THE GORDON TOWN BOARD IN COURT

Mataura Ensign, Volume V, Issue 244, 6 April 1883, Page 2

THE GORDON TOWN BOARD IN COURT

At Tuesday's sitting of the B.M.Ooufb at Gore, John MacGibbon>,a member of the Gordon Town Board, was sued by Andraw Middlemass for keeping ftri unregistered diig over the prescribed' age. ' Mr Henderson appeared for the plaintiff, and'MrjAldridge for: the defdnd-' ant. _; ; .; : : " , ' ; ; ' ; • . Mr Henderson explained that in Gordon there were a number of owners of unregistered dogs and defendant wa» one of these. Unfortunately some hitoh waa supposed to have arisen in the election of chairman, and people : objected to recognise any authority on the part of the Beard ; but he reminded the Court that the chairmanship question oould not now crop up. All he had to prove was that defendant owned an unregistered dog ; all defendant had to do was to aubmit to a fine and register that dog somewhere— in the County if he did not choose to pay the fee to the Town District.. His Worship (Mr^cCulloch)--ia the Town District registering doga, then ? °: ; Mr Aldridge— lf yon refer to the s.ohedulejto the TownDistriots Act you will find that.it has no power whatever to levy or enforce a tat of thiasbrt, ' '■"■ ' : ".' ■ " '; - :"- ' '■•;'' ■'- ; '- Andrew Middlemass was then put ( in .the , witness box,' and deposed that' he' had 'asked' M* Mao Gibbon to register his dog, but be declined,; at the same time asltiiig that it Bhyuid. be brought before the Court fp* de6rde r whether/ the chairman of the Board vrat l«gaily f apfoiatedoraot.

|^cA^lJ|gll»eli^fcthe Board had been properly elected under ttie Town Dis|sHcts Act, and consequently had no right to 'collect the tai. '.But he would go beyond that, ftfna say that the Bfjard had! ho authority under f'ajpy A&t'to jmakci 5 auohvi tax— indeed, he f ;doubted%hether the Bod had any right to ;^ist at ati^'^-Jg'^'* *-v His Worship aaid the question before him 'was aim ply one of ;' registration. He could not "go into the constitution of the Board, formation, which had practioally be^n laid/Bf a stranger. '^HirW6Tihip-f6lnte-d''d^thir^ Justices of the Peace Act ifc wa^oJmpetent for any one to lay euch an MrlAUridge did not purjua the subjeot further, but asked that only a nominal penalty should be imposed. The case was bro ught at ft test one, and as the chairmanship que»tioi couldjnot be settled other ;pro'cedding» wouli have to be taken. His vyorship'sa'w noreason'wny ie .Bhoii^v C not li^Q'ct a penalty of 20i and £1 8s cc»t6. * Mr M>icGribbon would have to register the dog otherwise he would be fined again.