GEBALDINE CEMETERY BOARD.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2442, 24 December 1892, Page 3

GEBALDINE CEMETERY BOARD.

TO THE iiinTOß, i'-Bn,,—lt is an ill wind that blows uoboily any good, aud the recent meeting rc Geraldine Cemetery management has made public, I think, for the first time the financial condition of that body. I will pass over the gross personalities contained in Mr Pearpoiut’s letter, for, if it affords him any relief, I can assure him his remarks will not hurt me. By the way,l mustthanh I'iim for his kind invitation, but to cull a man a liar, and then invite hhu to supper, is rather too (rood. Further, let me assure him that the doings of a public body can be criticised without any personal jvuimoa, and had he been pr-esohi perhaps more pointed remarks might have been made at the public meeting re cemetery management. Mr Pearpoiut says that my statement that members of the Cemetery Board knew little about iffinance is untrue. 1 can only say the three members prpspnt werp ashed at the meeting for information, and, in reply, stated they could give none. Mp Huliyv did say that for a long tune the hoard had had very litt|e nficumy, but that now ho believed - they were in a very good position, but any further information—except that the accounts of the board had never been audited—was not given. In the absence of information from the board, the speakers acre left to draw conclusion from outside, vii',, tljat 30(1 py.r«joiid ikd boon buried in the cemetery in 14 years, and, as some persons had purchased several plots, I assumed, for the sake of argument, that 30(i plots had been purchased, which

would prove tho amount I stated. I did nut say 306 pioos had been purchased, but that 306 persons had been buried, which is absolutely correct. Mr Pearpoint further says that my statement that £7O had been paid into the bank in one month is untrue. I could never have thought that Mr Pearpoint could have descended to such puerile sophistry. The correct amount is, 1 think, £6B 9s 6d. On November 4th, 1891, there was paid to the credit of the board £2 12s 6d. No further payments were made until November 16th, 1892, when £7 10s was paid in ; on the 21st, £9l 2s 6d ; on the 23rd, £8 12s ; on the 25th, £6; on the 28th, £36 15s. The members present at meeting were challenged to deny my statement of £7O having been paid into the bank in one month, but their silence corroborated my statement. If proper books have always been kept, why was I asked by the chairman in November, 1892, if I had paid for plots of ground purchased by me on the 7th of October, 1889, and paid for by cheque on the same day ? If books are kept these ought to contain the information. My letter is already too long, but I have answered the principal points of his letter. —I am, etc., W. S. Maslin. Geraldine, December 23,1892.