PUBLIC MEETING,

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 299, 23 October 1873, Page 7

PUBLIC MEETING,

A PubHo meeting, convened by Mr. H. W. Coverlid, was held' in the Commercial Assembly Room, on. Monday evening. The handbill calling the meetijng read as follows : — 'f-An indignation meeting in connoetion with the proceedings of th.c Town Council at italast sitting rje- Town Hafl, wilt be held in the Council Chambers, on Monday, 20th October, at Mr. Peter Robertson «aa unanimously elected to the chair, and on opening the proceedings, confessed that he was taken a Httle by surprise whenjie read the handbill and, saw the object of the-, meeting. He had noticed- the. . bills on Saturday, and without reading them concluded in his own mind that the meeting would be on the commonage question. He thought the settlers an.ds others,, aeeing^the- likefi- - hood of -the commonage goinjf away from them, were; about to take some steps in the matter.. It was therefore, unfortunate that^he should have been called upon to preside at the meeting knowing as he did so little of the subject to be considered. He would calttipon the .convener of the meeting, Me, Go^er-lid, to explain its object. Mr v Coverlid said he .had convened the meeting on account of the action taken by the Town Council, at their- last meeting, jvith' regard to the Town Hall. Some isime' since the Council- thought it advisable to decide upon borrowing a certain amount of money for public works. The amount agreed upon was LSOOQ— L2OOO of which was set apayt- for the purpose of a Town Hall, and the remainder for drainage and water purifying purposes, PreTiQus t& the old Council going out, a sketdir of a Town Hall not to exceed the aanount agreed upon was drawn, up by Mr. La,wson, and'eonsidered by the Coun-* cil toJbe a very suitable one. From the architect's own figures in the report of flic, Tcajpksa TiMus hist w.eek. it was. e\d-:

dent the originial idea of the Council had not been adhered to, as Mr Lawson there gtates that the plan now: before |h.e Council would inyojfve an outlay of not less than L^OOQ, and, that without allowing for any extras. His reason for fringing the matter before ihe ratepayers was this. ; If the Qouncil are, allowed to spend tke s.um proposed, the] drainage scheme and other public woriuj, which wer§ <$ eqxi^l, if not greater, importance, "would of necessity lapqe. Be considered it was more important to get a supply of water fjt for dpmestic purposes than to get a Town Hall, 'When it was first of all suggested to spend, L2OQQ for th.c purpose of a Town Haft, it was generally believed that it would take £2500 to complete the work. By judicious management, it waa considered the interest on that amount w.ould be realised from the building ; b,u,t, he would ask, if it required judicious management to make it pay at that amount, how oould it be expected to pay interest if the amount expended were in,crea^ed frptn L2qoo to L4OOO ? Cr. Hay had said that the rates during the ensuing year would- amount tq about L9OO, and there were very few works required doing about the town, [Mr, Coverlid read the various, items of expenditure which would re<pire to, be met by the Council during the year, showing a total of L95J3, and argued fro,m these figures, that there wquld absolutely be none of the rates left for works of any description,} He (M*. Co,verlid) held that the timenad not com,e wh.en such a sum as 1 800Q or L4Q|QA should be expended on a Town Hall. * Mx. Hayes said as h,e was the mover of the resolution for- the. adoption of the plans, he would' g^ve jus reaj^ona for. 80 doing ; but he might preface his remarks by saying that he did not consider hin\self called upon to do sa Th,e present meeting, he held, was. not a meeting of ratepayers, but had been palled by a party of men who desired to put the townsmen at loggerheads with each other % Hia object in moving the resolution w.as that a building might he erected which, would be. a, <?red£t to the to\m A and th^t a few hundred pounds, or even a thousand pounds, should not stand in the way of th,eir having a, gxiod creditable, budding, He. believed that three-fourths, of the ratepayers were of his view on the subject. Besides, at present money could be had at six per cent., and he felt