RESIGNS AGAIN.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 906, 27 August 1910, Page 6

RESIGNS AGAIN.

MR. BALUNGER AND TECHNICAL

BOARD. .SOME WARM WORDS. POSITIONS OF PUBLIC MEN. At the monthly meeting of the Wellington Technical School Board last evening Mr.-'Xhds. Ballinger (chairman) read the following letter of resignation:—. ~-',.. : ; '. "It is with. sincere regrot that I , tender my.resignation as a manager of the Wellington Technical School. : My reason for this step is duo to , tho fact that as. I have resigned my scat as a city councillor, whose j representative .I am oil the board, , . . it seems to me somowhat inconsistent, that I should continue to hold ■ my, seat as their representative -, : after the action and expressed .opinion of the City Council in ■ 'reference to limited liability companies tendering, for supplies." ' Mr. Aitken said . that although one expected such a letter from what had appeared in. the newspapers, it was-not at all an unknown thing for tho City Council, to apppint someone other than; a member of its own body as a representative .on; a board such as that. 'Ho had known cases of men who had sat on such, bodies after retiring from the council,"and he. thought it '.-would be a graceful thing for tho.chairman to to-' tain'liis seat until the council choso to remove him. He felt sure that they would not •; do so, ■ and he desired to move a resolution hi favour ■of the chairman's doing so. ' : . , .-'•' 'Mr. -Allan, in seconding,. cited the precedent of tho Rev. W. A. iEvans,' who had continued, to sit onthatiboa'rd after retiring from the council. Ho hoped Mr.. Ballinger would' see , his way to remaining on.- ;•■'.•_■; '■' . : ■ ;: Mr Ballinger Gives His Reasons. '; The, chairman. referred to. the rosolution passed by.the . City CounciL on the previous evening, and quoted Councillor Carmichael's remarks on' that .occasion. They had five .companies tendering for the'annual supplies of that board, his own being; one, and if under such circumstances it was wrong for him to.sit as a member.of the City Council,;: it ' was•:'. equally . wrong that he should'., continue to sit on .the' Technical School' Board. The; fact: of.;liis. having had to resign ■from the council bad caused him very great. worry, although tho public and the newspapers ..did not appear to have goi;,the grip of it. It;.was a big question''of principle that ,',was at- stake! The.' Government had. passed aa'Aet l some years'.ago allo\ying members of :a limited 'liability 'company to sit on a council while-supplying that body, but the City Council had passed a resolution •; it .had refused to rescind. He had appealed to the council to do 'so, but,without success. . He had, been.j told that it' was illegal.for him to con-, .tinue - -.as .a. member of tho council it' ■his firm was. to tenderfdr.supplies. Hβ could not possibly occupy a seat on any. body ,if that sort of talk was going around—about getting in by the back.do'or and getting information from officers. <It was, the biggest nonsensp 'that was ever-spoken'; He believed that if his firm's 'tender for annual' supplies had been'properly taken the. year before,Vit-'would bo found to.be the j .lowest.; Ho was not on the,committee, but he was positive that. the board hacl paid'more for its'supplies. .'.The position was ivery 'trying" to '.-anyone .who ,had ;gofe;'feelings.:,:.;.Ho;.had, been an ' ardent l 'idvbcatp of: technical education long before he had become a member of that body. Hβ had never.sought his ■position for.'the sake of getting any. work. He said that the man who did the work'for. the city or the. body he was. representing >should not. be: debarred: On tho Employers' Association and other, bodies, when they wanted printing doiio or anything .of thai kind, they did not go outside. He was going to give up all work for the city if it was going to interfere with his company's business. They must not 'ask him tosit on that board any longer. ~

