CITY COUNCIL.

Evening Star, Issue 3116, 13 February 1873, Page 3

CITY COUNCIL.

The usual fortniyhtly meeting of the City Council was held last evening, 'there were present —'the Mayor (in the chair), Councillors Barn s, Hamsay, Neale, Bossbotham, Mercer, Walter, Woodland, and Thoneman.

THE CUMBEIiLAN’D HTHEKT MEEI INO

The Mayor said that previous to the Council commencing business, he would like to brine before the notice of Councillors a circumstance which came under his own notice in reading over the daily papers that morning. In the Morning Star he found a report of a meeting held at the A yrshire Hotel, Gt. King street, which report stated “Those interested in having a nubance, which exists at the rear of the Albion Soap Works, Cumberland street abated, to ibe number of twenty-five, met at the Ayrshire (let d last evening ; Mr Palmer occupying the chair Neither the chairman nor one of the gentleman who called the meeting appear- dto know much about the matter 80 that Councillor Barnes did all the talking. His efforts were directed to abusing the Star and airing his drainage scheme He said he would not have been present had he thought the matter was a private quarrel as it appeared to he, and it was not to be wondered that although the Councillors had been invited to attend they had not done so. It, however, points to tbe n< cessity for a want of drainage f- r the whole ward.’ He wfte prepared with a system which would have been adopted but for the action of one of their own members; he alluded tq Councillor Neale, whopi'hd characterised as disgrace to tfye CcipmiV- The r- marks which he particularly referred to were those in which Cr. Barnes was reported as having spoken of Cr. Neale as a disgrace to their body. Or. Baknes : I mcstqa 1 your Worship to order before you go any further, beoau e I state distinctly it is a falsehood. There was no reporter from the Evening -Star office there, and Councillor Barnes never said anything of the sort, and no one at the meeting will say so. The Mayor : I am very glad to bear it

Cr Council!™’ “; r nes is able to defend an( i i s a y distinctly it ia a complete falsehood. I did not say my scheme would have been adopted, hvit I did say there would have been drainage down each street if it had not been for one member. There were cries of ii Name,” and I said Or. locale. I hat was all I said about that Councillor, and UO one at the meeting heard me say more. The Daihj Times' reporter was there, but not the Bvbntng Star’s. The Mayor: I am glad, indeed, to hear you disclaim it. When I read the report I was very much struck wiih the rerpark, and I could not believe it possible that you could have been guilty of so speaking of a brother Councillor. In order to teat the truth or otherwise of the report, I made particular enquiries, and have got from one of the persons who were present a verbatim report of what was said. If Or, Barnes disclaims its correctness, the matter will be ended, (,’r. Barnes : I say it shall not be ended. I want to know where you got the report ? The Mayor : The following is given as a verbatim report of what occurred :—:

“ What he (Mr Barnes) agitated for was a thorough system of drainage, and had it not been for one of their Councillors—(cries of “ Name, name”)—Cr. Neale, who was a disgrace to the Council—(A voice : ‘ Who put him in V Another voice: ‘Why, the electors’)—the following places would have been drained,” going on to describe the drainage. Of course, if Cr. Barnes denies here that he maile this statement, there will be an end of the matter. My object in bringing the matter forward was simply this : I say distinctly that, if any member of this Council is to speak outside the Council doors, of bis brother Councillors in the manner Cr. Barnes is said in this report to have done of Cr. Neale, then all hope of doing good for the city is at an end, because it is impossible to suppose that any member can work harmoniously with his brother Councillor, if the latter characterises his conduct in this manner outside the Council. I feel it keenly, and am certain that the Only result of a continuance of this kind of conduct must be that the interests of the citizens will suffer, because it is only human nature to suppose that any Councillor -who has been vilified in this manner by another member of this Council cannot give to motions brought forward by that member, even if they are really for the good of the citizens, that amount of impartial and fair consideration which otherwise they woul 1 call forth. Ido trust,' whether the report be'correct or not, the time baa arrived when Councillors will endeavor to, treat each other with respect and courtesy, so that the business of the City may be conducted in a fair and impartial, spirit. Cr. llossßoxiiAM : Seeing that Cr. Barnes disclaims— Cr, Barnes : I cannot see why the Mayor, is making such a long statement. The Mayor ; I have, on what I consider to be excellent authority, a verbatim report of what occurred. CT, Barnes : X should like to ask where you got it from, for I tell you distinctly you cannot find any living being who will say I used the words.

