BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 8 November 1882, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

A special meeting of the Borough Council was held last night. Present — Hiß Worship the Mayor (in the chair), Crs Nathan, Bichards, Jones, Murray, Ward, Spurdle, Notman, Bell, and Crawford. By-Laws. — The meeting was called for the purpose of considering the pro posed by-laws, already published, as to storing petroleum and licensing its sale, regulation of driving and riding in the streets, and prohibiting driving cattle between certain hours, the adoption of all the proposed by-laws being moved by the Mayor.— The by-law as to petroleum, was adopted unanimously — Upon the by-law as to driving and riding, Cr Ward objected 'to so much power being given to the police as to the traffic round corners and across intersections. It would be quite sufficient if the by-law were in that lespect confined to the intersection of the_ Avenue and Bidgwaystreet, and only in that amended form he would support it. Too much power should not be given to the police, whose training led them to consider the letter rather than the spirit of the law. — Cr Murray would support the by-law, whichjhe considered highly necessary, provided it were confined to Queen's Ward. — Cr Notman supported Cr Ward's vieivs, and contended that in such a limited town as Wanganui it was only necessary that animals should go at a walk at such places as the intersection of the Avenue by Eidgway-street and Taupo Quay. He begged to move an amendment confining the by-law to those two spots. — Cr Nathan strongly supported the bylaw as originally proposed, and spoke warmly of the dangerous practice of butchers' and other carts driving round corners. — Cr Spurdle could not Bee why the by-law should be confined merely to the coiners of the Avenue, where people keep their eyes open, and not extended to other places where the danger came upon pedestrians suddenly. He should support the by-law as it stood. — Cr Jones took the same view, and spoke of the danger to school chi'.dren from equestrians, especially on Sundays. (Cr Ward, " Human nature is the same all the world over.") He (Cr Jones) should support the by-law as it stood.— Cr Bell would do so also, for the way in which butohers' and grocers' carts were driven at present round street corners was absolutely dangerous to life. He might instance s. ieet and the adjoining thorough ua-es as places whore the practice flourished. — Crs Bichards and Crawford also supported the by-law as it stood.— Cr Ward again opposed the by-law as unnecessary , and as anticipating the progress of Wanganui by 100

(laughter) or at .least 25 years. It wag an undue interference with people, especially those from the country, who would not know anything about the by-laws. — His Worship said that some of the councillors were anticipating dangers which were not likely to occur. There was no fear of policemen being toozealous, and it was far better that the lives and limbs of people should be proteoted than that people should be allowed to drive or ride as they pleased round corners,- or acroßS intersections, or angles such as vacant blocks. — Or Nottnan's amendment was put and lost. — rllis Worship said that, to meet objections, he would instruot the solicitor to so word the by-law as not to make it apply to riding or driving straight down a street. — The by-law was then adopted as originally proposed.— The .third bylaw, ' prohibiting the driving -of' cattle between the hours of 8.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m., was then considered. 4-Cr Murray raggested'that an exemption should be made in the case of cattle driven to and from the . wharf .—O r Sp'urdle- thought" that that case could. be met by the drovers a special -permit.-rCr Kichards opposed the by-law altogether. He . was a breeder of cattle himself, and could certify that the existing 1 - by-law (which simply made it necessary to give the police half-an-hour's notice before driving cattle through' the town) worked : satisfactorily, and he had never heard of any accidents. — Or Spurdle had seen ; a ! child half-killed in the streets^- The i Mayor remarked that driving cattle had been found dangerous up the' River Sank, and two years ago there was, a 'serious accident .there. . _ With' regard to the proposed by-law Tie'bad shqwn.it to Mr I\ R. Jackson, who gave it his entire i approval. Of, course there was no wish ; to hamper the cattle trafficunnepessarily, ; as it was the one strong trade ...in;,the ; district. To meet Cr Murray's objection he • would suggest .a . proviso that ! the by-law sheuld not apply,to.cattle I driven on the west side -of > Churtonj street. — Cr Nathan would prefetTthat'a discretionary power' should be T giveh."