THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1878.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2881, 10 May 1878, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1878.

Theee were several matters referred to at the ordinary meeting of the Borough Council last night which, owing to the length of our report and a pressure of other matter, we are precluded from alluding to but briefly. We cannot, however, allow this issue to reach the public without touching upon one or two points in the discussions, because our report of the proceedings, leDgthy though it be, does hot contain all that was said on the extra matters introduced in the course of the meeting. Councillor Head elicited considerable discussion by bringing up the matter, at an early stage of the proceedings, of sending the Burgess Roll to Auckland to be printed. This precious piece of bu siwas clearly traced to the Town Clerk and the Mayor—the latter advising the Town Clerk "as a member of the Council, not as Mayor." We are prepared to admit that Mr Dean really does his best in .matters of this kind to keep down expenses, but we think the same course of action should be followed consistently. Dr Kilgour's part in the business cannot be defended. It was the^ business of the Finance Committee, we should say, to decide on the expenditure, and we would ask the Mayor and Town Clerk whether any member of . the Finance Committee was notified of the business? The discussion was not altogether barren of results. With one exception the Councillors were agreed that the action of the Mayor and Town Clerk was deserving of censure. The exception was Councillor Benshaw, who is fast gaining a reputation for "running with the hare and hunting with the hounds." On any matter connected with Borough supplies and tendering for the same, Councillor Eenshaw was the last who should have spoken. His talk about vthe action of the Town Clerk being " in the right direction," and carrying out ah " unpleasant duty " is absolutely Pecksniffian, coming from a man who has j received more of the Borough funds than perhaps any one in the Borough, councillor or otherwise. Councillor Bead was candid m the matter. He stated that if tendering were insisted on, he should prefer the profit to the honor and resign as a Councillor. This was manly ; but to say that the Town Clerk was taking a step in the right direction by sending a piece of work to Auckland is more than we can understand, especially coming from a councillor whose business is more than any other's benefited by Borough expenditure. There are some other features in the proceedings of last night we shall return to. We cannot allow to pass without some comment Dr Kilgour's " dignified " remarks regarding the Star. If we had done what he insinuated we had, it would have been unbecoming in the Mayor of the Borough, presiding as first citizen, to use the language he did. By doing so he lowered himself in the sight of councillors and burgesses, and we have no hesitation in saying that the man who will do that is unworthy the confidence of the ratepayers, and (to use his own word) " unfit" for the office of Mayor. ■ ' ■