confident the work would be so reproductive that as much as th.ix.teen per cent would be realised by it, &us Jewing a balance, after paying the interest,- of seven per cent, for a sinking fund. Be considered this indignation meeting, aa, it had; been called, premature. Nothing had been done, by the Council tgt commit the ratepayers to, any fixed auxn, and aa a proof of this Mr, Lawson had been, sent for in order that he might give the Council more defiuite-mformation as to the cost. Mr. Mears said he was afyvajjs glad when- he Heard. any r ina&rvjpßesenitations put forward, as had been done by the gentleman who had just sat down, to. be in a position to confute them. [Here an altercation took place between tghe sgejtfte^ and Mr. Hayes, w.hicli we j shall pasa over in. silence,} Mr. Mears continued by saying that Tyh.en he. entered the, Town Council he was told a rough sketch of a Town HftJ£ 6.oft x4oft, had been submitted to the Council. He expressed to the Mayor his opinion that the sige mentioned would be too. smtall for the w.anta of tha district, and suggested the si?ebe 80ft x 40ft. . Mr. Mears then, explained how the matter was r,ef eneed £9 the Public Work's, ComI mittee who .brought up, a report of what ' they consider^ a suitable Kuildang, which it was calculated waujd cost £500 more than the original sum meutioned of £20.00. He read the sizes of the various apart . ments of the building. The report, he said, was adopted by the CpuncStand sent to Mr. Lawson* bu£ instead 'o£ getting back a plan, in accordance with the descriptions sent, everything about $t was enlarged, aiid the price proportionately increased. As a reason why he did not attend theksjb Council meeting, he said he preferred argmug the.maiter with the ratepayers, in., pref^renpe to doing so in Council with two or three cantankerous ' Councillors, wh.o had; no. practical knowledge of the matter they attempted to discuss.^ These Councillors he referred to, had; dictated to, him, j and said thai became he was a builder j he supposed ha knew- &p about j it. Thjs being, the.caae, as he had? already j remarked, he preferred to bring the_.matter j before the ratepayers for their discussion ; and now thai they^ had met, he was, prepared to stand % the figures he had before him and assert that tbJa budding now before, the Council would qpst a_good deal more than w,aa stated.. Jt was against hia, own interest, he- said, to oppose the- increased .expenditure ;• but he could not forgei that, in- connection with ; the retaining kail at th& baok of Eos 3 Place, there would be required; a considerable sum for drainage, ~an{t he. did not wish to rob-^ojrher pprtions; oi the,fy).wjifor the purpose, oi erecting.a Town Halt. It hadjbeen stated that Mr^l^aw^oa r sent for. He (Mr, Aieara) kne^ nothing about i*i. andi h.e sa.w no season why he should b& sent for — it would onJy T lje a useless expenditure ofcaboufL^ A saj facev sketch and a section of; the level* had been, sent to Mi. Lawson, and from any architect would be able to draw a plan and give the approximate price of, /the building j and yet in. the fece of this ;Mr. Lawsoni?. sent' ipr x Any ratepayer can see- the, minutes of :.th^ meeting;; and if they did not bind; the ratejpayess to, a certain design, he did not know; what .could dp so v The ratepayers had. now a chance of expressing thek mind on the subject, and he hoped they w,QijJd do, so. Mr. Hijl said? the calenlations: made by -Mr. Lawson and the, Publac Works Committee appeared, so hazy to, the Council that some <?f the Oouncillors decided, 'after the oa<eedng. held, tlxds, I^© best thing to do would be. to send forMr^ Lawson. _ Mr. Mears w,as sen> for to. see, if he- would agree with them, but he was not to be found. The Town Clerk, was, _ instructed not to communicate with Mr. Lawson until he came to Lawrence^ He could assure the ratepayers that their interests would be looked after by the other Councillors quite-as well as by Cr* Mears. He was sure he spoke the feeling of the Council when he said they had no intention, of' expending over L3OOO- or- L3j500- on a Town Hali, aad that amount, he con-, sidered, was not too much>. They shsould not look to to-xlay or to-morrow, in- "such an undertaking, but forward for some ;year£. 8.% %%»P|^ft.^gu«^.as,to, the.

