DUNSTAN.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 237, 26 May 1874, Page 5

DUNSTAN.

[from our own correspondent.] May 25, 1874. A paltry account of £4 7s. 6d. has been in dispute and occupying the attention of our Town Council now and again for the last ten months. On Thursday last, it culminated in a case before the Resident Magistrate. The facts are simply these. A sum of £25 was voted by the Council about June or July last year, for the purpose of making a better entrance into Spring-street, immediately in front of the Port Philip stables. The Public Works Committee,-—Messrs Auckland, Cox, and the then Mayor, Mr Cambridge,—expended the amount of this vote on labour, and it was found that a certain quantity of stone was required to finish the job. Cr Cox agreed to supply stones which he had lying close to the spot, at the price he paid for them, namely, 3s 6d per load ; or he offered to lend them to the Council if they would deliver a like quantity. Cr Auckland agreed to take the stones on these terms, but when the account came before the Council, they refused to entertain it, and passed a resolution not to pay it. At the hearing of tire case, Cr Auckland deposed to purchasing the stones, doing so under certain powers given to a Public Works Committee to spend ten pounds unauthorised in any one month. The defendants’ solicitor, Mr Wilson, did not dispute that the quantity of stones had been used, and could give no reason why the Council should not pay for them ; but he rested his defence on a point of law, to the effect that sub-committees had no power to enter into contracts. The Magistrate wisely remarked that this was a case which should have been settled out of Court. It was quite plain the stones had been supplied, and it was scarcely fair to raise a legal obstacle to the payment of them. He would, however, reserve his decision for a week.

The same matter had been discussed by

the Council at a sitting on the evening previous to the hearing of the case. Cr Aldridge wanted to know why the Council refused to pay for the stones, seeing they had been obtained and used, and he recommended they should be paid for. Cr Auckland also urged the Council to pay for the stones, and'not to go to Court to beheld up (;,o ridicule by every paper in the Province, for by doing so they would certainly make fools of themselves. The Mayor was also averse to going to Court, but as the Council had already refused to pay the account, he could not see how it could now be paid. He would be willing to give a pound out of his own pocket to settle the aflair. Crs Clark and Beck were against paying the account, and in favour of letting the case go to trial.

At the same meeting, a minute of a previous sitting, to the effect that £SO be handed to Mr M'Pherson, in consideration of his punt being extended to the approval of the Council, and the charges reduced to the same rates as those at the Alexandra punt,* was ordered to be carried out. On the consideration of a letter from Mr Eames, complaining that he only received 16|cwt. of coal from Mr Main for what purported tp be a ton, the Council is reported to be of opinion that the matter is one between buyer and seller, and they had nothing to do with it. The matter may not be within the power of the municipal body, but it certainly lies to some one’s charge, for if I mistake not there is an Ordinance of the Provincial Council compelling owners of coalpits to have machines for weighing coals for their customers, and it surely is the duty of some one to see that this is carried out. Regarding the sanitary state of the town and certain contemplated public works, nothing definite was settled. But the closing scene, which, by the Times’ report, comes under the head of “Personal,” is worthy of notice. The reporter of the Dmistan Times, wishing to address the Council in his capacity as a ratepayer, was called to order by one Councillor, told to ask permission of the Mayor by another, and informed by the Mayor that if he had anything to complain of to the Council, he must do it in writing. The reporter thus describes the scene : “ A Babel of voices was now heard, and a scene ensued that baffles description, alike derogatory to the Council and ungentlemanly in character, the closing sound being ‘Shut up !’ Mr Fache, however, kept his position, and said he desired to point out that the sections at the rear and in front of his private dwelling were used as a receptacle for every kind of filth, and wished the Council to have the same removed.” Though the Council may not have added to their efignity by being paraded in Court over the paltry case already mentioned, surely there was no reason, why they should be bullied into listening to anyone who was out of place in addressing them ; and from his own account he would compel them to listen to him whether they would or not. The difficulty of the Council may easily be perceived. They could see their usual parliamentary terms to command silence fall, as Donald Reid might say, as water from a duck ; and to make themselves understood, and as a last resource before calling the aid of the peace-protector, the forcible colonial expression “Shut up” was used.

The Pneumatic dredge has been laid up, the paddle-wheels for pumping air having been found to be impr;icticable. Three of the parties who were working her have taken the Salamander dredge on tribute, but have not yet commenced operations. The two large wheels at the Clyde coalpit are again in motion, pumping out the mine. The owner expects to be getting coal soon if everything holds on well.

The ferry punt is hauled up, and is being enlarged, and will soon be capable of accommodating any traffic. From the arena of politics, there is nothing of much interest as regards this immediate district, only that a Bill has been introduced to increase the borrowing powers of the Municipality, but for what purpose I am unable to say.