South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1881.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2497, 22 March 1881, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1881.

It is a pity that a majority of the Borough Council has thought proper to decline the overtures made to. them with the view of amicably settling the difficulties that have arisen with the Fire Brigade and bringing back the ex-members to their allegiance. The attitude observed by certain members 'of the Oprporation plainly precludes the ex-fireraen individually from again holding a position under the Borough Council, as it is now constituted. The refusal of the councillors to accept the compromise held out to them is an insult which no body of men with the slightest self-respect can overlook. It completely shuts the door against the old members, or of those who sympathise with them, enrolling themselves with any new organisation which the Council may endeavor to form, without sacrificing every vestige of manliness and dignity that they may possess. As the reward of their past exertions in endeavoring to save property, the firemen who have been listening for the toll of the firebell for years, and who, at any moment, by day or night, have been ready to leave their warm blankets and endanger their lives in saving the goods and chattels of others, have been disbanded in tatters and plainly told they are no longer required.

The five members of the Council who rejected the final overture which which was made last evening have accepted the responsibility of leaving Timaru in an entirely unprotected condition. Probably they may be well insured, so far as their own property is concerned, but they evidently have a very indifferent conception of their obligations as representatives. There is a large amount of ratepayers’ property constantly uninsured. As a rule the furniture and effects of tenants are not insured, and in case of a fire breaking out in any of the long rows of wooden cottages occupied by the humbler classes, the only hope of the families against losing everything they have in the world depends on the promptitude ol the Fire Brigade, The members of the Council cannot plead ignorance of this fact in extenuation of the way in which they are tempting providence. Some of them have premises of their own which they let to tenants, and they kno n perfectly well that a large proportion are quite unprotected in case of a fire breaking out in their neighborhood, should there be no Brigade to respond to the fire-bell. Legally they are not responsible for the present unprotected state of the town, but morally they are. If by some of these trifling blunders with matches and kerozene lamps which are so apt to occur in premises that are well insured, an extensive fire should leave households in ruins and families beggared, the individuals who have thought proper to cast the Fire Brigade aside like a squeezed orange, would, we imagine, have some little trouble in divesting themselves of all responsibility. As Councillors they are the recognised custodians of the ratepayers’ property, and not simply of their own. If by a wilful act they dispense with an important portion of the municipal machinery, and injury to the ratepayers ensues, they will be held accountable. They cannot turn round and say to the victims, “ You should have followed our example and made yourselves independent of the Brigade.” Having accepted a public trust, they must keep faith with it or be content to realise the odium. The members of the Council are aware that outside of their own business premises and abodes there is a large amount of uninsured property belonging to residents who can ill-afford to have it imperilled. They also know that the Insurance Companies have a slight interest in a matter of this kind. The agents have undertaken risks at rates arranged on the presumption that the Fire Brigade established under the auspices of the municipal body would be maintained.. The Council have clearly shirked their obligation to the Insurance Companies and the public by allowing the Brigade to suffer from neglect, fall into decay and then to disband. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the authors of the

present complication would be able to recover the amount of their premiums in a Court of law, should disaster overtake their properties. But quite apart from any personal stake they may have, the five members of the Council who have thought proper to scornfully reject the mediatory proposals that were made to them, have placed themselves in a most unaraiable light, and some of them, who have had the services of the firemen before now have displayed but scant gratitude. They have left the town in a thoroughly defenceless position, and they have betrayed a poor realisation of their duties as representatives of the Borough.