NAPLES, MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3658, 5 April 1883, Page 2

NAPLES, MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.

Wednesday, Apkie i

The Council met at 8 p.m. Present: His "Worship the Mayor (chairman), and Crs. Monteith, Wall," McDougall, Price, Margoliouth, Graham, Cotton and Ellison. DUTIES OF CONSULTING ENGINEER. Cγ. Ellison moved, in accordance with notice, "That a sub-committee, consisting , of Crs. Wall, Monteith, and the mover be appointed to detino the future duties of Mr Lamb as consulting , engineer. Cr. McDougall seconded the motion, "in order to hear what Cr. Ellison had to say on rho subject." Cr. Margoliouth moved as an amendment that the whole matter be referred to the public works committee. Cr. Price seconded the amendment. Cr. Ellison said his intention, in moving for the appointment of a sub-committee to deal with the matter, was to save the time of the public works committee. He would withdraw his motion, however, in favor of Cr. Margoliouth's amendment. The amendment was then carried without dissent. : PRISON LABOR. * The Mayor said he had received a letter from Mr Buchanan, M.H.R., with reference to the employment of prison labor for sinking the proposed salt water wells. Mr Buchanan, it seemed, had seen the Colonial Secretary on the subject, and had been told that there would be no difficulty in obtaining- the prison labor required provided the Corporation paid for same at the rate of a shilling a, day per man. Cr. McDougall moved that a reply be sent to Mr Buchanan stating , that the Council docs not care to employ prison labor at any given rate per day. Cr. Ellison seconded the motion. Cr. Price said it was just as well that it should be known that these saltwater wells were urgently needed, and that the Council desired to have them sunk as cheaply as possible. Prison labor was therefore applied for. But now, when it was found that they would require to pay a paltry shilling a day for prison labor, some councillors turned up their noses at the offer. It was almost an understood thing in committee that if prison labor were not granted the proposed wells would have to bo left alone. Surely the terms were cheap enough. There was, at any rate, a vast differencesLot ween them and the cost of ordinary labor. Cr. Monteith said he took a different view of the matter. He did not believe in jwyiug prisoners a shilling a day, because prisoners did not earn it. If they did their maintenance would not cost so much. It was well known that pi'isoners earned little or nothing, and the work would cost more than if done by ordinary labor. Cr. McDongall would vote against the ' payment of prisoners on principle. If ij* were necessary that these wells should be sunk for the protection partly of Government property, the Government could not do less than supply the labor free. It would also be establishing a bad precedent to bring prison labor into competition with ordinary labor. The sinking , of the wells would only take a day or two in any case, and that would not involve much expenditure. The real cost was the preparation of the wooden sheaths required before commencing the work of sinking. Cr. Price said Cr. McDougall was simply talking so much nonsense. As a matter of fact this Corporation was employing and paying for prison labor every day. All the metal for the roads was quarried and broken by prisoners. On the suggestion of the Mayor the matter was then allowed to drop, .so as to give Mr Buchanan time to reply to tJie Council's letter, the communication before the present meeting , being of a sumi-private character. COItIiKSPONTDEJJCK. The following inward correspondence was read :■ — From the Property Tax Department, with reference to the Statement of Values' for Napier, requesting that a list of any errors or onimissions that might be observed therein should be notified to the Commissioner. From the same, notifying that the borough endowment of 2000 acres at Woodville was valued at .£OOOO, and that the* Council's objection to the valuation - had been submitted to the Board of Reviewers. —The Town Clerk was authorised to attend the sitting of the Board at Waipawa on Friday. From the General Crown Lands Office, notifying the appointment of the Mayor as an <•.'• nj/icto member of the Meanec Domain Board.' From the Borough solicitors, directing , attention to the decision given in the R.M. Court on Tuesday last in the ease Parker (rate receiver) v. Orr, and asking leave to deposit the necessary security for moving for an appeal to the Supreme Court, so as to have the matter settled definitely one way . or the other.- —Cr. Wall moved that the" municipal solicitors be authorised to proceed with the appciil against the Resident Magistrate's decision.