The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1883.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4412, 23 February 1883, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1883.

The Borough Council has at last mustered up courage to deal with the report of the committtre appointed to examine and, if found satisfactory, sign the deeds in connection with the purchase of St George's Hall for a Town Hall and Free Library site. The report of the Committee appears in the report of last night's Borough Council meeting. It ill became the the dignity of a representative body to resort to forms and subterfuges to shelve the settlement of a bargain en'ered into by that body, presumably wiih its eyes open. Without entering into the question as to whether it was wise or not to make the purchase ; the report of the committee had to be dealt with, and ihat was a very simple matter to settle. If an after consideration arose, it will naturally be said that the City Fathers should hare conned the matter over carefully before entering into the negociations they did;, but, having resolved to become the possessors of the property, they should be prepared to " stend by their bargain." This the Committee enabled them to do with certain reservations, which they could have accepted or rejected at the meeting held a month ago. The Council in response to "a call" on the question has now resolved to adopt that report, and this is the / resolution that might have been arrived, without displaying the amount of indecision which characterised their actions since the | question was opened. If the august body '< after mature deliberation, came to the

conclusion that an error had been made, i it would have been better that they had made that admission. The transfer of the property is of course subject to the approval of the transferee, snd all rights reserved by the transferor are to be carefully remembered. The question to be considered is whether the transferee was cognisant of the fact that such rights were commonly given in connection with land transferred in the Borough, and it seems that such was generally known from the commencement of the negotiations; therefore, it would appear that the majority of the Council were endeavoring by the aid of forms and subterfuges to shelve the settlement of the question. It is well known that the greater nvmber of tbe Councillors are not favorable to the purchase being completed, and that steps taken to acquire the property have not met with public approval; in fact, it would not be going too far to say that were a poll of the ratepayers taken on the- subject a third of them would not support it. Should the vendor of the property, however, agree to give the title asked for by the Council, they willin the face of the Committee's reporthave to complete the transaction. The action of the Council does not shine gloriously in connection with the matter, and people will await with curiosity a further development of this ridiculous affair.