Borough Council. FIVE COUNCILLORS RESIGN. HEATED DISCUSSION.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 62, 23 October 1900, Page 3

Borough Council. FIVE COUNCILLORS RESIGN. HEATED DISCUSSION.

The usual monthly meeting was held last evening, there being present His Worship the Mayor and Crs. Golfcrnan, Inkster, Jones, Cameron, Sinclair, Dean, Mann, Philip and O'Connor. A number of ratepayers, evidently expecting a scene, were also present. The minutes of the previous ordinary and adjourned meetings were read, and confirmed. Cr. Coltm-'n asked if the new bylaw had been pnuted, and on being answered in the affirmative asked te see it. Then he said he had a proposition to make in this connection. As one who had eat there for a considerable time he regretted that he should have to move ifc, but as long ac hre was a member of a body elected by the ratepayers he would make it Ms business to see that thoir rights were studied. He would move that the Council prolesk against the action of the Mayor re printing the by-law and that a vote of censure be passed against him. Cr. Jones seconded the motion, ! His Worship askod what they would do if he declined to receive , this motion. Cr, Coltman said he was quite prepared to believe that His Worship would take this course His Worship said he was not desirous of burking a discussion. He wag willing co face the whole thing, for he had nothing to ba afraid of. All he wished was to keep the Council's busiuess in orde?. The Council could not move a vote of censure on the Mayor. In support of this he read Clause 17 of the Standing Orders, which seated chat th 9 Mayor should be the judge of what was. in order. The basis of his ruling was fairiy explicit. In the first place, he could not accept this proposition, because he was only chairman of the meeting, and because he was elected by the ratepayers and was not on the same basis as councillors. He was not the servant of the Council, to do as they commanded. Cr Inkster : And you haven't done it. Cr Coltman, ius" soma heafc, declared that the Mayor had no 'right, by his own ruling, to comment on the matter. Eg jausi; keep to the Standing Orders, and they would do so. His *Vorsbip read uho comments of Judge Williams on a somewhat similiar case, drawing attention to the last two sentences. The Mayor in this case left the chair. " Sappose the defendant had permitted the rneetiag to continue, but had refused to put the motion on the ground that it did not relate to a municipal body, would the Court if appealed to have competed him to put it. That seems so me very very doubtful. How such a motion, if passed, could forward municipal business one whit, or do anything more than gratify tne personal feelings of those who passed it, and exasperate the person censured, I cannot imagine." They could take their case to the Supreme Court. Cr. Coltman said he declined to sit longer under a man who acted i -in the way His "Worship had doae. ! His Worship said he was quite willing to have the affair settled by vote. | Cr. Coltman : I could get five members to vote with me on the question. His Worship : I would not need to get up private meetings to sesure the votes. ! Or. Coltman : No, you are such a man of honour that you would ' give two votes against it. I Cr Inkster said His Worship needed members who would -iefc him do as he liked. Hl3 Worship said he distinctly made it understood that he did not refuse discussion. Gr Mann said the Mayor's action made the Council useless. Cra. Coltman, Manu, Jones, Cameron and Inkster then left the room, as a protest against the action of the Mayor, Cr. Coltman exclaiming, as he left the room, " You are totally unfit for the position." His Worship said he sent to an outside 'solicitor whom he did not know, and he upheld his action and the opinions of the Waimato solicitors in every particular. He himself never had any motive but a desire fdr the public good. Mr Sinclair said he had sat under nearly all the Mayors in Waimate, and Dr Barclay had devoted more time Tmd labour to public affairs than any of them. He deserved the best fchanka of the remaining councillors, and he would move in that direction. •Cr. Philip endorsed Cr. Sinclair's sentiment?. He had only sat there a short time, bnfe he fully appreciated the extent of the Mayor's public services. His Worship betrayed how muoh he was moved, in thanking the

