GHEYMOUTH IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 171, 16 February 1867, Page 2

GHEYMOUTH IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE

ADJOURNED PUBLIC MEETING. ; The ndjourned public meeting for tho pm-prwj of roceivins the report of tho Im- . provement Committee, Avas held on Thurs- . fl;i.y evening at the Religions Institution Room, Greymonth. Mr De Costa Avaa voted to the chair. ; The Chairman briefly explained the ob-, jects for which the 1 nlesting had beenljk called... .;>•••>;.=: W"The niinuteß;Qf the last meeting Avero read, and after;: a short discussion were adopter!. :: Mr MacleAx before readin« the report made some remarks concerning the Grcu Ewer Argit&witix regard to tlie last mect•inw. . ;&, ; - ; - ; ■ Mr HARiftisoir rose to a question of order — (question'; chair, order) — with Avhafc the Grey River Argus had said or not said, the meeting liact nothing whatever to do. - Mr Maclean,; then read the report, which for the reason explained elscAvliero Aye are unable to publish. - .' It was proposed by Mr,. Lahman and seconded by Mr Harris 'that the Trea- ! surer's report be read before the meeting ' entertained tho question of 'wlopting the report. Mr Coates thought that the meeting had a right to haA'e Mr Paynes 1 .report report read — (cries of order, question.) . Mr Whalt, supported Avhat Mr Coates had said, and proposed as an amendment that Mr PaAaie's report be read. Mi'. Lahman: What had the meeting lo do : with "Mr Payne's report' I—ib1 — ib Avas called to hear the Committee's report. Mr Wliall's. motion Avas no amendment. Mr BAtir : It Avas not far the province of the meeting to receive any other report but that: of tlie Committee. Tlie Chairman decided that there was' no amendment before tlio meeting, and Mr Lahman 's motion Avas caiTied. Mr Macfari,ani> (tlie^Hon TrpM-snrer) then road his report, which for tlie reason already niontioned avo are unable to publish. ' ;■■■■ . Mr Lahman moved the adoption, of .tho reports. He Avas sure the public must bo satisfied Avith the labors of the Committee. They had done all in their power for the' interests of the town. *'" Mr Revell seconded the resolution. Mr Whall moved as an amendment that before the adoption , of the reports, tho report Avritten by the Secretary be read. (Hear, hear, 'and no, no.) Mr Bain rose ! to order*; tho meeting Avas called only to receive the Committee's report. ' . ' Mr Heron supported the amendment. Mr Maclean explained that before tho late secretary, (Mr Payne) left for Brighton, he left a report Avith him, but OAving to tho diißculty of getting a full attendance of the Committee it had not been ;-! passed. The report he h;ul read was tlio ,- report of the Committee, and with his con- £ sent none, other should bo read. (Hear, I hear.) ' "'. , f ; On the amendment bcincc put it Avaa v lost, the. motion being carried by a large 'majority.. „ - . -.Moved by. Mr Kins* and secotidetl by Mr D^vies, that the Treasiiror's,rcport be adopted, Avliich Avas earned. J| Tlie CHAniMAN then informed the meet- €& incr that aa tlie membei-s of the old Com- Jj, mitteehad delivered their resignations it ' Avas now the business of tlie meeting to elect their successors. Mr Harkison desired before the meeting proceeded to auy further business io pro] iose a resolution which lie 1 was suro^, Avould receive the hearty sanction of all? ]v esenfe He cqnsidei ed that the Avarmest thanks of the x^iblic were due to the members of the late Committee for tlie zealous and efficient manuer in Avliich they had fulfilled the "trust imposed^ upon them. ; Their' labors, had- been of gi'eat sen'ice to, the iulmbitants, and lie Avould therefore moA'e a cordial vote of thanks to the late Committee for the able and zealous manner in ./which they had 1 - performed i their ' duty. (Hear, hear.) Mr Aaronson seconded the resolution * Mr Da vies asked if Mr Harrison, -i had any objection to include speci?Uy in , , his resolution the name of Mr Payne, the ) late honorary secretary, whoso services had been of great value to the citizens. Mr Harrison was quite agreeable to ' Mr Davieat' suggestion, as he considered Mr Payne to have special claims on tho consideration of- the public. Tlie resolution as. amended Ayas put^and carried Urianimpijslyi [ Mi- MAcr/EANi thanked the meeting forthis exi^ression of theiv approval- of tho actions of the The Com-> ■mitteehad-' ahy|||jendeavorßd to do their duty, ap.d it "was}a source of great satisfac^ . tibntp them to know that their labqrs had been of beneSt t&jthe citizens-. .; : Mr Bain prpppscd, and Mr Heron seconded! that the number of members to ;^e elected