The Mayor At all events I am very glad to that Or, Bavuos denies it, and !

trust his refutation of what apparently might be a great slur upon him will be borne out by facts. I have simply done my duty in calling attention to the matter. Or, Barnes ; I do not intend to let the matter drop ; but will bring an action against the '•TAR. I have said all I said about Cr. Neale, 'i hey must have got some one else’s words instea I of mine. CR BARNES AND THE MAYOR. Two motions by Or. Ha ,- nes, as follows, found no seconders: —(1). “That his Worship the Mayor explain to this meeting why he would not allow me to speak to the notice of motion given by Or. Barnes, ‘that the Council should issue L 15,000 worth of debentures,’ which I allowed tn stand over until last meetiog. (2). That the Town Clerk give the items of expense of the Governor’s visit, and the names of the persons to whom the moneys were paid ” In reference to the last mentioned, it was exp ained that the Town Clerk would give the desired information ; but Mr Barnes refused to apply to that officer for it. DRAINAGE. The Mayor stated that the deputation ap pointed at a meeting of ratepayers of Bell W.-rd, held on Monday evening at the Ayrshire Hotel, presented the following Resolution, which bad been then carried “That a deputation consisting of Messrs Spiers, Wilson, and Hawker be appointed to wait upon his Worship the Mayor to urge upon him the necessity of the Council at once taking steps to drain the low-lying districts of the ward, particularly Hanover, St. Andrew, Frederick, and Stuart streets. ” The Council wont into committee to consider Cr, Barnes’s proposition to raise L15,00U to be expended on a system of drainage, when, after discussion, the following resolution was carried by six to two That in the opinion of this Commit tee it is inexpedient at the present, time to commence any system of underground drainage, but that the Council be recommended to complete (where found necessary and desirable) the system of surface drainage already commenced.” PUBLTO works. The following report by the Works Committee was read :

