COUNTY COUNCIL.

Temuka Leader, Volume 2, Issue 132, 26 March 1879, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCIL.

A special meeting of the County Council was held yesterday. All the members were present. The Chairman stated that in compliance with a requisition signed by three members, asking him to call a special meeting for this day, he had summoned the present meeting, and he would now read the requisition. [Requisition read.] Mr Tripp then made a few remarks, after which Mr Acton moved, and Mr Ostler seconded, “ That this meeting do now adjourn till 2 p.m. this day.” The meeting adjourned accordingly. At 12 noon a meeting took place to take into consideration the distribution of the ’ funds accruing to the county, all the members being present. Mr Acton wished to state that it was his opinion that the Chairman’s term of office came to an end at this meeting, and that they should proceed to the election of a Chairman. Mr Wilson, the present Chairman, stated that when he was elected it was for the remainder of the year, and that he was legally entitled to hold office till November next. Ho would resign in order to secure harmony, if [possible, amongst the members and electors, as there was some difference of opinion as to his holding that office. He had taken some trouble to find out whether that opinion was wide spread, and by enquiries by certain parties it was found to be only Geraldine and the ‘ Timaru Herald’ that was opposed to his election. Nevertheless, as he never forced himself or his services upon any body, he should waive his right to hold office, and allow this Council to elect another in his stead. Mr Acton then proposed, and Mr McIntosh seconded, Mr Mendelson. Mr Mendelson declined. Mr Acton then proposed, and Mr Mendelson seconded, “ That Mr Tripp be elected as Chairman.” No other candidate being proposed, the motion was put to the meeting, when three held up then’ hands in favor of it (Messrs Acton, Mendelson, and’ Ostler), four declining to vote. The Chairman declared the motion carried. Mr Ostler then proposed that this meeting proceed with the division of the funds according to clause GS of the Counties Act. Mr Wilson proposed that this meeting do now adjourn till 2 p.m. this day. Mr Mendelson seconded, and the motion was put to the meeting and carried. Mr Ostler here protested against the ruling of the Chairman, and after a warm statement by the Chairman that Mr Ostler was out of order, lie sat down. Mr Ostler then handed in his resignation as a member of the Council. Mr Acton here stated that in his opinion there was no necessity for dividing the funds during this month ; it would be time to meet for that purpose during April. Mr Wilson, in reply, stated that he had carefully looked over the Counties Act, in conjunction with the Financial Act, and other Acts bearing upon the subject, and stated that the spirit of the Act showed that the funds must be divided before 31st March. Mr Wilson then read a letter from the Colonial Office, showing that this was the opinion of the Government. Mr Acton bowed to this decision, and the meeting then adjourned till 2 p.m. The Council met at 2 p.m. accordingly, and resumed consideration of the subject. In opening the meeting, the Chairman stated that Mr Mclntosh had handed in his resignation. There were then present Messrs Hardcastle, Acton, Mendelson, Wilson, and the Chairman. Mr Wilson then moved, and Mr Mendelson seconded, That the Counties Act be brought into force. Mr Acton then stated that he had doubts if the Council could legally bring the Act into.forcc. He himself did not think so, and must therefore vote against it. Mr Wilson here stated that he had waived his right to continue Chairman of the Council in order to expedite business, but as there seemed such diversity of opinion on this subject —which seemed- to him to be for the purpose of obstructing—and as he could not get his colleague (Mr Mendelson) to join with him in helping forward the business |of the Council ever since he became a member, he would hand in his resignation as a member of the Council. The Chairman and others asked Mr Wilson to withdraw his resignation, which he did for a time, in order to facilitate business, Mr Acton still being of opinion that three votes could not bring the Act into force, and Mr Wilson being of that opinion the meeting adjourned for a few minutes in order to allow the chairman to consult a solicitor. The Chairman and Mr Mendleson were then deputed to wait upon Mr Johnstone, and on their return the Chairman announced that Mr Johnstone was of opinion that as the meeting was an adjourned meeting of the whole Council, and that three out of the five present having voted for the Act it was brought into force. Messrs Acton and Wilson having doubts on the subject it was resolved, on the motion of Mr Wilson, that the meeting again adjourn till Monday, 31st March! at noon, and in the meantime the Chairman he empowered to take legal advice. A vote of thanks to the Chairman, and the meeting then adjourned till the 31st accordingly. Thus ended another meeting of the Geraldine County Council. The now Chairman cannot he congratulated upon the success of his efforts to keep order of this the first meeting under his rule, nor can we congratulate the member for Mount Cook for his exhibition of good breeding in going into a hot rage because he could not got all his own way, but it is only in keeping with other outbursts of this pompous gentleman. It will ho recollected he let a shot fly at the late Chairman after the last meeting, but wo thought he would at any rate not exhibit himself in such a ridiculous manner in a public body. It is a pity though that the public business should be retarded on account of the eccentricities of one individual, and for this reason it is to be hoped the opinion of Mr Johnstone will be supported by the pinion cf other gentlemen of legal standing-.

