The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1920. THE BRAY LEASE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3441, 22 March 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

MONDAY, MARCH 22, 1920. THE BRAY LEASE.

With which is incorporated “The Taihape Post and Waimarino News.”

The Taihape Borough Council appears to be encountering business of more than ordinary complexity, [fraught with extl'aol'dinal‘y legal difficulty. Twice, recently, the solicitor to local bodies has been approached I with trivial questions, which the , Borough Solicitor could well have dis~ posed of, if a legal opinion was at all necessary. At last. meeting there was a dolorousness, pretended Or real, which must invoke public sympathy; something had gone wrong. as things in this silly old world will go, and even the solicitor to [the combined local bodies of New Zealand was unable to help Councillors out of their difiiculty. It is generally understood that wrongdoing creates the need for law , and legal advice, and it is a notable and recorded fact. that .many men see wrong in everything others do, and , only perfection in themselves,.and so ‘it is the law is invoked on many simple, trifling mat-‘texts. Unfortunately, statements of questfon are too often so deeply tinctured with onesidednfiss that the opinions given are worse -than useless, because they make trouble rather than dispel it. The subject of the latest legal opinion is a wrong -to one of Taihape’s pioneers; all our Councillors seem to realise that a great injustice may be sustained by Mr Geo. Bray in connection with a lease he holds from the Council, at least, that lease has passed ‘into the Council’s possession as though entered into by the Council. There is nothing confusing in either lease or circumstances, which are the base of the Council ’s dilemma un~til'the arrival of the legal opinion. The section leased was wanted on which to erect a smivthy, but as the town grew Mr Bray approached «the Council to ascertain if his lease would be construed_., remodelled, and renewed, so that coim pensation would be allowed at its -termination in the ordinary way. There is overwhelming evidence that the Council resolutioned in compliance with Mr Bray’s application; compensation was allowed in Beban’s case, and the Council itself purchased O’.-\’eill’s improvements rather than have them removed by the lessee. Beban’s lease was loaded with "the value of his improvements, and dealt with accordingly, but in Mr Bray’s case the present Council seems to have got into a quondary, they have an arrangement with Mr Bray that came down from the time of Darius, of the Modes and Persians, or some anterior date, and they cannot find any way of either destroying it or of altering its unalterableness. In ‘their distress they presumably appealed to the oracle of Municipal law, and ‘they are naturally told precisely what the provisions of the lease are, also that if any previous Gouncil did anything to the contrary, they were personally responsible. Their lamentations Varej great, but are they real; are they notj somewhat of the nature of those pro-‘ fessionul mourners who shed crocodile’s tears? Did not" a previous‘ Council decide that in future all leases i should have provision for compensa-, tion. and was it not the intention that leases not providing for compensation slmula be cancelled, so as :to induce holders of short-period leases to build business premises for which there was then a growing demandf If not, why did the Council recently’ terminate one of such leases and issue another

‘containing provision for'”eotnlponsation ‘for improvements. A l.L'\\'LlSlll2.l.Ll recently acquired one of these no-com-‘pcnsation leases from .- the original ,holdcr, who had not ‘put a stick upon ‘ it, and as he wished to erect a. build'ing that would be an improvement to ‘the town he went to the Council, and without any consultation with the ‘Associated Local Bodies’ solicitor, or other demur, the bid block-progress lease was committed to the wastepaper basket, and 8. more sensible and; ,just document was -issued in its place. ‘ We cannot help thinking some member of the Council has some motive in‘ blocking a similar procedure in Mr‘ Bray’s case as that followed in Mr‘ Carpenter’s. It seems that Mr Bray‘ has been singled out as a victim to grossest. injustice, the victim in a‘ vicious, short-sighted, insane scheme, for even were the Council successful‘ in -their deterniination not to vantici-‘ pate a. lease just to Mr Bray and toi the Borough. while Mr Bi-ay’s lease‘ lasts he can do as he pleases with it, and it Would not be a matter for any‘ surprise if businessmen were suddenly. hustled out, with -their stoclis of jewel- ' lcry, clothing, and furniture into the Street, and their shops hauled away to where they would be safe from the machinations of any public purloiner. From the freedom and force with which the present Council is throwing its stones in all directions, it evidently‘ considers itself doubly free from sin.. Some Councillors would not only make their self-righteousness the cause of a ghastly void in the business premises of the Main Street, but they would also have men who acted justly made responsible for averting injustice of a drastic and unnecessary c.harac»ter.l Councillor Fookes’ pertinent qucsiton,l “If the acts of a previous Council were illegal, as Mr Martin states, why did the Government auditor condone‘ what that Council did,” seems to fur- ' nish evidence that. the Council had already anticipated all Borough leases being made subject. to compensation for inlpro\9elnent's, and -the Auditor was thereby satisfied. That. old Council no doubt iirfended to do in Mr Bray ’s, Mr Beban’s and Mr O’Neill’s cases just precisely what has already‘ been done ‘in Mr Carpenter’s case,‘ terminate the old, unjust arrangement and issue new leases. The present.‘ Council is well aware that it is just as capable of doing in Mr Bray ’s case‘ what it did in-Mr Carpenter’s case, but it is piiiablycapparent there is‘ stupid determination to sicho-track their duty soiiieiirhere. The fact that‘ suggested false representations of a‘ previous Council caused Mr Bray to‘ put some thousands of pounds’ worth of buildings on the land leased by him while the lend leased by Mr Crawford, ‘ and sold ‘to Mr _C‘arpVenter, did not.‘ have a stick, even, put_upon it, surely‘ cannot influence the Council’s judg—l men-t. Is it honourable to refuse to give Mr Bray a lease because there‘ are 0. few -thousands of pounds’ worth of buildings that the Council thinks‘ will fall into its possession without the outlay of sixpencc, while it was quite just, honourable, and proper‘ to grant a new lease on which there‘ was not a pennysworth to grab?” The‘ introduction of a.legal opinion from! Mr Martin is a bit of by-play that is not creditable to the town; ‘the proper‘ course in such a simple .matter was to; have had a vive voce consultation with ‘ the Borough Solicitor, and. it thought. necessary, his written opinion should have been acquired. The straiglit; course of justice has been left, and‘ ‘(he Council has gone off into a blind‘ avenue, which leads to miwlierc but‘ ‘vonblc and ignominy for somebody. ‘