The Evening Star THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1869.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2028, 4 November 1869, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1869.

"We were unwilling to make any comments upon the privilege question that engaged the attention of the City Council yesterday, until the matter had been fairly and fully discussed amongst themselves. On its face, the notice of motion given by Mr Walter carried the appearance of being, to say the least of it, unwise, and might tairly have been open to comment. .But it had reference to transactions that have been recently so prominently before the public, that it seemed scarcely proper to commit ourselves to the expression of a definite opinion upon it, until all that could be said in favor of it was published. Mr Walter moved it yesterday afternoon, and now all difficulties to the discussion of it are removed. But first we must compliment that gentleman on the manner in which he brought it forward, and the whole Council on the temperate tone in which the proceedings were conducted. We do not agree with their decision, for reasons that we shall shortly state. It was evident that fiction was at work, and that there was even personal feeling connected with the matter ; but these were kept under subjection to a p: oper regard to the courtesy due by one councillor to another and to the Mayor. It is seldom that matter so nearly verging on the personal, is dis-

cussed in legislative with such apparent freedom from acrimony and in so gentlemanly a manner. Thus far there was nothing to be found fault with ; but the subject under consideration cannot be so easily disposed of. The whole question, so far as the Council is concerned, is a mistake a meddling with matters that do not concern it. ‘There is something very specious in a legislative body assuming to itself the right of having every letter read that is addressed to it, as proposed by Mr Fish. Such a resolution, at first sight, seems very reasonable, and so it would be were the functions of the City Council executive as well as deliberative. Just as reasonably might the Provincial Council or the General Assembly insist upon every letter being read that bears upon the carrying out of the business of the various departments of the Province 01 the State. But in order to arrive at a correct idea of the matter, the functions of the Council must be clearly and accurately defined. Their office is deliberative and legislative. In regard to City rates, when they have decided upon what that rate shall be, and passed the resolution in the specified form, they have fulfilled their duty, and the execution of their decree is remitted to the Mayor and his officials. Henceforth they have nothing to do with it so long as the collection is proceeded with. Their work is done unless it can be shown that neglect or fraud or mismanagement in the collection of the rate has been evinced, when in the fulfilment of their duty, the matter must be strictly scrutinised and examined into. There cannot be a worse precedent than the busy-bodyism, or, we should like to think it, mistaken good nature of Mr Fish, as described by himself. A ratepayer was a defaulter. According to the statement made by the Mayor and Town Clerk, he had been most leniently dealt with. His rates for years had been collected piecemeal and with infinite trouble to the rate collector’. He was about to leave the town, and as that was known, and as he feared pressure, he tried to avert it by not going to the executive officer of the Corporation, the Mayor, but by appeal to the sympathies of one of the legislative body, Mr Fish. That gentleman must have known that of all things it was most unwise to interfere in the matter; that it was a most unheard of precedent for a Council to sit in deliberation upon whether its own mandates should be carried out or not, unless by petition some special case could be brought before it j that if such an appeal were made or entertained by the Council on behalf of one ratepayer, every ratepayer in the City had a perfect right to put in the same plea, and that therefore it was his duty, if he interfered in the matter at all, to do so by private conference with the Mayor, to see if an arrangement could be made, that the City should be no loser while leniency should be shown to the defaulter. But no, that obviously only business course was not adopted. Mr Fish, instead of that, suggested the very raw and foolish recommendation to his friend, to write a letter addressed to the Mayor and Corporation, and then the matter must be brought forward and discussed at the meeting of the Council. Now with all due deference to Mr Fish and the City Council, who endorsed his verdict, the Mayor would have been as foolish as he, had that letter been read. We repeat it was altogether an executive and not a legislative matter, and we are surprised- that any member of the Council could be found to sanction such a proceeding. The mere addressing a letter to the Mayor and Council does not necessarily bring the subject matter within the range of the Council to consider. Any man may choose to address a letter in that way that wants to get up a grievance. If such is to be the course of proceeding, the City had better dispense with the services of a Mayor and Town Clerk altogether, and invest the whole of the business details ' in the City Council. This matter, though apparently trivial, really is more serious than it appears. Popularity is easily gained by those who choose to buy public support, by a seeming championship of those who represent themselves oppressed; and when the Mayorship is in view, it is an easy and cheap way of gaining favor with the ratepayers, to advocate leniency and forbearance in collecting rates. Mr FiSii, according to the statement made of the increased difficulty of collecting them since he has stood forward to control the executive, is likely to have plenty of applicants for his services ; and the Council is likely to he inundated with letters addressed as he advised. If ever he should be chosen Mayor, however, he will find he has forged fetters that he cannot consent to wear, and learn too late for his own comfort in ofiice that the only proper i way of dealing with matters once dc- • cided by the City Council, consistantly with the dignity of their position, is by > petition within properly prescribed > limits. The Mayor very properly said, - “Had I been chosen by this Council, I

should have resigned my office, but, having been chosen by the citizens, I O “ jj cannot forsake my trust.