thanks for the patient nearing they had given him, and a vote of thanks to the Chair concluded the proceedings.