-£r-Cr Spurdle thought there' 'might be special cases in which permifst ought to j be granted, such as where cattle' had been driven from a great distance. — Or Ward thought the by-law 'altogether , unnecessary at present, speaking from i his four year's experience ofWangaiiui; , — Cr Bell hoped that no restriction would : be put on the great cattle trade in the 'district, and should oppbs'e' the "by-law as it stood. — Cr Notman' .would; also < opposejitin toto. — Cr Crawford thought that the by-law should be jconfined to one or two of the principal streets.^-Cr Nathan would oppose the by-law.^-Cr Jones thought that the Mayor's suggestion as to the west side' of Churtonl . street was a good one. He' begged to ■ move as an addition' to the '••by-laMr the following words : — Provided always ■ that .this shall not apply to'- cattle I landed from or being put on -board jury ; vessel, which cattle may be driven" on j j the west side, of Churton-street. This , was earned on a divisions by 5 to^.-^Or ] Bell then moved an amendment further limiting . the by-law- — Cr Nathan se- ; conded Cr Bell's amendment, which was lost'on a division by 5 to 4.— rThe original by-law was then : put ! to, the vote, and thrown out. — His Worship then moved. that the first two by.laws (already agreed to) be passed, and that ameeting be called for the oth of ' December, to- confirm them, and that they be duly advertised in the meantime.— Carried. • - ■.' ' J The Council then resolved itself intp an ordinary meeting. . .' . ;i l The minutes of the previous'ordinary meeting were read and confirmed. Sw.mming Baths. — The clerk was in- . stracted to obtain an official statement : that the proposed company ' bad col- ; ' lapsed, ana on receiving.' ;to communicate with the St. Gdbrge's Gate rate-, payers. Water Metee. — An application by Mr Smiley, for permission, to shift the position of his meter, was referred to the Foreman of Works. -.i-Erecting a Post. — Permission was^ granted to Mrs Nance to erect a post in' the front of her shop, so that a horse ■ might be fastened to it. Valuation. — The Mayor said that the time had arrived to consider whether . they should, as on former ocoasions, have a valuation by the Town Clerk, or whether they Ehould take the. property tax valuation. The former plan cost .660 — Cr Ward -thought ' the, Oounoil ought to save that sum if possible, and therefore should try., the property tax valuation for one year. ' He would move accordingly. — The motion was seconded by Cr Spurdle pro forma. — Or Crawford moved, and Councillor Nathan seconded, That the old plan be adopted this year. — The Mayor said that no doubt the property tax valuation waa too light for borough purposes, and if they- adopted if, they would lose far more than the £60. — Cr Crawford could confirm, that j statement. — Cr Riohards thought the borough officers ought to make, the valuation without extra pay, as their salaries had been increased and bonuses \ given to them. — The Mayor reminded Cr "Richards that three years ago tenders for the valuation had been called, andr the lowest was £120. The Counoil thought itself fortunate when its officers' did the 'work for half that money;" Speaking for the officers, he might l say they did not want it,' and : would rather the valuation . were ,put * , out. — On the motion of Cr Murray, tlio' r question was adjourned for a fortnight. . ' Foreman's Report. — The report of \ ,the foreman was received. — Cr Murray : moved, That it be adopted. — Seconded ; 'by Cr Crawford. — Cr Nathan asked by what authority the work in front of the school had been done. — His Worship ' said that that question would be debated, later on. — Report adopted. '. Holiday. — In accordance with' pre- ' vious practice, the Corporation workmen were granted a holiday on the Prince of Wales' Birthday, they being allowed ' their pay. Tenders for Gravel.— These tenders ' were referred to a committee of the . whole Council, to meet at 11 o'clock , on the following morning. Accounts. — Various accounts for hos- ■ pital and general purposes were pis;fd . • for payment. Printing and Advertising.— A com- ' mittee, consisting of Crs Spurdle (the mover), Bell, Jones, and Notnian, was appointed to inquire into certain matters connectad with this subject. Finance Committee.— Cr Ward said ' - that complaints had been made of the Public Works Committee, but they were '".. more applicable to the Finance Commit- \ tee, whose only duty appeared to be the sigc : .ng of the cheques.— The Mayor explained that no account was ever ■ paid until the committee had examined \ it, and it had been certified by the clerk or foreman of works. — On the motion . of Cr Nathan the accounts already passed for payment were referred to the < Finarce Committee. Public Works. — The adjourned discussion was taken on Cr Jones's motion, That all works involving an expenditure of over £20 be first approved of by the Council, such rule not to apply to works requiring urgent attention. He had brought the motion forward because ho had seen works done which, although not unnecessary, were not so urgently needed as others left undone. He had looked through the minutes of the last six months, and only three works were mentioned as passed by the Council. They were the Eiver Bank, road formation on St. John's Hill, and clearine out

