LAWRENCE TOWN COUNCIL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 379, 5 August 1874, Page 2

LAWRENCE TOWN COUNCIL.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the ,bovo-named body was held in the Council )hambers on Monday evening last. There vere present— the Jla/br (M. Hay, Esq.,) md Crs. Walker, Armstrong, Ferguson, Cox, Iffiddlemisß and Sheath. Before commencing the business of the svening, his Worship observed that, now the various elections were over, it would not be nit of place for him to make a few remarks. Ke trusted that the Council as a body would ivork together harmoniously, and be unanimous n the study of economy i'or the welfare and nterests of the ratepayers. He also hoped ;hey would Bhow a certain amount of foroearance towards each other in all matters shat came before them for discussion. It was liis intention, to the best of his ability, to ict impartially ; and he hoped all matters in connection with the recent elections would be allowed to remain in obh\ ion. The minutes of the previous regular meeting were read and adopted, and also of special meetings. The inward correspondence was then proceeded with. A letter was received from Mr. M'Coy, "solicitor, hi re the Corporation leases which, had been executed some two years ago by him, and for which he now asked payment. The communication was of considerable length, and entered fully into detail. It appeared that some £37 10s. was still due to Mr. M'Coy for his services. The matter was fully enquired into by several Councillors, and caused a large amount of discussion. The letter was eventually referred to the Reserves * and Finance Committees with power to act. A letter was received from Mr. James Hill, contractor, with reference to the substitutiag of certain timbers in the erection of the bridge over the Wetherstones Creek, and the probable cost of same. _ ,% On the motion of Cr. Aimstrong, it was resolved to allow the letter to remain on -the table. m Mr. G. B."Xing wrote a letter to the Coun-# cil with reference to the auditing of the Corporation books for the past municipal year. One of the auditors who had been appointed at the previous election had left the district some time ago, and it was thought unnece&sary by the ex-Mayor to appoint auother in his place, owing to the present election being so close at hand. On the motion of Cr. Armstrong, it "was resolved that the accounts of the Corporation be audited as soon as possible, for the halfyear ending the 30th June. A complaint from Messrs. Pressly, .Mears, Gascoigne, Sly, and Bryant, relative to the flooding of their property by the backing up of the water of the Wetherstones Creek crossing in Derwent-street, was received. The Public Werks Committee had given this matter the necessary attention. Several accounts were then referred to Committees. The appointment of the various Committees was next proceeded with, asjfollows : — Public Works Committee. — Crs. Walker, Ferguson, Middlemiss, and the Mayor. Finance Committee. — Crs. Armstrong. Cox, and Sheath. Reserves Committee. — Crs. Ferguson, Armstrong, and. tbe MayorIt -was moved by Oi«. Avmati'Ong, and seconded by Cr. Ferguson, " That a rate of Is-, in the £, for the ensuing year, be struck." After some conversation the motion was withdrawn, and the matter held over till next Council meeting. The matter of salaries was then dealt with. Each item was well discussed before being passed. The salary of the Town Clerk was allowed to remain the same as the previous year, vL , £75, commission on licenses at 5 per cent, assessor, £15. Sergeant Titchener was re-appointed Inspector of Nuisances, at a salary of £15 per annum. It was proposed and seconded, " That applications for the servicea of a surfaceman, be reserved." — Carried. On the motion of Cr. Armstrong, seconded by'Cr. Ferguson, the Town Clerk was instructed to write to the Minister of Justice, and also to Mr. J. C. Brown, M.H.R., to get prisoners who are committed for short sentences sent to Lawrence instead of Dunedin, so that prison labor may be obtained in the formation of the streets. The letter to remind the Minister of Justice that a large jail had been erected for the reception of such prisoners. -> Cr. Armstrong moved : " That the T*wn be instructed to procure copies of the 1867 Act, with the Otago Ordinance and Amended Ordinances, for the use of each Councillor." Seconded by Cr. Cox, and carried. The Mayor suggested, that all the Education Eeserves in the Municipality should be sold. There was a large number of them. At present they were not bringing anything into the Corporation ; and if sold they could then be rated, and bring in a revenue. On the motion of Cr. Cox, seconded by Cr. Ferguson, the Town Clerk was requested to write to the Education Board with reference to these reserves in the town, in order that they may be put up for sale. Cr. Walker asked a question as to whether a Eevision Court had been held. The Town Clerk informed Cr. Walker that it was held "on the 10th July, and several names were added to the Citizen's Soil. Ha was not present himself, on account of illness. Cr. Walker observed that his reason for making the enquiry was this : In the Ordinance it distinctly states that all* applications from persons desirous of having their names placed on the Citizen's -Roll must be made in writing, and these applications were to be placed on one or more conspicuous buildings in each Ward, in order that objections could be lodged by any peason who wished to do so, as to their qualifications. So far as he wat aware this had not been done. He would like to know the reason why. It was currently reported that a number of citizens' names were placed on the Roll a day or two before the election of Mayor came off. This to him, if true, looked very bad indeed, and should not be tolerated ; in fact, if this were tooccur again, he, as c Councillor or as a private citizen, would use his utmost endeavors to expose any persons who would tamper with the Roll in such a manner. He instanced the case of Mr. Bromley, who had only recently come to the district, and after residing in one Ward for two or three months, changed bis residence to the adjoining Ward. His (Bromley's) name had been placed on the East Ward after he had ceased" to hold any qualification for it ; and what he (Cr. Walker) wished to know was how that party's name came to be on the Roll, unless said Roll had beens tampered with ? The Mayor stated that he saw the name there, but could not tell how, or who, placed^ it there. Cr. Armstrong, as a member of the Revision. Court, said if anything wrong was done, it was attributable to the ignorance of those who composed the Court. He was quite of Cr. Walker's opinion that steps should *be taken so that no such carelessness should, again occur,, ' Cr. Walker said he had no desire to attempt to invalidate the late election. Het simply mentioned the matter ao that a like occurrence that had taken place might ncs again be heard of. The Council then adjoucnjgd,,