CITY COUNCIL.

Evening Star, Issue 3140, 13 March 1873, Page 3

CITY COUNCIL.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the City Council was held last evening. There were present—Councillors Walter (in the chair), Rossbotham, Mercer, Ramsay, Woodland, Neale, Thoneman, and Barnes. The following business was transacted STREET TRAMWAYS. The following letter from Mr E. Bare was read Referring to my letter, dated 2fith ult., proposing to construct street tramways in Dunedin, I have now the honor to submit for your inspection and approval plans, showing sections, and my modifications of the proposed line. . . . Before proceeding further, I beg to state that I claim credit for several improvements in the plan for laying down tramways, and those portions which I claim are marked B. The public utility and advantage of street tramways are no longer an open question. Their general and long-continued use in large cities in America and in most of the great European capitals, lias sufficiently established both points. The cheapness, safety, and economy of labor and personal comfort are obvious, and arc well-known to all who have any knowledge of this kind of traffic The car, as shown upon the drawing, would carry twenty-four passengers inside and twenty outside; in’length it woidd be 10ft; Oft Oin from back to back of seats ; 7ft. clear between the floor and the roof; the seats being BMin. wide, with a clear space of 3ft. Jin. between them ; and ready means of communication would be afforded ; whilst powerful breaks would ensure its almost immediate stoppage when required. The great objection to street tramways, and which in many places delayed their adoption, was that the method of laying the rails caused a serious impediment to the traffic of ordinary vehicles ; but that objection has been entirely overcome. Another obstacle has been the hostility of cabowners and omnibus proprietors, and this hostile influence will not, I apprehend, be less in Dunedin, in proportion to its population, than elsewhere. Private interests must, however, give way to tho public benefit, and it is clear that a company, having capital at its command, and an organised and respectable staff of servants, must be better able to meet public requirements than any number of individual cabowners and cabdrivers. A glance at the byelaws, which have everywhere been found necessary to regulate the management of passenger traffic conducted by the latter, and to ensure something like decency, order, and civility, must of necessity satisfy the most hesitating. 1 beg to ask for exclusive permission to construct and work a line of tramway for ten years, beginning at Princes street south, and ending at the "Water of Leith, a distance of about two ihiles. This line might afterwards be extended to Caversham and the townships of Kensington, St. Kikla, Anderson’s Bay, and other places, and could be easily made to connect with any Railways, and deliver or receive goods upon them in trucks specially constructed for the tramways, I have made estimates of the expense of construction, including rolling stock, ami I find it would not exceed L 3,000 per mile. The present traffic through the Pity, and extra traffic created and absorbed by the tramway system, would be sufficient to pay all working charges, and leave a profit of 20 per cent, per annum. As, of course, it would be impossible to immediately guarantee that amount, no specific sum jer annum could safely be offered to the Corporation for the privilege sought to be obtained. 1 'wbhld, therefore, propose that a certain proportion, say twenty-five per cent, of the nett profits, should be annually paid to the Corporation by way iff royalty. By granting this concession to me as an individual, upon terms of receiving a royalty, the Corporation will only be following a course frequently adopted in other countries, especially by foreign governments, in making concessions for railways. I am assured of the - support of moneyed men here, ami Should have no difficulty in forming a private partnership or a joint-stock company sufficiently strong to carry out the undertaking. In conclusion, I would strongly urge the advisability of encouragement being given to the employment of local capital, in preference to capital from abroad or from a distant part of the Colony; the undertaking is but a small one, mid not calculated to yield such large profits as Would satisfy the requirements of foreign speculators. They would have no feeling of local interest in the scheme, and should they determine to abandon it, or should they carry it out in an unsatisfactory manner, they would not be directly amenable to any proceedings that it might become necessary to take to enforce their obligations. It is highly probable that all a foreign capitalist would do would be to endeavor to form a company, to whom he would sell the concession, and that, if unsuccessful in doing so, the affair would be allowed to drop. This would be a most unfortunate result, because local enterprise would be checked and not easily revived for tho purpose in question. REPORTS, The Reserves Committee reported as follows : That Thos, Pointon’s offer to look after the South Recreation Ground, and keep the same in good order and condition, be accepted on the terms stated in his letter of 2Cth ult.—-Letter from Geo. Munro, 3rd inst., offering 15s per foot frontage for a lease of allotment 1, section 49, block 17, lately submitted for sale by auction. Your Committee has decided that the aboYe*mentioned allotment bo again offered for

