ADJOURNING THE COUNCIL.
To the Editor. Sir,—l was very much surprised to find upon reading your report of the last meeting of the City Council that his Worship the Mayor said that at the previous meeting he did not adjourn the Council. His words most distinctly were to the effect—" I shall adjourn the Council." I then" remarked " You have no power to do so." The Mayor then said " I shall resume the chair in a quarter of an hour," and accordingly at once vacated it. After he had done so Cr. Campbell remarked, "I think the Council is illegally adjourned." Mr the Town Clerk, was appealed to, and he stated the Mayor had no power to adjourn the Council. If all this does not go to prove that his Worship did adjourn, I do not know what does. The Mayor has unfortunately a somewhat Jesuitical way of regarding facts, and ia decidedly foggy as to what powers he has under the Acts which govern the Council. A diligent perusal of these and the bye-laws will convince him, if he is open to conviction, that his too frequent expressions of "Sit down, sir," and "Resume your seat, sir," are entirely beyond his powers. By a study of May's Parliamentary Practice he will also discover that it is not usual for the Speaker (whose position in the Council he occupies) to be continually calling members to order, but that he generally waits for some member to rise to order, whereupon he decides the point; and the reason for this is, I think, sufficiently obvious. He will also find that it is decidedly unusual for the speaker to make long speeches on almost every subject that comes before the Council. . I adopt the medium of your paper to express my views herein, inasmuch as there has been shewn a disposition on the part of the present occupant of the civic chair to burke free discussion on such subjects unless at the expense of "a scene."—lam, &c., fl. S. Fish, Jun. Dunedin, November 27.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD18761127.2.15.4
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Evening Star, Issue 4291, 27 November 1876, Page 3
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341ADJOURNING THE COUNCIL. Evening Star, Issue 4291, 27 November 1876, Page 3
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