—Carried. TAMPERING WITH VALUATION LIST, A letter was read from the Borough Valuer stating hjs reason for substituting the name of Mr Alexander Kennedy in the valuation list for that of Mr R. Price, as follows: — In answer to your roquest that I report to the Coimcil my reasons for substituting the name of Mr A Kennedy for that of Mr Robert Price on the valuation roll, I beg leave to state that in making up the roll for (lie year before last I inadvertently placed Mr Robert Price's name thereon, although sit the time I had no sufficient authority to warrant my doing so. It was only when I commenced the compilation of last year's valuation that I discovered the mistake 1/ had made, and on examining the letted had received the year before from the trustees of the Sciude Lodge I found that Mr Price was merely authorised therein to receive the rates on llio properly in question (town section No, I;;-*), ttU d the letter cer-

tatnly contains nothing- that would lead me to suppose, that tlio said trustees wished Mr Price's name to be placed on the roll. The letter is in Mr Price's handwriting- and bears the signatures of Messrs Kennedy, AVilliams, and Tuxford. Several house and land agents in this borough who represent about fifty proprietors have authority to receive the demands and pay the rates on the properties of their respective clients, but I should not feel myself justified in placing their names on the valuation roll without some other more substantial qualification, and I can frankly assure you that it was not until after due consideration that I arrived at the conclusion that Mr Price's claim to to be enrolled did not come within the meaning- of the Act. Mr A. Kennedy on the other hand is secretary and treasurer to the Scinde Lodge, which in a legal point of view is sufficient to qualify him for enrolment. I therefore felt myself justified under those conditions in inserting MiKennedy's name. I might in euuciu-;iou add that I truly believe all the names on the valuation roll as it now stands are the names that should appear there, and I most emphatically deny being actuated by any sinister motives whatsoever in connection Avith my duties as valuer, nor have T, to the best of my belief, omitted a single name from the valuation roll which had a just claim or legal right to be there.---I have kc, J\. "Williams, Borough Valuer. On the motion of C'r. Price, seconded by Cr. Graham, the letter was referred to the municipal solicitors for their opinion as to the power of the valuator to take names oft the roll and substitute others without authority. PUBLIC AVOKKS COMMITTEE'S PJiI'OHT. The following report from the Public "Works Committee was read: — Vi.iir •■omniittec having met pursuant to 11"* ice beg t<> recommend the Council to give eilect to the following : - 1. That the consideration of the petition uf ';'Ttain i-atf-payiTs of Oarlylo-stro'jt be deferred until the ea.-es now pending in the R.M. Court shall have been decided. 2. That the report of the engineer of the 2nd April be adopted, and that with reference to clause 3 the repairs therein alluded to shall be proceeded with gradually as the necessity arises. 3. That the engineer be instructed to call for tenders for building a sea wall in such places as maybe necessary to protect the Avatcrpipes, Arc. 4. That the reports of the overseer of roads and inspector of nuisances herewith forwarded be approved. 3. That the vouchers for expenditure (£072 4s Oil) to 31st March be passed and ordered to be paid. The several clauses in the report were, after some discussion, adopted as read. The following is the-paragraph from the engineer's report referred to in clause 3 : — " The following- roads are in places much out of repair, many of them having been cut up by laying the water pipes, and it ■will be necessary to undertake the repairing of them in preparation for the coming winter, viz., Thompson, Scaly, Camerson, Milton, Cobden, Lucy, Spencer, Chaucer, Harvey, Lincoln, Fitzroy, and Clyde roads, Byron-street, and Napier-terrace." UNAUTHORISED EXPENDITURE. The letter from the municipal engineer commenting on Cr. Price's motion recently adopted having reference to the question of unauthorised expenditure, and which was read at the last meeting of the Council, was bi-ought up for discussion. Cr. Ellison moved, "That the letter be received, the Council considering it a sufficient reply to Cr. Price's charges." Cr. McDougall said lie would second the motion, so as to give Cr. Price a chance cither to move an amendment or to prove his charges against the engineer. Cr. Price said he understood by that motion that Crs. Ellison and McDougall rather liked being insulted and jumped upon. It was very clear that they had no idea whatever of the dignity of a councillor's position, else they would not allow a servant of the Corporation to dictate what resolutions they should pass and what resolutions they should not pass. With the permission of the Council he would read his reply to the letter of Mr Lamb, as follows ; -—At a