sale by auction. — Your Committee has declined the offer of G. Munro to lease for a term of years the lower Market reserve. —That Mr C. H. Street’s valuation in respect of section 30, block 6, bo approved ; and that arrangement be made for a sale of leases of this section in about a month from the present time. Your Committee has decided to lease the section in the following allotments The corner allotment, as now, in one lot; Messrs Oliver and Ulph s promises, in one lot; Messrs M‘Landless, Hepburn, and Co.’s premises, one lot; Messrs Wright, Stephenson and Co.’s premises, one ot. The following is the report of the Public Wo>ka Committee : Your Committee has purchased from Messrs Bright Bros, and Co. 122 yards of Yorkshire flagging, at 8s per yard.—That the tender (L7o 12s 6d) of John Otto, for supplying twenty-five lamps, posts, and fittings complete, has been accepted.—That tenders have been called, and will bo laid before the Council this evening, for the diversion of the Rattray sewer, the work to be done in brick, according to the City Surveyor’s specification. Your Committee recommends that Ll2 he outlayed in finishing the northern portion of George street between Howe and Duke streets, to the extent of four or five chains, and having the footpath gravelled for the same distance. —Vour Committee recommends that the Octagon Market Reserve, fronting Moray place, N.W., be levelled off, hut recommends that the work of filling Tip be not stopped. Your Committee also recommends that the footpath round the Reserve he formed and gravelled in due course. —As to Mr R. B. Martin’s letter of 26th ult.., on behalf of residents in Mornington, asking the Council to contribute L7O towards the cost of forming a road from the top of Stafford street, across the Town Belt, to Eglinton road : Your Committee recommends that a sum of LoO ho voted, to be payable after the work has been completed.—Ordeis have been given to re-lay the flagging at Princes street above Mr Wise’s corner, and to have the channel adjusted ; also to lay down as necessary two loads of metal in King street, near to Mr Gibson’s, butcher.— A letter has been forwarded to the Government as to the desirability of having High street, abutting the Railway Reserve, completed as soon as practi able. —The applications of Mr J. Walsh, and Messrs Hayes and Crawshaw, the former to take a few loads of stone from the Town Belt Quarry, and the latter for permission to remove earth from London street, have been left to Mr Miram, with power to arrange.—As to the letter from the Provincial Government enclosing a communieation from R. Stout, Esq., M.P.C., relative to the state of the Southern Recreation Ground and the ditches around the ground, a reply has been forwarded to the effect that Mr Stout is in error when he states that the Council has taken no steps to improve the ground ; that the nuisance from the ditch is probably not so great as is represented, and being partially caused by the neighboring gasworks is to some extent unavoidable ; that as the Government declined to render any assistance towards cleaning out the ditch alongside the Anderson’s Bay Road, within the City, the Council has already undertaken this necessary work.

A short but acrimonious discussion arose over a paragraph in the report referring to the formation of a footpath in Cargill street, Cr. Woodland condemning the carrying of the work as far as Cr. Neale’s door, and its being undertaken while other and more pressing works, which he had repeatedly mentioned, were neglected. This brought Cr. Neale to his feet, and he deprecated “ reflections ” br ing cast by one Councillor on another. Cr. Woodland retorted by saying he did not insinuate anything, but that there had been underhand work. This w r as denied by Cr. Ramsay and the Chairman, who said the work had come before the Works Committee in the regular way, and was sanctioned by them, Cr. Barnes also complained of this work having been done, when the Dundaa street bridge, which stood in such need of repair, was not attended to. The subject then dropped. The Finance Committee reported :

Your committee strongly urges the Council not to vote money for any public works until the Bank overdraft has been reduced to LC,000: at present it amounts to L 8,200. That Mr Falconer’s salary be increased by the sum of L 25 per annum, and that a further addition of L 25 be made, when he completes his first twelve months’ engagement. That the rates for the shops and buildings of the Dunedin Athenanun be only charged ; and that the items in respect of the remaining portions of the building be struck out. THE SOUTHERN RECREATION RESERVE. Numerously signed memorials, praying the Council to set apart a portion of the reserve “for the purposes of cricket and other out-door exercises,” were referred to the Re-.-erves Committee. THE PUBLICANS AND SLY GROG SELLING. Mr G, Jacobs, honorary secretary to the Incensed Victuallers’ Association, wrote as follows

