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Southland Times, Issue 1821, 21 November 1873, Page 2

I .1LU...»1111.— — «, - The advocates of what has beeu termed t " the crescent abortion" will perhaps 3 hold themselves to have achieved a vici tory by obtaining a majority at the meet- > ing held on Wednesday evening. None, , however, know better than themselves i how little cause they have fur congratulai tion. A decision arrived at by the 3 exercise of party tactics is by no means J to be accepted as a test of the feeling of T the inhabitants of the town upon the J question brought forward. It is very > well understood by a large number of iut telligent citizens that the battle which t the unwise action of His Worship the 1 Mayor has rendered inevitable, must be t fought in the legal arena, and such as » hold this opinion, while strongly deprel eating His Worship's action, are not at > all deposed to waste either their time or ' temper in preliminary skirmishing, which 5 after all is of no avail. This under- ' standing may, and probably does, account ■ for the absence from the meeting of many ■ who nevertheless very strongly condemn i His Worship's attempt to act in opposii tinn to the will of the Council and of his fellow-townsmen. To do the friends of the project justice, we must admit that • they brought up their available force in ' good order, and well marshalled, and were, as far as their efforts were con- ■ cerned, di serving of the success they ' achieved ; and as fortune is said to favor ; the brave, so in ihis instance the unpardonable negligence and want of organisation on the part of the conser- ■ vatnrs of the people's legal rights gave a profit to their opponants. The arrangements for the meeting were exceedingly 1 defective, and we trust the result has give7i a hint to the gentlemen who came 1 forward to resist encroachment, not merely to trust to the goodness of their cause, but to use all proper means to secure it by organisation and management. The legal aspect of the matter is very plain. A Crown grant is iv existence, dated ISG4, granting the block of land at the southern end of Deestreet, upon which the Provincial G-overn-ment Buildings are now erected, for Provincial purposes, and defining the southern boundary of the block "by Tay-street, five hundred links," as shown upon the record map of the town. Taystreet having been thus recognised as a public street or roadway, cmnot be dealt with except by Act of the General Assembly, and it is reasonable that it should be so, Lecause any divergence not merely affects the boundary of a particular block or section, but actually does to a considerable extent affect the correctness of the description of other lands abutting on or coutiguous thereto. We are not disposed to review the arguments brought forward by the olijt-'ctors to His Worship's proposed alienation ; they were 1 various in their character, and embraced the grounds of impracticability, injustice to the existing rights of contiguous i holders, the public requirements, the unsightly appearance which the carrying out of the proposed plan would occasion, and further on the ground of the stealthy manner in which the alienation had been 1 sought to be effected. Suffice it to say 1 the objections were unanswered, because unanswerable. We have to express our regret that His Worship should have so far forgotten his position as to have made on ungentlemanly and uncalled for imputation upon Mr Cuthbertsox. We are happy to say the imputation was afterwards withdrawn in the most unqualified manner, but we may be excused under the circumstances for reminding His Worship (lest in the heat of debate he should again be betrayed i into so grievous an ebulition of tempe.r) that "better is he who ruleth himself than he who taketh city." x