previous meeting of this Council I moved the following resolution: —"That no works outside those performed by Corporation labor bo undertaken Avithout the express sanction of the Public "Works Committee." I accompanied that motion with some remarks to the effect that had such a resolution been passed long ago a good deal of money would not have been spent as foolishly as it had been. The resolution and the remarks accompanying it gave offence to the municipal engineer, and he forwarded a letter to this Council which was read at last meeting, the consideration of which was postponed till to-night, as I ■was absent when it "was received. To Your "Worship I feel sure I need make no apology for my absence at that meeting. On that occasion there was a subject coming up for discussion that concerned the rights of a Masonic Lodge—a lodge of which Cr. "Wall is the Master, and of which I am the Treasurer. "We both abstained from coming here. The motive of our absence can be ■well understood by you, and by all gentlemen. The institution to which we belong being fully sensible of its own integrity i.'Niic-rts to receive justice when it asks for it fi-Miu a public body such as this Council. "Wo did not think it required our presence to obtain it, or our advocacy and votes to securi. , it. I will leave it to your "Worship to >ay whether Scinde Lodge has been treated with the fair play that every Englishman has a right to expect. And now, sir, I will refer to the engineer's subject of complaint. But before doing so I would remark that I cannot but think such a letter as that addressed to this Council by the engineer would not have been written unless he had thought that this public body would submit to an indignity, and woidd suffer an indignity to be cast on one of its members. Taking the letter from beginning to end it is an assertion of the principle that this Council shall have no right to freedom of expression, and that except within certain limits the officers shall rule the borough and the Council, and that the Council shall be a nonentity in their hands. I have not been prepared to accept such a position either on behalf of iiLyself or on behalf of this Council. Hence the storm of abuse with which I have been assailed. I do not say that an officer when lie feels agricved at what has been said of him should not come here for redress, but in his anger at any particular Councillor he should not forget what is due to the Council. His letter demanded no reply, and should have been received without comment. And I must express my surprise that it has been treated in any other way. However, the letter is a reply to the remarks that I made ■when I moved the resolution "that no •works outside those ordinarily performed by Corporation labor be undertaken without the express sanction of the Public AVorks Committee." I said in effect that had such a resolution been passed long ago a. good deal of money would have been ;avod. I here regpat what I then said. And I beg emphatically to assert that if the Council had from time to time been made fully aware of the cost and effects of certain contracts those contracts would never have been agreed to by the . Council. It is impossible to suppose that any Council would have been so imbecile, or" so greedy for the expenditure of public money, as to have knowingly agreed to spend money for no earthly good whatever. Yet we have the fact that thousands of pounds have been spent on drainage works that can drain nothing, and on drains where there is nothing to drain. I Avill, however, confine my remarks to circumstances that have come within the knowledge of the present engineer. He says in his letter to this Council: —" So far have I been from taking undue or unauthorised power into my hands that I have been caret'ul (although I held authority from the Public AVorks Committee to order works under the value of £20 on my own responsibility) to obtain the consent of the committee to the expenditure of much smaller sums, ranging from £4 up to £18." It was with this object, sir, of repealing that authority that led to my resolution. An authority given to upend money when the Corporation had £30,000 in hand cannot be held good when the Corporation is £7000 in debt. However careful the engineer may have been not to exceed the ancient authority held by his predecessor, and apparently confirmed to himself, when this Corporation could aiford to squander money, we still have the fact that without special authorisation he is responsible for the footpath and curbing in Cooto road. AVhat has been done cannot now be helped; Vut a bett'T and more business-like administration can be initiated; hence my resolution. I maintain that when this Council accepts the annual contracts, no power or authority is given to thy engineer to put out v»e pennyworth of work to any yxio °f

