The Globe. MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1088, 24 December 1877, Page 2

The Globe. MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1877.

We are glad to find that at last a stir is being made by the members of the CityCouncil towards the erection of a suitable building for a Town Hall. The present edifice, which now does duty for one, is in a sadly dilapidated state, and as we have pointed out on former occasions, most inconvenient and unsuited for the purpose. Even were it not so unsuitable, the time has arrived when the City Council and officers of the city should be lodged in a manner more befitting the wealth and importance of Christchurch. The want of such a building is felt in more ways than one. Meetings of ratepayers to consider important subjects have now to bo called to suit the convenience of the letting of the only available building, and there are a number of other inconveniences which would be obviated did the city possess a Town Hall. But a still more powerful argument was adduced by Councillor when the matter was under discus^ oll in the City Council. He drew a most but b y u 0 mea]l < s exaggerated, picture of the danger in which the city fathers sat at each fortnightly meeting. This alone, if no other equally potent reasons were able to be adduced, should iufluence the ratepayers iu the direction pf. wtttef about the Motion oi

a new Town Hall at once. The city already possesses a site for such a building, and therefore there would be no large expense incurred in the purchase of land. The only outlay would be the building itself, and considering the advantages to bo derived by the city from its possession, this is not a very formidable matter. The increased efficiency with which the duties of the various offices could l)o performed would in itself be a great gain. The stops taken by the Council in appointing a committee to consider and report upon the subject is a judicious one. The members composing it have all of them been for many years practically acquainted with the unsuitability of the present building. Therefore their ideas upon the subject, coupled with the information they will be enabled to acquire, will render their report a valuable one. That there is urgent necessity for a Town Hall here no one will deny, and therefore it seems that the labors of the committee will be mainly directed towards the ways and means of providing the money, and the general character and arrangement of the building - . We trust that no time will be lost in putting this information before the Council, and that if the report of the committee be such as to warrant it, steps will at once lie taken to bring the matter to a practical conclusion. Whilst on this subject it may be noted as matter for congratulation that the sum of £3OOO has been voted for the equally needed new Resident Magistrate's Court.

The time haw arrived when the representatives of the people have to render an account of their action in the Assembly. Already, in various parts of the colony, this has been done, and, in Canterbury also, the note of preparation has been sounded. This being so, it appears to us to be the proper time to make a suggestion which a long experience of postsessional utterances induces. It is that the various members, instead of giving us a bald resume of the actual occurrences of the session, which is really a repetition of what we already know, should show what bearing upon our social and political condition the legislation will have. The telegraph keeps us, during the session, so fully acquainted with the doings of Parliament that an exhaustive reference to it in the speeches of the members after their return is always somewhat wearisome. But few of the general public, however, are acquainted with the bearing and effect of the legislation, concerning which they have heard so much talk. It would, therefore, be both interesting and instructive if the members would only refer to the well known events of the session, as a text upon which to found the reasons for their action, or to explain their result upon the general welfare of the community.