:, The Resignation Deplored.; .Mr. J. P. Luke,.M.P.', expressed his regret at ,tho chairman's resignation. Hβ thought the feeling of. the members .'of the board'was that-Mr. Ballinger should remain on, until next meeting at'any rate, as he felt sure tho CityCouncil would givo effect to Mr. Aitken's suggestion. ' -The'. Municipal. .Corpora-'' tions Act provided for tho appointment of : anyone ; . outside . the , ■ council itself. He .hoped tho chairman would live long'enough, and conditions would be sufficiently favourable, to enable.him ■to complete his term of office on that board...He (Mr. JJuke) was not a meml>er of a-''firm that was. tendering, but he would not stand for a position that would put his firm at cross purposes with his position on a public body. He believed a .majority: of-tho City Council would pass a resolution asking 'the chairman to continue as a member of that board. If.the chairman's firm had a tender coming up, and if he left-the. room,-the board would deal with, it in a'proper manner. ••.-.. .■■''•■' .' Mr., Field, 11.P.,' deplored from the bottom of, his •:heart the action which tho chairman- had felt , constrained to take, and'.appealed to'him to defer the matter until next meeting, when they might be able to see sonio way out'"of the difficulty. '. : : Mr. M'Lareiij M.P., respected very fully and deeply the' position in which the chairman was placed. He would have very much preferred ■ that the principles involved had been dealt with apa'rt , from any personal application to that or any other,;body: Personally, he never desired:, to t see any citizen -hampered'.'in the exercise of his rights, whether engaged in business or'manual labour. At tlio same time, persons in public ■' offices ■ bad opportunities for gaining information with regard to ten* ders that those outside' had not, ■ and, with all' respect to the' chairman, they must all recognise 'that. So'.'far as ho could see, our.public life waspure compared, to countries such, as America. He would like the chairman to let the question of resignation stiind over, as ho was sure. tho council would unanimously, approve of Mr. Ballinger completing the term of office for which he had been appointed on that board. Mr. Carmichael's Opinion. ',' Mr. Carmichael said he had brought the matter forward as a question of principle, and. not as a personal one. There 'was , no burking the fact that many years ago ; tho subject had been dealt with by tho House of Parliament, which had'decided that peoplo in tho chairman's position should not occupy seats on municipal ■ councils or' such boards. Since then, there had,been many attempts to alter that decision, and one of the latest ha 3 been by means, of. limited liability companies. When such a company was constituted by a number of members, holding, perhaps, only a share each, it was different from whero tho shares were held entirely by one man and tho members of his-, family. Ho did not know why the members of a public body should wish to run counter to what had been the Jaw _ for many years past. To his _ mind, the- principlo introduced in the House, and carried into law, was a Rood, sound principle, and one they should stick to; and despite anything they could say or do they could not get away from tho fact that people outside thought that a certain amount of privileges fell to the lot of members of councils or boards dealing with those matters. - Further, if a man belonged to a body, and had a vote on the question of increasing tho wages of

servants of that body who had to transact its, business between him and the public, they (tho public) had a right to think, and did think, that influences wero brought to boar that should not exist; and they had. to decide that men should not occupy positions that tt'ould leave a doubt as to tho honesty of thqir connection with such [opticus. As he believed in that principle, ho was going to stick to it. . v. "More Painful Than Ever." The chairman observed that Mr. Carlriichael's words mado his position more painful than over. Mr. Carmichael had stated that tho law was keeping him (the chairman) outside the council, whereas the opposite was tho case, 'file law was perfectly correct, but the council had passed a resolution which left him no., option. If the council had mado it a remit to the Municipal Conference no due would have had any 'objection. _ The council had no right to pass a resolution to bar Mr. Luke, 'Mr. 'irovor, or himself from tendering for municipal work. . Mr. Cai'michael: Yes, they'have. The chairman: Excuse' me. I have kept very quiet,, but I'm easily put off .the track. There can .be no. question, '■■ .to my mind, that the_ council has done a very wrong action. At our election I was third on the list—about seven; thousand voted for me. l-don't know how many voted for Councillor: Carmichael, but. I feel that, I hold a very honoured position in this city. Continuing, tho chairmaa referred to certain statements' which had appeared in local papers in the shape of expressions of opinion by some members of the City Council, and stated that as. he hail been away from 'Wellington when they appeared, he had replied to them. When lie gavu notice:of his intention to' resign on the. 22nd of next month, he hail no knowledge that Councillor Devine's death was impending. As.-a matter, of facl, he stated that he had not'had time to look-after tho tenders-of; his firm, but left that to his. .sons, ■ who had jusl .is much right to tender as-any other citizen.