those contractors. I contend that not a single cartload of metal should be laid on tho° streets without the sanction of the Public "Works Committee. At every meeting of the committee the engineer or road overseer should state the nature and cost of the works required to be done during the ensuing fortnight. _ The Council would then" know to a shilling what was being spent. Now, sir, to come more directly to the point. One of the annual contracts was for tarring the footpaths. A month after this contract was signed the contractor was set to work without, as far as I can ascertain, any authority from the committee. There was simply the contract, and on the sh-eua-th of that the contractor was set to work." It is nothing to the point that the work was performed in such a way that it has not been passed. If the work had been done to the satisfaction of the engineer it would have been passed, and The fii>t knowledge-—official knowledge--the committee would have, had of it would have been when the vouchers were presented for payment. The object of my resolution was to put a stop to that sort of thing, and I have the courage of my convictions to s-iy that that sort of thing should be put a stop to. The overdraft of the Corporation now stands at £->131 in addition to the recently contracted debt of £-2000, and whether I am in the Council or out of it, I shall maintain that, without the greatest car;; and supervision be exercised, the time cannot bo far distant when increased rates will become a necessity. A rather heated debate followed, in which Crs. Ellison and MeDougall took a prominent part, both councillors alleging that Cr. Price had failed to substantiate" the charges made by him. Cr. Margoliouth snid he would like to touch upon a few points that has evidently been overlooked by C'r. Price, and for which Cr. Ellison ha:l" twitted him. He (Cr. Margoliouth) could prove that Cr. Price was right when he said that the engineer's estimate of the cost of the waterworks was exceeded by i2OOO. Mr Lamb had estimated the work to cost .{."10,013, whereas it had actually cost £11,-300, together with £900 more required to complete if, and this notwithstanding the fact that the iron was obtained for £SOO less than the engineer had reckoned upon. The laying of the pipes also cost a great deal less than Mr Lamb estimated, and on one occasion he had stated that, with the saving in the cost of iron, the whole work could be carried out at .something under CIO,OOO. The cost of the pumping station again showed the engineer's judgment to be at fault. He had estimated it to cost £180, while it actually cost £1009. The land, on the other hand, cost £300 less than was estimated. It might also be pointed out that on the 13th April last year Mr Lamb certified to the Council that the whole of the draiiiag-e .scheme was complete, and the balance of the special loan account was then transferred to the general account, but on Apnl 19th, exactly six days later, Mr Lamb forwarded to the Council an estimate of permanent works required which would (tost £10,083. AY'ith respect to the mutter of curbing he had spoken privately to Mr Lamb on the matter, and the latter replied that it was a part of the drainage scheme. Now, if this were correct, why had Mr Lamb previously certified that the drainage scheme was complete r In concluding Cr. Margoliouth said he did not think Mr Lamb was justified in writing in the way he had done, nor should the Council be called upon to answer communications such as that received. Cr. Monidih believed that new matter had been introduced into the case, which was unfair, while the former charges had been passed over. If Cr. Margoliouth referred back, moreover, he would find that it Avas the Council and not the engineer that had declared the drainage scheme to be complete. This was done in order that the balance of the loan might be placed to the wateworks extension. Cr. Graham could not see that any wrong had been done to the engineeer. There was no necessity, so far as he could see, for for taking any notice of Mr Lamb's letter at all. Cr. AVall said he was primarily responsible for the curbing' in Cooto road. He was of opinion that Cr. Price's motion respecting unauthorised expenditure had not been passed a moment too soon. The motion was then put, and the Council divided. Ayes. Crs. Ellison. M'.Dougall, Montcith, and Cotton; Noes, Crs. AVall, Price, Margoliouth, and Graham. The Mayor, after some little hesitation, said he would give his casting vote with the Ayes, and the motion was declared carried. TIIK TAX SYSTEM. Cr. Cotton's motion >•<• striking a separate sanitary rate to defray the expenses fo the pan system, was withdrawn in consequence of an opinion from the municipal solicitors to the effect that no separate rate could be struck except upon petition from the ratepayers interested. vouchees. A'ouchers for the month, amounting to to £072 Is 9d, were passed for payment, and the Council adjourned.