payable character of the Hall as Mr, Hayes seemed to be ; but he was confident it would realise as muoh as pay the interest p.n the borrowed money. He oaloulated that LIOQ would be obtained from the shops, and the remaining LBO coujd be raised frqm other things. As to the purifying of the water., that could be done by levying a special rate. He concluded by assuring the ratepayers that their interests would be well looked ajfter by the. OftiinoiJ. |n reply to a question put by Mr., Coverlid, Mr. Hill admitted that he at one time was in favor of Town Hall at a cost of but, after going into the calculations, he saw that it could not be done for that amount. Mr- McKimmie said with all due deference tq Mr. Ferguson he considered th,e report of the last meeting of the town Council calculated to n^islead the outaide public. He was present at the Council meeting, and it was distinctly understood by the Council that they s,houldnot exceed the sum, of ££>00.Q for the purpose of a Town Hall. Mr. Ferguson said with all due deference to Mr. McKimmie he had his notes of the proceedings to guide him, while Mr. Me3£ira,m,ie had only, his memory ; aud he begged to state that the report of, the meeting was substantially oorrect. Mr> Walker said, with referenoiei to the m,attej under consideration, he was not actuated xn any way by personal feelings. Efe had taken the stand purely on publio ground^. The Oounwl agreed to borrow £2000, and he thought the sum agreed upon quite sufficient for the purpose. Some Councillors would go to. the extent of £5000 or £6000 to build % glass house to, put themselves in. They ought to he satisfied with a building costing L2OOQ ox L2poo at the. furthest.. He had made up his mjnd to stand out against more than L2500> They- would find the debt that sum would incur quite large enough. There were several other works of equal importance to be gone on with. First, there was the reclaiming of the. ground in Hoss Place, and in, connection with that work a sum. of at least LOOO would require to be expended on drainage. Next cajne the purifying of the water, and for that work he set down L2O4XV If they once had pure water they coukl raise a revenue from it, and thus make this work a reproductive one. Then there was the matter- of a w.eighbridge, w.hich had been ordered from England, an.d which would require to Jbe paid for ; but before it was properly I fixed it would:- cost about L2OO. In addii tion to theae most important works, they ' had still six chains of thp new road to pitch and gravel, which he supposed would make up another L2OO, and there were sundry other- little jobs which would ton into expense. He thought L 2500 for a town hajs wojuki be. found to be as much aa the town was Justified in expending. The rates for the current year will amount to about LBOO— L6OO of which will be required for working expenses. The worka he had referred would amount to between I^ooo and L800Q ; and if a sum, of L3SOHor £4000 were expended on a town hall, they would before twelve months have a debt of L.9000. It was all very good fei have a fine building, but he thought if those members of the Counoil who are so much in favor of* it had to w.or,k harder for their money, they would be a, little more economical in dealing^ with titt© funds o£- ihe Corporation. Mr. Msara, ta bring the discussion to a climax, moved, " That it is the opinion of this- meeting that the designs first received be adhered to.'* 1 Dr. Ilalfoy said tw<* buildings had been put up in Lawrence on the economical scale, and both of them had been found inadequate for the increasing req\rirements of the place ; he referred? to the , Post -.office and the Courthouse, It did ,nofc suit to be. extravagant, but in erecting a tow,u halt, he considered, they should . look forward JO- years from now,. . There could- be no doubt but this was a borrowing age. He looked upon Or. Hiß as the Yogel of Lawrence ; bnt -whether their Lawrence Yogel was right or not in thia matter, he was. not going, to say. Mr> Walker seconded the. motion-,-Mr. M'Kimmie moved an amendment, " thai the matter remain in abeyance, and that the ratepayers do not take any action at pa?eseni. JJ - He thought with- six intelligent members, of the Go.anqil, and Mr. Herbert at their head, there was no fear of any extravagance on> the. pact of the Council., Mr v O. i&yani seconded* the amendment. He did so because,, ihe Council had nob committed- itself. He thought it would be- a. bad policy to curtail a town I hall.. He w.as of opinion they should have a good building-, one that would be useful