MUNICIPALITY OF SYDENHAM.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 762, 29 November 1876, Page 3

MUNICIPALITY OF SYDENHAM.

A meeting of the ratepayers of the Spreydon district was held last evening at the Oddfellowß' Hall, Montreal street south, to consider the expediency or otherwise of establishing the proposed municipality of Sydenham. There was a very large attendance, and Mr H. J. Tancred, chairman of the district Boad Board, occupied the chair. The chairman, in his opening remarks, said that several of the inhabitants of the district which it was proposed to form into the municipality of Sydenham, had asked him to call a meeting to reconsider matters connected with the proposed municipality. It had been represented to him that the meeting held in September had come to a rapid conclusion. That meeting had been held before the Acts had become law under which the municipality would have to be worked, and now that the Acts had come down, they were in a better position to judge whether the new municipality would be advantageous to them. He had given this matter some consideration, and must confess that he could not see the advantages which they would gain by forming themselves into a borough. He would read the extracts he had made affecting the question. In reply to a ratepayer, the chairman said the meeting was a public one, and had been called by him as chairman of the Boad Board, at the request of a number of the ratepayers. He had taken the chair, but would be glad to vacate it if the meeting so desired. Mr Allison said he held the opinion that any person who held such strong feelings on the matters to Lie discussed should not be asked to occupy the chair. The Chairman said ho did not hold any very strong in the matter, but if the meeting so desired they could elect another chairman. _ Mr Booth was of the opinion that Mr Tancred should retainthe chair. There were few of them who understood the new Municipal Act so wsll.'and they should be thankful to Mr Tancred for calling the meeting, and his kind offer of giving them some information as to the new Acts passed, which it would be beneficial for them to know. Mr Tancred here said he should prefer not to retain the chair. It was v.!'opo3ed and seconded that Mr T»ncrcd take the chair; but having vacated it, that, genilcmun declined to act. Aficr considerable dieeussion, and several persons had been proposed and seconded, bu' declined, Mr Tancred was prevailed upon by the unanimous vote of the meeting, and consented to act as chairman, as he said that the business for which they had been called together did not seem to be in a fair way of progressing. Having taken the chair, Mr Tancred said he believed that at a

meeting of ratepayers the chairman always took the chair, and that was a meeting of ratepayers, although perhaps not called in accordance with the Ordinance. Having considered the new Acts closely, he had come to the conclusion that if they were to change their present position, thoy would be acting unadvisedly. The documents he would refer to were three in number, viz, Sir J. VogeFs financial statement, giving generally the mind of the Ministry ; the Financial Arrangements Act, giving the subsidies payable to local bodieß, and the Municipal Corporations A ct, showing the position of the district if formed into a municipality Now be thought that considering these documents it would be necessary to remember that the chief value of the local bodies, in the eyes of the Government, was as a machinery for relieving the consolidated fund from some burdens hitherto ; borne by it, (The chnirman here read from page 15 of the Financial Statement.) The present law placed the county districts and the town districts or boroughs in two entirely different positions, with the evident intention of making their revenues quite distinct. It would be seen trom page 12 of the fiuancial statement and from clause 13 of the Financial Arrangements Act that the borough would derive their subsidies out of the consolidated revenue, and in clause 9 of the latter that the counties and road districts would be subsidised from the land fund, and what was t Tmed the balance of the land fund, which this year amounted in Canterbury to £75,000. The term for which boroughs were to receive subsidies was limited to five years, and to be only £1 for every £1 rained by rates. In the case of the Counties »ud Road Boards, there was no such limitation, as besides receiving the £1 for £1 they also received an additional sum from the balance of the land sales. As to fees and fines, the counties, as well as the boroughs, received these, so that in this respect they stood on a similar footing, but neither would get the full amount of this revenue, as there would be a pro rata deduction to be made for the support of charitable institutions, as would be found by a reference to clause 13 of the Financial Arrangements Act. It would be observed from what he had read from the financial statement, that it was proposed to impose the maintenance of the charitable institutions on the local bodies eventually, and thus the Act said that " thepro iota deduction shall be made in the manner prescribed until further provision is made in that behalf." There was, however, one peculiarity in the mode of apportioning the revenue arising from fees and licenses, which would probably cause a serious diminution in the case of such a municipality as Sydenham, as would be seen from clause 23 of the Financial Arrangements [clause read] and the expense of a separate staff must be considered as a further deduction from the revenue that would be received. In clause 102 of the Municipal Corporations Act there was also mentioned a numerous list of paid officers, such as Mayor, treasurer, surveyor, and auditor, each of whom might or might not receive salaries, but there was one who must be paid, and he was the town clerk, whoaccording to the work that would be required of him in clauses 40, 41, and 42 would certainly have to receive as a consideration some very substantial remuneration. According to a number of clauses of the Act it did not apparently contemplate the formation of what might be termed an agricultural district such as Sydenham into a municipality. The clauses he referred to (Nos 190, 195,197, 8,9, 200, 1,2, 204, 5, 207, 349) seemed to be applicable to a town district, but were quite inapplicable to a country district; and though some of these appeared to be unnecessary in a district such as theirs, were, very necessary and proper in a town, and yet if found to be unnecessary, would act vexatiously, With regard to licenses, it appeared to him that a difficulty might ariße from the immediate vicinity of the proposed borough to Christchurch. For instance, there would have to be cabs licensed to ply for hire in the borough, and these might have been previously licensed by the municipality of Christchurch, and to ply in their borough would be compelled to take out another license. Complications might also arise from the number to be shown on each vehicle. A similar conflict might arise from hawkers', pedlars', and other licenses, and it seemed to him most likely that such would occur from the existence of two municipalities touching each other. For himself, he should certainly object to be included in the new borough, as he felt assured that as a borough the district would be in a less advantageous position than at present, In his opinion there were three courses open to the ratepayers, each, to his mind, preferable to the present proposal. 1. To incorporate the district with the comparatively rich and important municipality of Christchurch. 2. To petition the Governor not to include any part of the Spreydon district in the proposed borough, and this course was open to them by clause 26 of the Act. 3. To send in a counter petition to that which it was understood has already been forwarded to the Governor. Having closely considered the Acts passed last session, he did not think he had strained any of the points in the views he had laid before them.

