MUNICIPAL COUNCIL. Saturday, April 3, 1852.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 625, 10 April 1852, Page 3

MUNICIPAL COUNCIL. Saturday, April 3, 1852.

The Council met at three o'clock. Present : His "Worship the Mayor ; Aldermen Dignan, O'Neill, and Powditch ; Councillors Hay, , Abraham, Newman, Macdonald, and Taylor. The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed. The Town Clerk asked for instructions from i the Council as to whether he should apply the > rule laid down in the 69th clause of the Charter to Members of the Corporation. The clause < requires that " Every Burgess shall be at liberty ' to inspect the minutes, and make extracts upon ' paying a fee of one shilling for each inspection." ' The question had been raised in his mind by ( the application of Mr. Abraham on that morning ] for an extract from the minutes, and as he had no , desire to make himself liable to be afterwards ( surcharged for the fee that it was possible might be demanded under the clause for the inspection i of the minutes by individual Councillors, he wished the Council to direct him how to act in relation to this matter in future. ' It was the general opinion of the members that the Charter never contemplated the levy- ( ing of a fee on members of the Corporation for inspection of the minutes of their own pro- ' ceedings, and to avoid any future misunder- ' standing on the subject, a resolution was passed ( that any member of the Council should have access to the minutes and be allowed to make extracts without fee at all reasonable times. Councillor Abraham stated that before the ] Council proceeded to business he wisiied to name a circumstance that took place on the breaking up of the Council last Saturday. He had left the room believing that the * business was over, when the Messenger overtook him outside, and said, the Mayor wished him to return. He wished, now, to know whether members had not a perfect right to leave the room even while business was proceeding, without subjecting themselves to be recalled by a special message from the Mayor merely to be informed that the Council had not been yet adjourned, and to be impounded there as long as his Worship pleased to keep them. His own opinion was, that members might put on their hats and leave whenever they thought proper, and he wished this to be understood by the Council, that members might not be subjected to a repetition of what occurred last Saturday. The Mayor remarked that on the occasion referred to he bad thought it desirable to consult the members before they dispersed on the mode of convening the Committee of the whole Council that had been ie?olved on, and as that resolution had been come to on the motion of Mr. Abraham, he thought it no harm to call hm back, to get his, as well as other members.' opinions ou the subject. Of course members might leave the room at any time they pleased. Alderman Dignan said that, as the Council had re Buraed at the desire of the Mayor, he himself bad thought it betier tint the worthy Councillor should be present, and had suggested sending for him. Councillor Abialiairi expressed himself satisfied with the worthy Alderman's explanation, and the matter dropped. On die motion of Alderman Powditch, the standing otdeis werp suspended, and (he Council resolved into Committee to consider the adopted reports of the various Committees on Town, Suburban, and Rural Roads. Council in Committee accordingly. Aldeiman O'Neill moved that the Suburban Roads Report take precedence and be fust considered. Alderman Dignan moved that the 1 own Roads Report be fust taken into consideration. Neither of these motions were seconded. Councillor Abraham ur^ed tint the Council, having appointed Committees to consider and repot t upon the state of the roads within the borough, and having adopted the aeveral leports of these Committees, was now bound noi to throw them overboard, nor fi itter them away ; not to take any short-cut with the reports, or be influpneed by any side wind of expediency or personal consideration, but proceed consistently in the course that had been laid down for the Council in the beginning, and which they had proceeded upon hitheito, and him ply sura up the reports, and come to a general conclusion on the whole. Mr. Abraham made some lengthy observations in support ot this course, and concluded hy moving " that an urgpnt demand exis.s for the expenditure, with as little delay a* possible, upon necessary public works within the Borough, of a sum of nearly £19,000, viz., £1030 for the repairs of roads ; £1 $ ,320 for i ural roads ; and £6054 lor town and suburban roads and works." Alderman O'Neill concurred in all Mr. Abraham had said, and seconded the motion. Councillor Newman smd that, after the remarks that h)d fallen from Mr. Abraham at the last meeting, accusing the Committee of tnegularities in its private meetings, he thought it would be but lair to the Committee that the minutes of their private proceedings should now be read openly. The remaiks of Mr. Abraham might convey a very wrong impression to the public mind, unless they were counteracted by the reading of the minuUs, which would shew, among other things, that Mr. Abraham himself took pait in tlu 1 very proceedings which he afterwards discovered to be, and condemned as, irregular. Mr. Newman went on to cay that while he agreed with Mr. Abraham's motion, that the sums named in the repoits were required to carry out the construction and repairs of the borough loads, he disagreed with him entirely in thinking; that the whole of the amount ol those sums should at oncebe a>ked from the Government. He believed it to be the duty of the Council, now that they had found out what they stood in need of to enable them beneficially to cairy out the Chaiter, to ask the Government to bet apart as much as possible of the revenue lor the purposes of roads and pubic improvements, and to point out how a great deal could be .sa* ed for that purpose from the present expei diture ou account of useless offices and depaitments. If they were to ask for £6000, and shew from the Estimates how it could be saved, bethought the Council would serve the interests of the Borough better tlnn by seeking for so large a sum as £t9,000, for were the legislature ever so willing to grant that sum, they could not do so, without first taxing the people additionally to obtain it, which would be perhaps a greater evil than if the Municipal Council itself were to levy the taxes direct for its own purpose 1 ;. Alderman Powditch agreed with the last sppakor; he would like to keep the Cwrpoiation going, for while he believed the charter was deficit nt in many points it was the first approach that had been made here to nny thing like frep institutions The reports that had been adopted estimated the -sums that would be required ft.r the Ibimation of roads throughout the borough — but then as this work could not be all done at once, it w.is not necessary that the whole of the money required for the perfoimar.ee of it should be forthcoming at once before anything should be done. If a man had a number of lands io lift he would not begin by lifting4be whole at once— but rather take them up one by onw. He therefore thought that the Committee should examine the several reporiK, make a selection of those lines of road that were of the greatest importance to the genera! good of the borough, and moie immediately required for communication, and then by a careful eitimate fix upon the amount that their construction would coat, and ask the Government for that amount. As he thought this v ould be a safer and wiser plan than the couise proposed by Mr. Abraham, he would vote against the motion ; at the same time be would propose an amendmemt: — "That ibis Committee resohe to select the most material points for the general benefit of the Colony, and having selected those points, that they estimate the sum necessary to do them with a view to future operations." , Councillor Hay seqonded the amendment. Alderman Dignan thought the Council had lost a great deal of unprofitable time already, and it would be liut a farther waste of time to ask the Government lor •£19,000. Still he would as soon see that sum agreed to a« £6000, if the latter was to be appropriated as had been intended by the private Committee, who had left but little moie th.m £1(100 of it to be «pent on improvements in the town, which had contiibuted so large an amount, in proportion to the otherjparts of the boiough, to the land fund and general Revenue He had said in the private Committee that the mt rests of the town had not been attended to, and be now wonl I f&y it openly, that the town was not represented in the Council. II members felt no interest in jhe town they ought to remember that ie was otherwise with their .constituents— their iiHerestK ought to b© 'studied. -In tfieWttst Ward it wa» w u U knovm that, more I 'than r tm3' half of tho population had to keep (heir .children from, school during the winter months, and miny of the females in the town were obliged to stay awoy fiom their places of worship owing to tho at ate of the roads, iiut

