The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1892. TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2402, 22 September 1892, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1892. TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

We cannot, we regret to say, convey anything like an exact idea of the doings of the Timaru Harbor Board to our readers. Nothing more shamelessly disgraceful was ever done in a public body than yesterday's proceedings. Hitherto the board have been acting illegally, as we pointed out in a recent article, and yesterday they began afresh, and tried to smuggle everything through so that their conduct could not be seen. They are too conceited to allow that they made a mistake. Mr Darling's letter and the tenders were on last Friday referred to the Standing Committee. Yesterday not a word of a xeport was submitted by the committee to the meeting of tli9 board, and nothing at all was said about it. A series of cnt-and-dried resolutions were brought Uii and passed, almost without dis--«iou, and nothing was said about the cue. - . aJl( j Je wherefore. By the why however, indulging in - a that a lawyer's the minority _ • ■ + lUa t fresh opinion had been obtained ; a *l ia t specifications had been prepared ; am. fresh tenders would be called for. It is indeed extraordinary that a lawyer's opinion should be obtained and made known to a portion of the board, and that the other portion should be kept in ignorance of it. The conclusion now arrived at by the outside public is as follows :—When the board saw the article in this paper pointing out that the proceedings were illegal, they cabled Home to Mr Darling not to cable out the tenders, but to send them by letter. On receipt of Mr Darling's letter, a lawyer was consulted, and he drafted the series of resolutions which were carried yesterday. There is not wanting evidence of this, for when pushed for a reply Mr Gibson let the cat out of the bag, by stating that they were taking precautions against legal proceedings, and Mr Talbot had the unblushing effrontery to say that some members would stop at nothing. We think Mr Talbot and his friends have stopped at nothing already. If the conclusion which the public has arrived at is not correct, the Board have only themselves to blame for working iu an underhand, sneaky way. The public are justified in coming to the conclusion that the secrecy was owing to tho fact that the board were ashamed of themselves, and well they might be, for the whole thing is a disgrace to any body of men. They are all as full of conceit as an egg is full of meat, and no doubt it was humiliating to them to find that this paper was able to point out their duties to them. That their first steps wer3 illegal is amply proved by the number of resolutions carried yesterday, after having legal advice, and consequently we are justified in claiming credit for having at anyrate put them right.