“Arnica; its Social ami Ednca-i tional ’’'* l-iC j’TFT, 1 i of a, lecture delivered in Knox Cinucu on the 17tii by the Hon. 'William box. The lecturer "explained that the lecture was delivered in fulfilment of a promise . made to the Rev, some four or five years ago, on tue eve of his departure for America. He was no professional lecturer, and his remarks would be made in a familiar conversational style. America he designated one of the most wonderful countries in the world. Its pomeers, the Pilgrim Fathers, of Few England, had difficulties to contend against which the founders of these colonies know nothing of. They had severe winters as well as untameable savages to fight against; yet, handicapped as they wore, they had raised an empire that was the wonder and admiration of the universe. ’ In its rapid advances in civilisation, settlement, and material wealth, America had a singular resemblance to New Zealand, Its present position might be faintly estimated from its millions of acres of cultivated land, its magnificent cities, splendid fleets, and factories and workshops outstripping the industrial places of the older monarchies of Europe. This prosperity he attributed to the fact that the great aim of the founders of America was to secure human freedom, and civil and religious liberty, Mr Fox next proceeded to describe the Golden Gate, that forms the entrance to the bay of San Francisco, the back slums of which are alone observable from the seaboard, the chief fealuixs of the metropolis being concealed behind the hills that ascend from the beach. Like all modern cities, San Francisco possesses none of the ruins that constitute the historic grandeur of such places as Rome and Paris. It was about as large and fine as Melbourne, boasted about 230,000 inhabitants, a hotel eight storeys high, with 860 bay windows, and numerous secondary structures of palatial dimensions, Chinese opium-dens and joss-houses, and last, , but not least, an Eland of privileged sea-lions. The lecturer next alluded to

the grandeur of the surrounding scenery —the magnificent valleys, huge mountains, precipices, waterfalls, and trees. The dimensions of the latter • were described as 350 feet in height, and as much as 32 feet in diameter, and dining-rooms were built and ladies danced quadrilles on their stumps. The lecturer next traced the route from’Frisco along the Central Pacific railway, describing the features of the journey. He referred to the hydraulic workings of the goldmines, the snowy mountains of Nevada, the great American desert, and the' Mormon settlement, Lake City was comfortable-looking, but decidedly plain, and was neither so picturesque rior well-built as Dunedin. He was net very favourably impressed with Mormon y Tife, and at the lime of his visit the late Brigham Young was suffering from a divorce suit at the instance of his seventeenth wife. This, he stated, was finally settled by a judge decreeing that, inasmuch as 17 wives were not admissible, the marriage was null and void, and the •suit could not bo sustained. The desert, with its clay mounds, deep rivers, or natural canals ; the prairies, v/ith their fine cities, towns, and cultivated areas ; Chicago, with its great workshops and pig-killing factories, where live pork is •cured in barrels in the twinkling of a Fulcher's knife ; its lecture-mills, where 8000 persons are seated at a time, were nil described. The lecturer next proceeded to give his opinion of Moody and Saukey, the former of whom he described as a preacher of a very plain and somewhat ungrammatecal stamp, whose succ< es had been made by despising lecture - notes, and cultivating downright earnestness ; and the latter as a somewhat flippant singer with a tenor voice, and a flippant style which scarcely accorded with orthodox ideas of sacred melody. The Falls of Niagara were next alluded to, the lecturer enlarging on their magnitude, beauties, and importance. In conclusion, he referred to the Philadelphia Exhibition, pointing out its wonderful exhibits, and dwelling at considerable length on the importance of the new institutions which it had fended to bring into prominence. The lecture terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the lecturer. The writer of “ Passing Notes” in the ‘ Otago Witness’ says: —“ A handbill inviting all Roman Catholics to register with a view to the block vote in the Education question, was distributed on St. Patrick’s day, and in his name. Now, St. Patrick was, from all accounts, a very fine follow, and it is a little hard that his name should bo used, to cover what appears to he an egregious act of folly. After the experience of several elections in which the block vote has been tried, one would have thought that the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church would have seen how ineffectual an expedient it was. It certainly seems in each case entirely to have defeated its own end, and evidently does not carry with it large numbers of Roman Catholics,who object to being schooled in such matters like a parcel of children, and prefer to think and act for themselves. The secrecy of the ballot enables them to do this without openly disobeying the Ecclesiastical mandate. But even if the Roman Catholics themselves were united in opinion, their openly banding themselves together to mabe this Education question a test one for every candidate will naturally stimulate all anti-denominationalists to do the same. It reminds one of the old story of the sun and wind, the latter could not make the traveller throw his cloak aside but the former did at once. The Ecclesiastical cold blast only strengthens resistance ; could not the orthyw Bishop adopt a different course