"I could tell the board and the public a few-things if-1 liked, but 1 do not think it is wise, to do so," pursued the chairman. Addressing ; Mr. Carmicael with some .warmth: "When you asked for your return, why did ymi ask for only limited liability companies r Why did you. not ask that every member ; of the council should be mentioned? Thore are private councillors who supply things, quite within their. rights—-" Mr. M'Laren: I rise .'to a point of order.' We aro dealing with this board's business, not with-tho council. -

The chairman: There,/Js only one thing that willVinake me'withdraw mj resignation—that is, that the council rescinds' that resolution that it baa passed, and lets the House deal with the question., It has got no right to disfranchise niy firm or Mr. Luke's. It is.a very romarkablo thing l that certain councillors were not' present at themeeting when our test tender was. put in to see what the council , would do. I was surprised to find that the councillors had power to accept that, although the Mayor said they ,not. I ,went to the Mayor and asked him if I moved a resolution to get, the other resolution rescinded would he accept it, and he said he would hot, : because I was interested. As a'matter of fact, I'think if I had not been there, when the resolution' was passed,- there 'would not have been a ■quorum. -No gentlemen, it it not a bit of good. I am not going ■to sit on this body.- any longer. After all tho interest 1 havo taken in technical school 'work, and in the control work, 1 am sorry to go, but 1 won't be, insulted by men;who.do not understand the position.- ■ ■ ; ~

i Mr. Carmichael: 1 am sorry you oxpressed yourself in that way, because I made no insinuation. With respect, to the council—as to why I. did .■ not mention a member '■ ivlion dealing with a limited company—it was an oversight on my part. One said, "I hope you are satisfied." I said, "I am not, because~j'our name'is. not in."" : Tribute to Mr. Ballinger. v The chairman observed that as a matter of fact he .thought the council could not "put him out of that board if he wished to remain. : 0n his election for the term, it was not necessary for the council,to pass any resolu-. tion. Tho■ chairman .then vacated ■the chair. On Mr. M'Laren's request, however, he resumed Jiis-seat,- while tlie latter moved a resolution, expressing appreciation of his services.. ■ Mr. Aitken, in seconding-.the resolu-' tion, expressed tho opinion that no harm could have.resulted.if,tho chairman had seen.his way clear; to remain in office, and paid a tribute to. the straightforwardness of his conduct while in offico. • : .

Mr. Allan endorsed the remarks of the previous speaker,"adding thai; there had,never been the shadow of a shade of. suggestion that everything had not been perfectly, straight. ■ The resolution was carried without dissent. .. ' v' ' .. The chairman (in vacating his seat in the chamber) said: "., 1 thank you, gentlemen. It is a real trouble to me. Our company is tendering for supplies to-night." ■ Mr. ..Aitkcn was then called upoii , to preside, and the.board went into committee, but the tenders referred to were not.dealt .with. .:

Messrs. J. H. Bethune and Co. announce in our auction colmuns that, on Tuesday next, August 30, at 2 p.m. on tho premises of the 'Australian . Widows' Life Fund Assurance Society, Ltd., Nos. 113 and 115, Customhouse Quay,.they are holding a sale of a splendid collection of u£fice '■'furniture ami books. This . sale is being held in consequence of the,amalgamation of the above society with the Mutual Life Office.' Amongst tho articles to he submitted are American oak card ledger cabinets, mahogany roll-top sft. desk, cedar high desks,'Yost No; 15 typewriter, , 2' Hammond .typewriters,' Axminster ' caripets, statistics of New Zealand, insurance, law,. and insurance records, . and other works. Tho : furniture will bo on, view on the Monday preceding aud on morning of sale. The firm,, nuclei' instruction from tho registrar of tho Supreme Court, are submitting at their rooms at 3 p.m. on Wednesday next, August 31, a property at Petone. This comprises land having an area of 15.5 porches, with , a frontage of 37ft. Din. to Bolton, Street, by a depth of 111 ft. 7in., .on which stands a dwellinghouse of 5 rooms and conveniences. A full description of the property appears in the advertisement, ' and any further particulars may be had on application to Messrs. , Bolton and Organ, solicitors, or the auctioneers. -At tho City. Auction Mart, Manners Street, Messrs..' J. W. Braithwaite and Co. will sell a lot of useful - household furulti'.re, commencing at 1.30 p..m in'the list, are a number of canaries. On Monday tho'same flnn will sell at IBS Rintoul Street, the stock-in-trade of a stationery and confectionery-business. .This sole- takes place at' 2 p.m., and everything must be cleared. On Tuesday, at 2 o'clock, the auctioneer's, hammer will be wielded at the premises. G Broadway Terrace, where a tirst-class lot of household furniture- and effects, also one gent's, bicycle, will be submitted. The auctioneer's instructions are to sell tho lot withcut reserve, as the owner is leaving Wellington. Details of sales are given in i our auction page ot this issue.