be .twelve —six to* be elected foreach portion of the town. Mr EissLiNfi desired^ before they Avent anj r further in the matter of electing a neAV Committee, to urge that steps, be taken to obtain municipal rights— j^hear, hoar). There Avas a very urgent necessity that the citizens. should- be placed' in a, position to deal Avith many important * questions of local government, which they' now unable to interfere Avith— such as nuisances, drainage, &c. The condition "trf-the town Avas really frightful ; heaps of tilth Avere recklessly scattered about tho streets .,; piggeries Averc*established > in thoheart of the town ; and there was not a single .drain to receive the sewage which now accumulated- in the. streets and created disease. He had- no intention to. » cast any reflection on the Improvement y Committee,, for, as they Avere all aAvare, '» the Committee had no power to act In these matters. He therefore moved .that instead qf an. Improvement Committee, a Committee be appointed to take the ne-, cessary steps to have the town proclaimed a municipaliiy-^-(loud cheers), t. • Mr Harris seconded the resolution . Mr Maclean -"quite agreed that" it was ' very necessary that the inhabitants should obtain> ibuhicipal -privileges, but the ImprbA'ement Committee Avaa the proper- £ body to: endeavor to procure "them. -^Stepa ~*~J& had already been taken in that direction by the late Committee, and their success- * c ors Avould, no doubt, use every esertion to carry out what Avas Avanted. Mr Whall (who was received "with cheei-s) desired to make some remarks concerning the course he had: taken with xegavd to, the extension/o f municipal rights to Greymouth. He had seriously thought the matter"over, and he had comb to the conclusion that the inhabitant .^ f Avere hot yet in a position to tmderta-uM|^. . the reAponaibilitie;/ of loca.l- govevumen^!r|

Ho had several felons f6r coming to this conclusion : first^ no tbwnsliip had ', jak yjst been surveyed ; Secondly, local •gpyern^' ment meant local ; responsibility : jor,^ißii|)r plying ,the tbwn" menta r %Mch;;he;thoiijgli^-the;Gov^iraenj(i''; ought to do before^: the^ expense of pal goverhment, -shoitlU be. undertaken.; For instance, thSre.CVas the piling- the?; river bank j and other important and costly* works. Another reason for his objecting to take charge of a Bill was that he Had seen the evils and difficulties which had attended the, working of the Municipal Ordinance in ()tliefertpwns. In Christchurch it had cost^iilie ; Municipal Council LI 500 inlaw. expenses j to recover L9OO or LIOOO, and a similar state of things prevailed , atPortLyttelton.* In the instance of Hokitika, the first Ordinance was discovered to be illegal,^ and he felt that it was more than he was capable of doing to attempt thaVwhich tfiree lawyers had been uiiabie : to do properly. "it was too much responsibility for him to frame a Bill giving the citizens power to lej^. rates, t^c.. It was the duty of th<i*Gp»r vernmentto protect the river bank against the floods^ ?Ii;, might be said that gvarits would be 'obtained from the Government, ]>nt it \y as! not;- likely they would givet'6 Greymbiitli ; r Kat%they had . refused to Lyttelton arid dhtj|lchureh. Before they, accept. injinicipal|g§^ernment, the river bank should .bie^a^te secure, and the township: sh6uld;|^surveyed. At Hpkitika these^thiiig||Kid been done by the Government^' an^lliesides the Municipal Coun cil thero i\|i.d^ val liable reserves, the wharfage f dues, and other sources of income, which Greymonth had not. It should be the duty of the inhabitants to get granta for improving the back streots, schools; &<j. , before thinking of municipal resporisibilities,; He certainly thouglit.it would be better for the Improvement Committed ;tq . ;make enquiry as to what was really Avahtedheforati'jang. for a municipal government. There were several other matters i /which he might mention as demanding rthe- attention of the Commit tee, L46,ooo;liad been voted for general purposes {■■iuv^Vestland, and L 35,000 for roads and surveys. He thought Greymoutli waa;entitlod to one-third of that, and it sJii^d bVtiie duty of the Committee- ;to get that share of tho money foi^this^cliatricfc. LIOQO had been voted for purposes, and a third of that ought to be applied to the Grey district; There was another matter that out to /be., attended to before asking for municipal privileges. Ha believed a greafc improvement; could ba made in the bar by stoppings the flow of the tide into the lagoon. this opportunity, also, of referring; tp another matter— the hospital,- He had been, credibly informed that it was tlie intention of the Committee to lock the doors of the hospital and hand thVkeya 'to' the Government, Whatever difference <jf opinion there might be on other maiteraf lie was sure the Government and .