Crs. He said ho thoroughly believed he was right and he was | not going to be bounced and j blustered. He had no axo to i £tind, and wore it not for this feeling lie would resign his position. All he got was worry. His Worship said he would like to explain the position^ Ho did did not want to burke a discussion. He need not «•■ .•■►nnd merubers that Wahuate haa ?, *-cry siri agent Bylaw formerly, An apphcaoion by Meesib Priest and Holdgafce for leave to put up a roof to cover machinery was declined under this 33y-law unless brick or iron supports were used. As Mayor, he . was frequently approached with a view to relaxing the severity of ! the By-law, and hiq having to decline, put him in many awkward positions. Finally it was decided to frame a new By-law, and a eoinuaitteo was accordingly set up. He had gone through the By-laws of Tiniaru, Dunedin and Ohrisfechurch and had drawn up a short draft, which was calculated to neet all the difficulties hitherto encountered. Howover ? the oxporr, knowledge of Messrs Philip and Collett was taken advantage of, and the matter referred to thorn. The Council later decided to accopt their recommendation that the Timaru By-law be adopted with a few amendments. Under tho fonmr By-law a prosecution ogainsii the CG-Operative AssociaLion failed and. this was an addiDional proof ci toe need of a new By-law. At that time he was consulted by two separate persons, who desired to build in wood in Qusen^ street, j as to whether any evasion ""of the | By-law wero possible. He had ; replied that the Council, having had | one experience of an^neffectiva Bylaw, would now go on to make one that was effective. , He never for a moment expected any opno*"tt?on under this combination ofmrcum-i stances. To make distinctions under j those circumstances was simply j trifling with the matter, if not worse. ! At least half-a-dozen telegrams wero | received from outside the town from those wishing to build, and asking j if the By-law could be evaded, i Privileges which were not grafted ; to residents could not be granted to I outsiders. This was certainly not j a pleasant duty for the Mayor to have to refuse these applications, j and no one can suggest that he had | any personal 'interest fco serve by being disagreeable. Unprejudiced persons could see nothing in ! his actions, except the discharge of his duty to the town in a fair and fearless manner, j He had practically comiiiitted j ohe Council to makoj a good By law in the place of a bad one, and had he done otherwise he would i have stultified the action of the Council. No fairminded man could j wonder, under the circunstances, j at his wanting the By-law in force i at "once. He would refer 'briefly to the v *3isoussion v-hiob took place on the refusal to m<tko the resolution at the last meeting a formal one i.e. by handing it in in writing. Not one councillor pretended to wish that the By-law should uofe be made fully valid. It seemed too ridiculous in the face of the history of the By-law to conceive any of tbe councillors conniving at making the By-law invalid. If the councillors had distinctly stated they did not wish j the By-law to be Valid, they would have something to complain of j at his action. To make the j position qui,te clear, some councillors I wanted the By-law made practically , invalid, but daren't say so : they wanted it done by a side wind, and he must admit his density in not seeing it. They would not move a rerolution on the subject fi in accord- i ance with the standing orders, but foey wished to coerce the Mayor] into going behind the Act and doing an illegal thing, they repudiating his action if any trouble followod. Ife was tho old story of. the cat and j the chestnuts. Personally, to com- I ply with the by-law, he would have j to spend about £10. He was not j aware of ail this friction till last i meeting. Ifc was made behind his j back and was 1 like a hot-house j plant, and needed artificial means i tv keep it alive. . I As to the grounds for delay \ brought forward : Ie was said that i expense might be saved, but thai; | was proved not to be so. It was j next suggested that the new Act j might interfere with the validity of | the by-law, but nothing definite was known on that point. The speaker had raised the question of validity if not printed, and no j councillor oven suggested that its I validity should be risked. This he 'took as an indication "that the i Council did not moan to interfere ,to such an extent. He had oalled i upon Or Ooltmair to reduce his I wish to delay the printing to a written resolution. The latter declined, on the grounds that they could not interfere with the Act. To test the Reeling ot the meeting, he put a r jsolution, and on t ae voioas there was majority of one.