i and smih 1 with tF 1 sunshin- 1 of persuasive j nonce instead ? Persuasion is ever betiei than force, and the use of the block votes does not have the effect of moral suasion, but the reverse. It virtually says, “ never mind about the good of the Colony, let the Colony go { to the devil, but give ns our schools.” But men may have very correct opinions on the latter question (ecclesiastically speaking) and horribly incorrect opinions on other important matters ; is all to be sacrificed in the cause of State aid to religious schools ? It is to be feared that if any man does go in at next election on the block vote only, he will prove a very broken reed to rely on.” The following is the conclusion of the speech made by Earl Beaconsfield, to the deputation of Anglo-Californians who presented him with an address and a magnificent casket: —“ The island of Cyprus was occupied as one which we thought most qualified to be a powerful maritime and military post for the English nation ; so that there present in our force we might support the Sultan in his sincere schemes for the regeneration of his dominions. —(Hear, hear.) So far as the conditions on which we adopted the policy are concerned, they have, I say, been completely fulfilled.—(Cheers.) -As a military station it has the capacity of receiving an illimitable amount of military power ; as a naval station I have the highest authority in the service—men who have only recently visited the island, and who entirely confirm the report upon which we assented to its occupation—that with very little expense, and what is still more important, with a very slight expenditure of time, there will be a harbour at Cyprus, at Famagasta, that will accommodate the whole of her Majesty’s Mediterranean fleet : and it will be as a naval station second not even to Malta. —(Hear, hear.) Besides these qualities, as a maritime and military post, which was the object we wanted to accomplish in occupying it, it is an island blessed by nature with a teeming soil, and, notwithstanding all that has been said—much of which has been exaggerated—with a climate equal to any semitropical climate. It has also in itself natural riches, which I have no doubt will be developed, and I believe that the possession of that important position will be instrumental to the great cause of social progress and national advancement. The history of Cyprus is a romantic history ; but in all its records I will venture to say that there is no incident so romantic as that of a body of Englishmen working in the El Dorado, the real El Dorado which they have discovered—pursuing labours of so fascinating and absorbing a character as those which are pursued by my fellow countrymen in Ca.ifornia, who yet amid all the excitement of their unparalleled life can still stop and reflect upon the fortunes of the much loved country which they have quitted, and who in this golden casket, offered to me by the youth of California at this moment, have shown how deeply they feel for those who are trying to unhold the country which they so much love. What return can I make for this beautiful offering which you have given mo. ? I cannot send you golden caskets or emblazoned addresses like those which I have just received, but lean send you gratitude and sympathy. I can ask you who return to California to tell those who remembered me that I shall never forget them. And believe me, beautiful as this object is, precious in its material, fine as a work of art, deeply interesting from the history of your life which it encloses iu the mineral treasures which have’ already affected by your industry the fortunes and the character of the world—this casket incloses something still more precious to mo, and that is the expression which has just been read of your kindness and regard.—(Cheers.)