The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1903. BOROUGH COUNCIL PROCEEDURE.
Thh actio/, of the Borough Council in rescinding the motion to nllow the prtss to exorcise its diecrotion hs regards reporting the proceedings of the Csuncil while in committee, is one with ivhich wo horrtily agree-. No local body has any right fo rcli- ; ve itself of its responsibility in the matter of what . it sUould and what it should not maku public. 17 ere are times whan it is vvry advisable for local bodies to go i'sto co<nmittee. Business is sometimes at a e tnge when it is necessary to the opinion of all the memba;s, nt th. same time i 1; is not wise to make the details public, The obj set of going into commit tee is not always to secure privacy. Parliament, forinsfance, goes into com--1 mittee to secure greater freedom of discussion, thtir proceedings being'stili t open to the press, To go into committee and throw upon the press the > responsibility of deciding what is right to report is most unfair, and in deciding to end this unsatisfactory state of affairs the Borough Council acted wkely. The Council will now be responsible for what is made public and what is to be withheld. At the same lime Or. Bellringer, and those who vot2d with him, for giving publicity to the proceedings, are entitled to the thanks of the ratepayers for their 1 action in trying to secure greater publicity in regard to matters in which ratepayers are deeply interested. That object can, however, be gained in a more legitimate manner by disenssin" the questions which the Council wish the ratepayers to be informed upon, in open Council, and if greater freedom ci discussion is desited the standing orders can be temporarily suspsnded, In most cases the preaiding officer can be trusted to exercise a wise discretion in the 1 matter of giving members c >nsidorable latitude whan a free discuss:on will throw light on the subject before the meeting. We do not favour 1 any hard and fast rulo in these matters, believing that the good sense of members of local bodies, will generally guide them aright. But the r»spansibility must, in all cases, rest upon their own shoulders and not ba thrown upon the reporters who may from time to time be reporting their proceedings.
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Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 49, 25 February 1903, Page 2
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391The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1903. BOROUGH COUNCIL PROCEEDURE. Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 49, 25 February 1903, Page 2
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