in favour of delay. This ihe Mayor intended as a guide to himself, ' not at all as binding, stating to the Council that he would take a solicitor's opinion on the subject) and act accordingly. By refusing to write a motion, the Council 'admitted their proposal to be either improper or illegal, while they express their wish, informally, to do the same thing. There was no resolution that an opinion was not to be go!/, though somo councillors seemed to object. He would remind Or. Inksfcer that his voice was the strongest in urging haste in completion of the by-law, in order to prevent infringements. But admitting that a misunderstanding did arise, he had given councillors an opportunity o* clearing up that misunderstanding, ac a special meeting, but they had declined. Nothing could be fairer, and their declining left no doubfc as ' to who was in ihe wrong. A very ; plausible reason for delay was tho \ probability that the newilct would do away with the printing regula- ! tiona and, as a matter oi fact, he j hap received a communication from Major Steward that there was no chance of their being altered. Then, the new Act does not come into force till January Ist, 1801, and so Waimate would be five months without a building by-law. He ■ submitted that ha had, to all intents | and purposes, paid the greatest i deference to the wishes of the Council and had ascertained that a'l reasonable objections were first removed. He had steered clear of the stultifying position in which some of the councillors would have placed the Council, the ratepayers and himself. The clerk had mado no note of the proceedings, .con sidering them quite informal, and consequently they did not appear in tho minutes. It was proposed by Cr Sinclair, seconded by Or O'Connor and carried unanimously: " That the action of the Mayor in causing the by-laws to be printed be ondor*ed, " His Worship the Mayor thanked councillors for the motion. From Mr J. Moore, asking to erect a small wooden shed with iron roof, on the site of the dairy factory, Deoided to leave the matter in the hands of the clerk to deal with according to thte by-law. From the liquidatora of the Dairy -Faotory, asking for a transfer of the lease of Jand to Mr J. Moore. Granted, subject to fees being paid. Messrs Scofcfc Bros, quoted £4 5s for a lamp for front of Oddfellows' Hall. It was seated that the lamp would bo o kept lighted by the Oddfellows. Offer accepted. The matter of sewage pumps wss held over. From Mr C. Y. Clarke, stating circumstances of his entering the park. He had procured the key. Letter received. Mr Petit and a number of ratepayers seat a petition, asking that a two-roomed house in Shearman street (belonging to Mr Carncross, M.H.E.) be pulled down, as ifc was only a harbourage for vagrants. It was decided to ask Mr Carncross to have the building removed. Ilia Worship stated having explained the necessity for widening Butcher's Lane, to the County Council. They consented to rescind their previous negative motion and it would be 'discussed by notice of motion at next meeting. Cr. Sinclair brought l up the question of selling firewood in the park. The man who was cutting had informed him that he could sell all there was, in one lot, at 7s 6d per cord. They only got 8s selling single cords, and he thought this a good plan. It was decided to adopt Cr. Sinclair's suggestion. His Worship said he called a meeting of the Works Committee. One councillor asked why it was not called sooner, but when it was called only Cr. Dean "came. He called it again for Wednesday night, but no one turned up. Cr. Dean saidhe r knew ;pbsitively that councillors had declined to come, and therefore he did not turn up. The clerk said Or. Inkster had asked about the pre done meeting but afterwards belaid life did not care to meet His Worship till the matter of the by-law was finished. Some discussion 'took iplaofc as to the personnel of Works Committee. ■It was not known whether the Ore. who had gone out had definitely resigned, but it was decided that should they do so, His Worship be empowered to call on two Cra, to assist him till the end o£ tho mdnth, A motion of censure on the members of the Works Committee for neglect of their duties and for ungentlomauly conduct to the Mayor was withdrawn on tho Mayor's request. Or. Philip thought this should,

not bo passed over lightly. Even if these members were displeased with His Wot ship they should not neglect the work ol tbs Borough and behave in an ungentleinanly way to the Mayor. Hfs Wot ship said he had been asked to consult Mr Barter as ro whether he would act as ' Consulting Engineer and Surveyor. Mr Baxter would accept the position for £25 per tyear as Con- 1 auHing Engineer, and for £50 would uudeilake ail the engineering and Buv\ eying. He thought thty corJd vroi'k on the £25 basis for a white tit leacr. Tnea they wonld need 10 see what would be done in the tnatier of appointing . a Town. Clerk. He thought it ; unnecessary to advertise outside the town. It waa decided to advertise in Wai mate only. Before opening the tenders for levelling Shearman street, His Worship said that some councillors thought Unb he had interfered ■ with the Works Committee in this matter. Cr Sinclair said the minutes disproved this. .For lowering Shearman street and making up Glasgow street and Victoria Terrace tenders w«re received from Messrs White and Crone. It was decided that the works be j held over in the meantime. j Regarding the proposal to buy part of Kelcy's Bush, it was ■ thought 20 acres was sufficient, j Crs present were appointed to meet MrStudholme and report. From Major Steward stating N thac a clause had boen added fco the Municipal Corporations Act which enabled them to grant a leans of a sugg&oted Lib2'aryaite on Victoria Tonvxce. Tiio Mayor had obtained an estimate for a larger building than proposed, from Mr Turnbnil of Timaru. The cose would be £2628, and seating would cost £66. He could baild a smaller hall for £2000. < It was decided that the Crs. present be a committee to discuss the question, a meeting to be [ convened by His Worship tha Mayor. Accounts amounting to £59 4a 3d were passed for payment and the meeting sat as a