twenty-years.hefiee, : The Chairman, thought i£ would be very-iirwvise-of the ratepayers to expend [ a largo, sum oi- money on a haH that i should- be.expended- on the roads. They had had> sufficient experience of bad roads to- warn them, against sush proceedings-. Mr.. Hitl said the Chairman had' made I a forcible appeal' ta ratepayer*, with regard to the.rftads }.b»t if the town. hall can be made, aa, he. believed it: could- be ' made, a reproductive, work* there would be plenty money te?t to make the roads. M^v Humphrey considered thta matter had been a hazily managed affair throughout. He suggested that a hall should be built which woufei be capable of expansion. If it was made too narrow it could never- be altered ;.but if sufficiently wide,, then it could be extended- asc. necessity* might- require. EE c <J;uite agreed that the. time had- come when a town hall-- should be built, but he thought the meeting, at present convened unnecessary. They were interieringjwith their- representatives without any proper cause. It appeared to him that the- Coimcil had been, trifled with through, th©. asehifceejy-. Mr-. Arbuckje- could" not see* much greater necessity for a Tbsjn Hall now ihan-.there h#d,been for some years past ; and to. test the meeting, he proposed a motion, to. the effect; that a Town Hall' should not be erected: The motion- did not find a seconder. Mr. Tolcher then addressed the meeting He said- it was a great pity the ratepayers couldn't agree to differ, but- must mix- up. their discussions, with so many, bitter personalities'. They should at. least give each other credit for good;inteniions* It was evident, from-thetoneof'therneetHig, thsat the great: majority were in favor of" a Towa, HalL Although he waa not unfavorable- to- the- proposed buildings he (^uld^uc^he^thlnkjno ; there w&e other

works of importance requiring the attention of the Counoil. Mr. Tolcher instanced the suburban streets., many of which required money expended upon them to malse them accessible for loading. He thought the Oouncij. should have palled for competitive deigns, as by that means they would have had several to pick and choose from. He would move — <c That this meeting recommend the Council to call ftr competitive designs for a. Town HalL" ' The motion was not seconded. Mr, W. GK Anderson said he had heard a good deal about this Town Hall husi* ness, and during the last sixteen- years he had seen a good few. It was only very lately the Melbourne Town Hall was finished, a,nd he remembered some years ago seeing only part of its walls standing. He had listened tq Mr. Mears when he gave the siaes of the yarious pompartments. There was a, great big room fjr the Mayor, which h,e believed that gentleman would very seldom occupy, He (Mr. Anderson) would therefore recommend that it should he left over. There was a safe-room, which would be of Uttl© use — let it also be left. over. Th.fa principle had been, carried out with the Melbourne, BallaraJ;, and Kynetqn Town Ha)ls-~the more, necessary parts being finished first and the unnecessary, or rather leaa. neoessary, finished afterwards, as these places increased in importance. By adopting this means, they wo,uld be able to erect such, a, building as was needed with ■the money th,ey had borrowed. The Chairman thought the meeting had not sufficient data to go upon — they had no definite rule to guide them to a decision. Some say that one sum is agreed upon, and some, that something eke is agreed upon. He had been chastised for hia remarks about the roads ; but there is one thing he would recommend the Council to do, and that ia not to allow the money borrowed to become a burden on ! rates, vfhich are set apart for other purposes. He thought it w.o.uid be well that the matter be left over for disouS9ion amoiijst the ratepayers, and another meeting held to decide up,on> what steps | should be taken. j The Chairman then put the amendment moved by Mr. M'Kimmie and seconded by Mr Bryant, " That any further proceedings be left in abeyance," for which 12handa were held np^ He then pit the proposition moved by- Mf. Coverlid and seconded by Mr. Wdker, " That the original sum agreed upon by the Council be adhered to, M for which 13; hands were held up. The proposition was therefore declared carried. [This decision was considered by the supporters of the amendment to be in-, correct — some persons present asserting thAt a* many- aA 2j». hands were held up for it. We have not for a long time past attended a meeting in Lawrence where so much bitterness and ill-feeling have been manifested^ and all to so little purpose.]