After one or two persona had made some remarks, Mr Booth asked the chairman how it was intended to conduct the meeting, and whether it was to be a free and easy one. The chairman said he would like to have a resolution before him.

Mr Webber said bo should liko to propose a vote of thanks to the chairman. [Laughter | Ho. meant for his trouble in laying his statemeat before them. [Hear, hear.] Mr Booth felt they had met to consider serious matters, and even if it were an opposition meeting, as it seemed to be from the vaiious interruptions, the questions should be carefully discussed. The chairman said he was not aware that the present was an opposition meeting. It had been represented to him that the last meeting had been hurriedly got through, and as chairman of the Road Board he had called them together to fairly discuss the questiou, but not in opposition to the other meeting. Mr Allison said that, representing the committee formed at last meeting, he would deelire to discuss the question, as ho considered tho present to be a meeting of the Spreydon ratepayers, and, as such, had been illegally called. \\r Nairn said he did not intend to discues the question of the proposed municipality that evening, as he endorsed what had fallen from the previous speaker, and was utterly ashamed of the humiliating position in which the members of the Road Board had placed their chairman.

Mr Boothshere read the advertisement, and said the meeting had not been called by the Road Board or by Mr Tancred in his position as chairman.

The Chairman again desired to explain that he had not called the meeting in his capacity of chairman, but having been spoken to by several persons, and asked to call the meeting, he did so as a private individual, but used his position as chairman as an excuse for complying with the request of those who wished the meeting called.

Mr Nairn was aware that the meeting had been called by the consent of the Road Board. The chairman said he had merely submitted the matter to the members of the Road Board as private individuals, stating the request made to him, and asking their advice.

Mr Bell considered that Mr Nairn should be more careful before making such raßh statements. [Confusion.] He would move —"That the portion of the Spreydon district proposed to be included in tho municipality of Sydenham, be not included therein." Mr Treadwell seconded the resolution.

Mr Thompson said that something should be done for the district, no matter by whom, as many portions of it were a disgrace to those who had had the expenditure of the money, and whoever had taken the levels of the district should take no more. [Laughter."! If they would only go to the Road Board they would find that a great deal of money had been Bpent in forming private roads which were seldom traversed by a cart, while another jortion of the district, a few weeks r.go, could have been sailed over in a boat. [ Eear, hear ] Mr Allison said that now a resolution had been proposed he would say a few words. He was exceedingly glad to learn that by the new Act the lands of absent persons could be taxed similar to many holdings in Christchurch, the proprietors of which went away, left their land unimproved, and after the ratepayers had improved it came back and sold it at an exorbitant price, He had carefully gone through the Act, and believed that some of the objections raised by Mr Tancred in the financial aspect of the question were merely phantoms, which would quickly vanish. He (Mr Allison) was perhaps the largest ratepayer in the proposed municipality, and by advancing its establishment as he had done, if it were against the interests of the ratepayers, he would only be hurting himself. [Hear, hear.] Mr Allison then repeated the financial position of the Road Board district given by him at the last meeting, showing what the district would gain if formed into a borough, and how much more money they would have had to spend during last year, and read a number of the clauses of the Municipal Act, in reply to the chairman's remarks, concluding by pointing out the advantages of being formed into a municipality, and said that if it were not found on trial to &ucceed as a borough, they could go back to the old state of things by petition. Mr Booth spoke in favor of the proposed municipality, and considered the move of having the district formed into a borough was a good one. He did not wish to make any reflection on the Road Board, but it must be patent to anyone who took the trouble to look around the district, that the Road Board had very much neglected it. [Hear, hear.] It was lamentable to see the stagnant pools lying around everywhere, though he did not think the Road Board had had the power over the sanitary condition of the place, which might have prevented the present state of things. He again considered that they wero doing right in trying to form themselves into a municipality. Mr Nairn said that under the proposed state of things they would have their own post office, and their own police to look after them. [Laughter.] Mr Treadwell, being called upon, replied to Mr Allison's remarks, and considered that he had very much underrated the expenses of the proposed Borough. They had either gone too far or not far enough, and should have spoken to the Government by the voice of 20,000 persons, If the Government, who had still so many millions of land at their disposal, were to destroy the present squatting monopoly and open the land to the working men on a system of deferred payments, they would soon have money enough to endow all the municipalities. Mr Bell, in his reply, said he had only moved the resolution to provoke discussion, and though not approving of the boundaries of the proposed borough, did not wish to be joined with Ohristchurch. The resolution was then put and negatived.

On the motion of Mr Allison, seconded by Mr Nairn, a vote of thanks was passed to Mr Tancred. for presiding, and the meeting broke up.