of drains on the industrial School Estate. 01,086 on .£2ooo. had been expended in the piisfcysix months on labour and works, of which ii appeared that only £150 had been specially , authorised. His object was that' all works required should be brought before- the Council, though, of $>urse',.he did not apply the rule to such cases as culverts which had to be repaired immediately. . Then, again, he found that, although the Council had resolved to. -put Harrison-street in order, it had never been finished to this day. Works which the Public Works Committee had recommended and 1 the Council had adopted, such as removal of the water in Dublin-street; ;had never been' done. Liverpool-street was another such case. Whatever' had.' hitherto been done in the past, 1 each' Council meeting should have Before it ! a list of work's urgently needed, so that it could decide upon them. .With regard to, the work just completed in front of the school and police station, it was less urgent than many other things' required, and. had not been carried out in ithe. right: way. — Cr Notman seconded the; motion.^— l'he Mayor said that the charges" against iim of. abuse of power were not tangible;' but too general. He ' had .hoped i that (Jr Jones would that'" night:. have pointed out instances of ! works over . £20 which ■he (file Sray'oi^had sanctioned without consulting the' council. The motion affirmed that the, Mayor had . been in the habit of sanctioning such things, and therefore that his, hands should be tied. Six months, ago he had, brought forward a schedule of works, which had been practically, authorised by 'the council, and had.b een in course of execution since. GriJones said that in the far end of the town very few works had been done, but the-whole of , the' schedule applied to that part of the borough. The claying of 'the' roadway iff front of the school in Harrison-street was done by virtue of a standing rule of tLat council, which authorised the foreman of works to clay liny, streets he thought fit. It was obvious' that in wet weather there might be many cases in which men could work amongst the sand. It was true that he (the Mayor) had some time back, without instructions, authorised" a footpath to be made in. Keith-street, but it was urgently; 'necessary, and similar footpaths'.nad been since laid- dowu in other ..■ part's- of .-the .town. As to the Works Committee, he had opposed its appointment, as he thougbtjthe whole Council should'be a Works Committee, and that the foreman should bring up to each meeting" a list of works, so that the councillors could look after then- 'own ■wards. No one could say that he (the MayOT), had . favoured any particular p.art. of the town, or that he had not taken bis share of , the work of the comnuttees.,. No councillor had ever come to'him and said that a committee meeting should be calledwithout his calling it. The Council therefore shared. the respon- ( sibility with him, for he had been saddled'with membership of all committees. The Works Committee would have been called together earlier, but for the present motion of Cr Jones being in abeyance. He (the Mayor) agreed with the principle of the motion, but opposed it, as it was practically a charge against him. of abuse of power. As to tendering for work, he had always thought that most works were better done by their own staff without tenders, and the Council would easily see that it was-con-trary to. his personal interests not to call fpr tenders, which involved advertisemerits'' in the, case of every small work^H'.Hexould.not see that in any of these '■"■ particulars he had done any thing, to merit the passing of the present motion. As to Cr Jones's comparison of figures," the schedule o£ works to '.which he (the Mayor) had alluded had been authorised and carried out during the time Cr Jones had alluded to.