this was never considered by the Council. Yet, if a miliim were to ba raided, or municipal taxes to bp levied, the West Ward would not be forgotten. It had been his deoirc^all along to wotl» the Charter for the benefit of the borough, and he did not think yet it should be th own up «ithoul a trial being made to turn it to good account, but he thought the motion, if it were carried, would have the effect of stopping all • jiroceediugs under it. Let the Council ask the Government for a moderate sum, to enable them to go on, and if that be refused, it will be time enough then to talk of throwing up the Charter. Alderman Powditch said that the town had not been no little thought ot as the worthy Aldermen uoulri have the public to believe. The sum of £3,300 was pi oposed by the Committee to be set apart for the town and suburbs. The Mayor expressed his wish to have the minutes of the private Committee read ; he thought it desirable more especially after the remarks of Alderman Dignan ; and, nl»o, as erroneous impressions of the proceeding* of the Committee might have been conveyed to the public muni by Mr. Abraham-; conduct and obseivation»> on last Saturday, of which his Worship expressed his entire disapproval. After a few remarks from Mr. Abraham, in reply to the Ma} or, Alderman Powditch's amendment was put ond cairied. Councillor Newmnn then moved that the minutes of the secret Committpe be read. The motion was seconded, but Alderman Powditch mov. d the adjournment of the Committee, which was carried. The Council having resumed. Councillor Abraham re.ul a tough drali ot a series ot Resolutions which, he proposed on a future day to submit for the consideration of the Council. ' *\ '**~ ' Alderman Powditch gave notice that on that day foitmght he would move, the adopting of a memoria to the Governor- in-Chief, praying for the repeal 'of the the Native Land Purchase Ordinance. ' The Council then adjourned.