The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. MONDAY, MAY 11, 1885. MUNICIPAL AMENITIES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 3, 11 May 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. MONDAY, MAY 11, 1885. MUNICIPAL AMENITIES.

The Mayor of Wellington appears to be at loggerheads with the City Council, the Harbour Board, the public and the press. Judging by recent reports of meetings of the City Council, that body does not seem to be at all a happy family, and the want of tact, factious opposition, and demeanour of the chief magistrate of the city appears to have anything but- a conciliatory tendency. At a recent meeting : there were several very discreditable scenes. In one the Mayor implied that a certain Councillor had been instrumental m getting the foundations of the gasometer dug at the expense of the Corporation. To this Councillor Bkown, the person alluded to we presume, promptly replied, " It's a lie. 11 . The Mayor — "What?" Councillor Brown — I say it's a lie, and the man who is saying it is a liar. The Mayor — It is not. I say thatthey!(the Gas Company) got the benefit. Councillor Bkown (jumping up excitedly) — It's a lie, and 1 challenge you to prove it, George Fisher. {.Criesof "Order.") Councillor Brown resumed his scat. Here is another extract from the report of the ■■ proceedings :— Coun-. cillor Petherick (addressing the Mayor) — I am sony, sir, that you have forgotten yourself as you have done. lam not pleased in 1 your action m calling that meeting, and I am not pleased at the result of that meeting. It was called at an improper time. You exceeded your duty m calling that meeting. That meeting has done a great deal of harm, as it has brought us into dirty water with the Harbour BoardIt will take a good many meetings to heal the breach which you have caused. (Voices, including that of the Mayor — ** Hear, hear.") You rely upon your office to carry you through. If George Fisher doesn't get his own way he thinks everyone is his enemy. : You and Councillor Brown were as thick as two thieves the other day — (laughter) — but now you are calling eaeli other liars. (The Mayor*— l #mver didj Some one did. j If; Jack Sweep comes up for election next year I will support him againstGeorge Fisher. By y6ur exljibi '. tion you have lowered yourself m niy estimation. Every Councillor who wishes to do his duty should set his face against you because you are gulling the public. I hope the reporters will report what 1 am saying. (A laugh from the Mayor.) You may laugh, Mr Mayor, but I haven't sent any of them a bar of soap and a fine tooth comb yet. I. hope I shall never deme&n myself to such a thing. The Mayor says he doesn't get any money from the city. What about his satary? It is not much wonder the Jr*osl observes : — " It was high time that his Worship's conduct was exposed, and the truth regarding him spoken out. His conduct as Mayor has lowered the city m the eyqs of. the colony, and by seeking to foment discord between the Harbour Board and the City Council, and standing m the way of great public improvement, he is inflicting serious injury on those interests he should seek to advance and protect. The City Council, it is evident, has had enough of Mr George Fisher — m fact, too much of him and his doings. The day is not, we believe, far distant when the citizens will emphatically endorse the opinion entertained and expressed by the Council." 1 The morning journal is equally severe m its condemnation of the Mayor's idiosyncracies, and thus expresses its opinion: — But whether, m the chair or out of it, Mr Fisher is invariably a violent partisan, and the party to which he belongs is himself. If he dislikes a member's views, that member will certainly ineet'with but scant courtesy from the Mayor. There is rarely a meeting; of the Council at which he does hot give just cause of offence to someone. A civil question from an opponent will be met by a rude answer, ,. a sneer, or an ill-timed jest or allusion. A man who allows himself that sort of latitude must fail egreginusly as a chairman, and Mr Fisher, is m that capacity, a rank failure. It is not going too far to say that, intentionally or unintentionally, it matters on which, he takes advantage of tho position to make his likes and dislikes felt by those around him.

Of course we are referring to public matters and not private when we speak of likes and dislikes. Members who agree with him have every considerations thowu to them ;' members who differ with him, and venture to have ide:is and opinions of their own, we certain to be snubbed and thwarted. On Thursday night ho oxoelled liim■self^and carried his ill-manners an«l had judgment, to such a length as to provoke a very unpleasant and discreditable scene. We published a full report of the proceedings, including the choice language winch wa* made use of. We did so not because we had any desire to pander to the tastes of people who like that sort of reading, but that the burgesses, having a knowledge of how the Council's business is being conducted under the chairmanship of Mr Fisher, might be able to judge of the resemblance between the Council Chamber and ;* beargarden, and. how municio.il institutions are being brought into contempt m Wellington. Further on m the same article it continues its observations m the following strain. "Of course xho Mayor was at liberty to defend Irimself'by fair statement and argument, but not by insulting those who disagreed with, him. He ohose to adopt a most offensive tone, and finally taxed one of tiie Councillors present with having been, years ago, a party to a disgraceful job. There was not a shadow of truth m the accusation, and when the Mayor made it he must havo known how the matter really stood. The lie direct was immediately given to his assertion, and we suppose that th* Councillor who took such a method of setting himself right was very much to blame. He ought, no doubt, to have couched a strong denial m more courteous or Parliamentary language. But it must be remembered that the provocation hail been of the grossest description, and had come from the lips of the man whose special office was to preserve decency and order m the proceedings. Jf it was wrong to call the Mayor a liar, what degree of censure should be meted out to '• his Worship" for having stirred up the an B r y feelings of a Councillor by more than insinuating that he had shared m a gross job at the expense of the City coffers ? The ooeurrenee of such disgraceful scenes at the meetings of the City Council cannot be conducive to the interests of the burgesses. By and by decent men will decline to take au active part m ran- I nicipal affairs, and seats at the Council table will fall to the lot of Tom, j Dick, and Harry —to any poplo m j short, no matter what may be their character and degree of stupid'"ty,provided they pay their rates, and think that it might serve their purpose to accept the " honours" which will be going a-begging- The inhabitants of Wellington must thank Mr George Fißhek for having given to the municipal machine a direction and an impetus which threaten to turn it over into the mire. The administration of a. man who helps to do that is highly mischievous, whatever may be his ability iv other respects." We trust such proceedings will never have to be recorded m connection with the administration of municipal affairs m our own Borough. Hitherto our boatt has been that our Borough Council has been loyal and unanimous m all matters appertaining to, the welfare of the town. Long may it continue so. When dissensions like those described above arise, there must be an end to all unanimity, harmony, and progress. We trust the day is far distant when the humiliating task will devolve upon the local press to place on record scenes so scandalous and disgraceful as those by which the City Council of Wellington has now immortalized itself.