— Cr "Ward said that there had been so much discussion on this motion that it bad better bo put to the vote. Be r sides the works referred to by Cr Jones, he seemed oblivious of, work, such as Wicksteed-street, which had; , been under his very door. He (Cr Ward) could not Bse any instance where His Worship had done anything which could be objected to. All works could not be carried out at once, and as for the .work in front of the police station, about whichso much hubbub had been made-, it wras one of the most necessary in Wanganui. As to' the "Works Com- • mittee hedisagreed from His Worship, and' thought that it was really necessary, 'but on' the whole he could not see that any 'case' had 1 been made out for such 'a vote of censure upon the Mayor and upon the Foreman of Works — the latter especially. It would be utterly impossible- for the foreman, who already was overworked, to bring up such reports as. Cr Jones wanted. : — . Cr. Richards thought that to some_ extent the, motion was a good one, for it really seemed as though the Council had ! given the power out of their own hands. Every particular of work ought to be passed by the Council, excepting works I of emergency., If things went on as they were,]they might just as well meet once in: six months instead of once a fortnight. The Mayor said the Council must distinctly understand that his contention j was that, all 'works were passed, except such odd jobs as had been spoken of. — Cr Spurdle said that the whole discussion had arisen out of the Foreman of Works putting a. street in- order which had previously cost the Council ten times the amount expended in claying it. For this work, the Foreman of Works was 1 not to be thwarted but to be commended.- He (Cr Spurdle) could not remember an instance of work over .£2O being done • without authority, but he was quite sure that the business had been done more efficiently before the Works Committee was appointed than since.— Cr Notman seconded the motion, and, without expressing an opinion from his own experience whether there had been in the past any- abuse of power or ..not on. the part of the Mayor, disclaimed on behalf of Cr Jones and himself any intention to make a personsl charge of abuse .of power against His Worship. Ho wished also to distinctly exclude the Foreman, of Works from the effect. of tho motion, for presumably ho acted under His Worship's orders. The motion in itself could not be objected to, and' the principle could not be disputed, especially with the proviso as to works of emergency. During the three evenings he(Cr Notman)' had been present, no works had been brought up and discussed, and if the works were to be submitted only in six monthly schedule*, then the Council had nothing to do but read letters and pass accounts. He was sorry that His Worship could not accept the motion. — The • Mayor said that there could be no objection to the motion apart from the ■charge of abuse of power with which Cr ■ Jones had accompanied it. — Cr Notman continued his remarks, and said that the ' principle hitherto had been to place the • whole power in the hands of .the Mayor i d the Foreman of Works, and this < plan- was » bad one, though he did not say that they had done any unnecessary ' works. The principle of the motion was a sound one, and ought to be acted upon. — Cr Nathan supported the motion, and considered that the councillors came night after night -and sat like nonentities. Works were being done over the town bit by bit, and ho never saw anything finished. He heartily agreed with the motion — Cr Murray opposed it, and said that the matters complained of by Cr Jones were he Council's fault, and not that of the

Mayor or Foreman of Works. The committee ought to be done away with altogether. He had always been under the impression that unauthorised works had been done, and he was glad that His Worship's full explanation Jproved that it was not so. The principle of the motion was already on the minutes, and the present resolution was therefore unnecessary.— Cr Bell also opposed the motion, and said that the charge involved in it applied not only to the Mayor but travelled back to previous officials. Or Jones's comparison of figures had been proved to be erroneous, and he had made out no case for his motion. The councillors' memories would alone bear him out in saying that many more thin three workfl had been authorised during the past six months. As to the claying done in front of the police station, it appeared to have been authorised, and it certainly was very necessary and beneficial. — Or Jones, in reply, regretted that it was supposed he had a personal animus against the Mayor. He dioclaimed anything of the sort. What he had done was for the public good. The works in the schedule alluded to by His Worship were really very small, and a day or two would complete thenu (His Worship dissented). He~ (Cr Jones) had"* not believed until tbat night (when he was told that the foreman had power to clay any streets that he liked, and that the Mayor had full power to do what he pleased), that the Councillor had parted so greatly with its