On behalf of the Otago Licensed Victuallers’ Association, I have been instructed to bring before your notice the appointment of revenue officer. It appears to the Association that the person appointed should be one of great discretion, and that in obtaining convictions, nothing, on the part of the officer appointed, like low artifices or entrapping should be resorted to, as such conduct invariably brings such an office into contempt, and care should be taken not to bring any case into Court without the certainty of a conviction following. Such certainty could at all times be arrived at by the person appointed reporting the case first to your solicitors, and taking their advice as to the propriety of prosecuting. It, however, appears essentially necessary that something should be done in the matter by you, in order to secure to the members of the Association that protection which their heavy license fees and other expenses compelled to be incurred by them entitle them to. It may be as well also to bring before your notice the fact that the Provincial Government, while in receipt of the moneys arising from the source of publicans’ licenses, as far as possible gave protection to the trade, by putting a sum on the estimates for procuring convictions against persons infringing the Licensing Ordinance ; the Association therefore considers that in accepting the source of revenue so derived, your honorable body, in granting such protection, would only be acting in strict accordance witli what has been hitherto done, and with what the Association has hitherto claimed and received at the hands of the Government. The fault of so few convictions having been obtained cannot bo said for a moment to rest with the Government, hut is mainly attributable to the want of capacity and discretion used by the parties employed in attempting to suppress the illicit sale of liquors. Cr. Walter thought the Council was not in a position to take steps in the matter, which was purely one for the Provincial Council to deal with. If the law, as at present existing, was bad, the victuallers must submit to the inconvenience until such time as it could be repealed. Cr. Barnes was decidedly opposed to the Chairman’s view. The Council received the fees, and it was their duty to protect the people they received those fees from. The Government had done so hitherto, and the Council should do so now, Crs. Ramsay and Merger agreed with Cr. Barnes, and, on the motion of tho former, the matter was referred to a Committee. 'IHE mayor’s COURT. Cr. Ramsay drew the attention of tho Council to the Mayor’s Court. He said, if his recollection served him right, the Court was re-established, at tho instigation of Mr Birch, who thought that by getting a large share of the fees and fines, it would be a source of considerable revenue to the City. Mr Birch’s expectations were realised to a certain extent for a year or two, but he found, by a return which the Town Clerk had supplied to him, that there had been a considerable falling off for some time. For instance, for the two years ended December last, the amount of net profit from the Mayor’s Court had only been Ll2B. He was informed that Mr Strode submitted a proposal to the Council, by which the business of the Mayor’s Court could be conducted in his establishment, which would be a considerable saving to the City ; but the Council at that time refused his offer. The matter should, he thought, again come before tho Council for reconsideration. His own opinion was that the Mayor’s Court was a decided loss to the City pecuniarily and other wie, and he was quite prepared to back up his opinion by facts. He thought it would prove on investigation to be a loss to the citizens, and it was high time the Council took the matter into consideration,

Cr. Barnes w,as glad the matter had been brought forward, lie had enquired time after time, and found that loss was coming in from the fees and fines every year. The population increasing and the fines decreasing was a good sign, and he hoped it would long continue so. Cr. Mercer agreed with the remarks of the previous speakers. He was glad public attention was being directed to this matter, for some how or the other it had been always kept from the public. Nearly the whole of the ranger’s time was occupied in the Court; if it had not been, probable the second road through the Town Belt would not have been cut, as was reported that night. It took all the fees and fines to pay the salaries. The Chairman said, if his memory served him right, Messrs Mercer and Barnes were among those who rejected Mr Strode’s proposal when it was made. [Mr Barnes : Hear.] That proposal was not to abolish the Mayor’s Court, but that the two Courts might be amalgamated, on the score of economy. He thought the proper course for Cr Eamsay would be to give notice of motion to appoint a Committee to inquire. Cr, Kamsay did not think that necessary. It was competent for any Councillor to suggest that a Committee should inquire. Cr. Hosrbotiiam claimed credit for having first drawn attention to the matter in the Finance Committee, when Cr. Eamsay had asked him if he intended to take further action, and he replied in the negative. He was, however, glad to see it taken up, and thought it would pay the citizens to close up the Court. ■’ The matter was referred to the Finance Committee, MISCELLANEOUS. Mr Hawkins was appointed to complete the valuation of High Ward. The Town Belt ranger reported that on the 6th instant, he found a man cutting a carriage drive through the Town Belt for Mr Strode ; that he said he believed the latter had permission to do so, but was not sure ; and that it was the second road Mr Strode had cut within the last four years.