Your Committee have the honor to report as follows, and to recommend—as to Mr W. P. fitreofs letter, referring to the encroachment of Water of Leith on property in the neighborhood of Duke street, that no action be taken in this matter. Ke sample cube footpath, that one chain of trial footpath be laid on the south side of Jetty street, as recommended by Mr Mirams in his report. Tenders have been called for the above.—That the work connected with the maintenance of the Mam Road continue to he done as at present.—That Lsbe outlayed at Elm Row to make good a dangerous place. That in future the day work he equalised in each ward. That LlO be outlayed in improving the footpath on the west side of Cargill street; channel to be formed at same time on both sides.—The tender of W, Meade, for carting metal for six months, at Is 2d per yard, has been accepted. -As to tender for quarrying and breaking 2,000 yards metal in Maclaggan street Quarry, your Committee have decided not to accept any tender for this work at present.- Tenders have been called for supplying 25 wooden lamp-posts, with lanterns and fittings complete.—ifc street tramways proposed to he constructed by Messrs O Neill, Thomas, and Co., your Committee recommeded that this matter be considered by the Council, and beg to submit the accompanying letter for the Council’s consideration : —As to letters 20th January and 28th January, from the Government. in refei’ence to work at Queen street, and the reduction of section 1 block 25, your Committee recommend that 4d per yard, be paid, to the Government for all material removed in excess of 17.000 yards, the extra quantities to.be measured before the work is commenced, and the amount to he paid nqt to exceed HQO. He Cr. Walters’ motion, that tlio First Church be leased or purchased for the purpose of establishing Corporation Baths, your Committee has instructed the City Surveyor to inspect the building. and to report as to its suitableness for baths. The Town Clerk has also been instructed to ascertain whether the Church trustees would he willing to negotiate with the Corporation for a sale of the building. —As to the letter from Mr Meikle, junr., applying for payment of a sum of 9s, for lost time bn the recent occasion upon Cr. Barnes had given him instruction to cease working at Albany street, the Councillor’s charges that a Corporation contractor (Mr Meikle) and Corporation daymen had been lately employed doing private work, and that tb Q daymen were not working their pfov er hours, your Committee, after careful consideration, find that none of Or. Barnes’s statements are borne out by the facts, and that there is uo room for censuring any of the Corporation employees in the matter. Your Committee, however, considers there Is ample room for censuring Cr. Barnes for his incipient and indecent interference with the workmen of the Corporation. Such interference your Committee think is derogatory to any member of the Gouncil, and baneful in its influence on the Inspector of and on the men. Your have reported to your Council i» terms to these, relative to Cr. Barnes’s interference but without avail; and your Ocmupittee have had to lecmnmend that it lie an instruction from the Council, that no interference on the part of any councillor, shall he permitted by Surveyor, Inspector, or workmen. If any councillor has cause for complaint, the proper place to lodge such complaint is at the Council Chambers. Cr. Barkis objected to the Council paying the 9s to Meiklp- He stopped away from the Committee’s meeting on purpose ; and if he saw anything wr<ng be would interfere just as he had done before, let the consequences be what they might. Cr. Ramsay, in moving the adoption of the report, said he would add that the employes of the Council be instructed to receive no instructions from any member of the Council. He thought it derogatory to the dignity of a councillor to be interfering with the men. If there was anything wrong the proper way was to report it to the Council ; and for his own part he would not be a member of the Council if it was expected that he was to go about enquiring and tying to find out whether the Corporalion men were doing their duty or not. Cr. Waltek seconded the motion with pleasure. The conimiltee had been very care fnl and guarded in the enquiries they had made. The report was not intended to cast the slightest blame on Cr. Barnes, but to be for his future guidance, for if similar conduct were persisted in, the business of the Council would becoiife perfectly chaotic. The report and motion were adopted, Cr. Barnes being the only voice in the negative. MISCELLANEOUS.

Mr Douglas, Secretary of the Friendly Societies’ Hall Company, intimated that it was their intention to raise the floor of the pit, and make other alterations as early as possible, and that when doing so the matter of widening the passage from the stalls would be carried out.—A number of ratepayers in Brown street petitioned that a fence might be erected along the most dangerous part of a cutting in that street. —Mr Syser, agent for Chairini’s Cirgus, applied to be allowed to erect a marquee upon the Southern Market Reserve, which was granted. -The Under Secretary wrote on the subject of the It at ray street sewer, which the Ota'/o Daib/ Tinua Company had announced their intention of stopping up, that the Government had been, advised that it was not responsible for any damage which might be done tp the city in the event of the Company taking the action threatened,— The Reserves Committee reported amongst other things that S. Turnbull had been appointed sexton of the Southern Cemetery, during the Council’s pleasure, at a salary of L7o a year.—Mr Walter’s motion, that Stafford street, from Kempthorne’s to Hope street, be grave-fled, channelled, and asphalted, was carried.—Mr Ramsay’s motion, ;that, Yorlf p'ace, from Russell street to ; Fililenl street, should be brought to it a. permanent level, w;as referred tp the Wwka Committee, Cr. Baines intimating that he would strenuously oppose the proposed leasing of the reserve near the Middle District School, —A vomw" ideation from the Fire Brigade was also referred to that Committee ; the Mayor explaining that the Brigade appeared to be under a misapprehension on the subject the letter dealt with,