proper powers. Ihe 1 B'oreman of Works should bring to every Council meeting a list of works required (which it would not take him ten minutes to make out),. and it should be for the Council to say which of them should he carried out. As matters stood, he (Cr Jones) felt that as representative of a ward he had no power tc control the expenditure of the money contributed by that ward. He still maintained the accuracy of his' figures, and contended that the whole £2000 had, wittf"the ; exception of £150 worth of contracts and a few little jobs, been expended without authority. He contended that the Public Works Committee should have been called recently. (The Mayor asked why Cr Jones didn't ask for it to be called). Some matters had been referred to that committee to report upon, but it had not met to consider them. All he could say was that the Council had lost all its glory (laughter), and that the power had got into the hands of the Mayor and Foreman of Works, though he admitted that His Worship had performed his duties efficiently, and he disclaimed any animus against him. — His Worship said that he had not accused Cr Jones of exhibiting personal animus, but simply of making reckless assertions. — The Council then divided on the motion : Ayes (4), Crs Jones, Notman, Nathan, and Eichards; Noes(G), The Mayor, Crs Murray, Bell, Ward, Spurdle.and Craw ford. The motion was therefore declared lost. — The Mayor said that on the 9th of May a resolution was passed that as far as practicable all works be done by contract. — Cr Nathan said that thsre was an older resolution confining each of suea works to £20. — Cr Ward had clearly understood that the resolution of the 9th of May applied to works of £20, and, as the matter could now be discussed dispassionately, he wonld move that the words " of £20 and over " be inserted in such resolution. — (Jr Kotman seconded the motion. — The Ma3 7 or explained the difficulties which stood in the way of having contracts for road work, which often' was done at interrals spreading over a long perioJ., and which was better done by the Corporation labour. He did not see why the Mayor and Foreman of Works should have even the power to order works of 4>20, and his objection to the Works Committee was that if it did not exist the councillors would bring before the Council works required in their wards, and they wov.ld be fully discussed. — Cr Bell oppo c ed the motion, and considered that the resolution of the 9th May embraced all tbat was necessary. — His Worship moved, That the "Works Committee be abolished. — Cr Bell seconded the motion. — Cr Jones objected to it, as it proposed to rescind an existing resolution without notice. — Hu.iWorsbip accordingly withdrew the motion.— Cr Ward withdrew his also.— The Mayor then moved, and Cr Crawford seconded, That all works over £10 receive the previous sanction- of the Council. — This was lost, Cr Notrnan remarking that the Mayor was left just in the same position as ho was before. — His Worship added that the Council apparently wished him to have more power than he desired. —Cr Jones moved, That the Foreman of Works bring to each CouneiT'meeting a list of works required to be attended to. — Cr Richards seconded this pro forma. — The Mayor characterised the motion as absurd, and said that if the councillors wanted to know what works were re r quired they should go round and see for themselves. — The motion was put and loßt. Drifting Sand. — The Foreman of Works was instructed to take the necessary steps by planting ice plant ov otherwise, as opportunity offers, to prevent the sand from the borough sections drifting on to Mr J. W. Jackson's, Mr Murray's, and other sections. Fire Beigadb Station. — Captain Cummins attended to ask that the Counsil's grant of £150 might be paid into the brigade account, subjeot to the proper legal formalities being gone through. — On the motion of Cr BTotman it was. resolved to make a progress payment of £100, subject to the Board s solicitors being satisfied as to the security. Public Works Committee.— Ore -Bell and Richards bpthgave notice of motion to abolish the Public Works Committee. The Pound. — Cr Richards postponed hismotonre the pound untilnext meeting. Liverpool- stbeet. — On the motion of Cr Jones, seconded by Cr Nathan, it was resolved to clear the furze from Liverpool-street. Dublin- street. — On the motion of Cr Jones, the Foreman of Works was directed to report upon draining Dublin, street. Notice or Motion.— Cr Murray gave notice to move at the next meeting that a committee of the whole Council go round the Borough once a month to see what works were required to be done. After several trifling matters had been disposed of, the Council adjourned at 11 o'clock, after a four hours' sitting.