(Dpuncil were earnestly desirous that tlier^rshouid be proper care and; treatment 6f#ie sick and destitute. He j had askeid-ioria voto of LOOO, balicving it would b3,sni|pient, and lie was informed, that the i Nelson' Government would gre a simttarsuni^JHe hoped next session to j obtain a ;suffiti^fb vote to carry onthe in-, ; stifcntion in" airifficie \i lnanuev. L2OJO j Jn-1 bsin-ytrtcdifor contingent, bs for- hoa- ! pi ils,aridteiie^of destitute persons, and < ro dpubtifr "isjiiji application were made, the | Goyerhmeritwiould ajjportion part ot this su,m to: this institution. Mr Biisf Was willing to amend his motion to ;:the effect that the committeu hold- office until a Municipal .Council bo inaugurated. Mr Harrison considered tlisit Mr Whall was entitled to the thanks of the meeting for -the; information lie (Mr Whall) had afforded regarding the various matters he had mentioned. But he entirely dissented from Mr'Whall's arguments against a Municipal Go v ir .iment. * Mr Whall had admitted it was nocessaiy that there Bhould be some recognised body to represent the citizens in their dealings with the Government j and lie (Mr Harrison) was of opinion that; ..the Government was far more likely; ?toj have confidence in a legally constituted body than a mere Improvement Committee. Why the very business of electing .an Ini2>rovement Committee was a steptp^ards that which Municipal privileges would give them altogether. He denied that tliet granting of municipal ■pjwers would in. any way prejudice the inhabitants -iyith- respect to the expenditure by Gbvernment^pn the public works. T:iose sums were voted by the Pro/incial Council, and tile Provincial Legislature would have done the^same whether there was a municipal body ;pr not. The necc a-. sityof beingable to- de^l'with the sanitary condition, of : the tqvyti must be apparent to,every resiienfc^;it/was notorious that Bickness was, very prevalent, and could be directly traced to, the pernicious influence of the nuisances which were allowed to exist uncheckerli^SßDß was quite willing to support Mr Bain's amended resolution. Mr Heroit drew:fattention to the fact that Mr Mackay r ;th*e Commissioner of Native Reserves, had informed him that certain reserves had been given to the Government onV condition that Mackay street should.be filledand levelled. : Mr ißEVßiiJclenied that any such condition existed;:' He might also, explain that the Maori township was not under the power, oftthe Government, Mr; HEitpsfwas sorry to contradict Mr Reyell, -forhe had that day been summoned: for "throwing a piece of bread into the street|for his dog. If Mr RevelFs atatemeii^lwas coiTect it appeared that as Mas^sixateV he had exceeded Ins authority, • Mr Rbvbll : Tho Government have authority in all public thorougtifares. 'Mr Shepherd spoke in favor of Mr Bain's motion, anil he fully agreed with ; MclHarrison's remarks. He could bear, testimony to the great benefits which had attended municipal government in Vic-torialJ-rJTlie Government would, he thoujgh%?be more likely to grant money to a Municipal Council than to an Improyemepti Committee. A ; dii<3ussion ensued on the'respective lr.oiions of Messrs Bain and Kissling, and. ' ultimately Mr Bain agreed to. allow his resolution to contain a clause pledging the Committee to .use every effort to obtain municipal privileges for the town. Mr Macleax did not see the necessity of any such pledge. It was the obvious duty of the Committee to obtain nmiiicipal righfei ipi; the town, and to- pledge . them seemed a itacitsljurj: After some fiir;aer^d^ultory. discussion Mr Bain's resoii^ipn^' reeant&ded, was seconded by Mr Shep^erii|iand-camed, - The nieetmgjien proceeded to' nonilnate candidates for"the new Co nmittee^whtn the following gentlemen were duly prY %.-■., ■ -":-^y% ■■. ■'■■„■ ■■;■■■■■■.J

■ppseel and seconded. : — For. tHe;. Maori Towiiship : Messrs Comiskey, . Affleck, Dalies, Kilgour, Hughes, Labinan, Suinrtusv, Masters; Kennedy, Blackmoreißeron , smd Hamilton. " For the Government A: : Messrs Kenrick,, Whall, ■Simmon's, Levy, Bain, Fisli«r.;- ; Cbates, and Pelling.^; " fivTiie pt»lliug-jvus appointed to take pla<w W'tlie- Tramway Shed, on -Monday, .from 12 to 4 o'clock. The qualification of voters to be a freeholder, householder, op lease" liolclers within the town. '■ ' '■■'• Messrs Harrison and Wiclces were appointed scrutineers. \ The hieeting s teiuninated with a ; vote.of thanks to the Chairman.