PUBLIC MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1283, 20 January 1883, Page 3

PUBLIC MEETING.

. ..Some forty settlor* attended last eveningat the upper room of tho Masterton ;; Institute by the request of the Town ; i Binds Trustees.' ■ Mr Feist, the chairman of tho Trust', opened the, proceedings, by stating that ilio meeting bad been .I called to consider the advisability of the. ' Trust building a Town Hall.; .After the., " destruction: of tho old hall the .Trustees Ifdejayed taking steps because they under-. stood that steps were being taken privately ;• to, erect a'building, Eventually they ■ understood that tho proposed Theatre Royal had fallen through, and considered It to bo their duly to build'a' liall'suited 1 to the lequirementß of thd' toWn fur some years to ooine (Hear 1 hear I), Some people;said they ought, not to utilize the lUiidfl 'it the Trust fur such a purpose, but "tHe .'flrfection of a Iwll '..was "one of : thbae works of public utility which oame within their, powers. A , good many • residents 100 subscribod towards the erec- . tiou of the old. hall, and the funds of ' the trust wero also applied ,lo . it. It ; followed therefore, that the money they liad received from the insurance on ..the old 1 building could very properly be ; applied to erecting a new ono. Ho would propose a resolution alter which the questions of site and cost might be considered. The Trustees wore not agreed on the site quostion, and were prepared to be guided by tho moetim; on this point,He regretted the absence of some members ■ of the trust from auch an important meeting, and concluded by moving that 11 in tho opinion of this meting ilio Town Lauds Trustees should' build anothor hall," . Mr Renall askel fur the financial position of tho Trust. : .Tho Chairman said tlioy had £SOO in ..hand, and were prepared to raise the balance required for tho erect ion of a hall ,imted to the requiivincntu of the town for jhe'nextten or twenty .years.,'; A suggestion had been mad 6 that they should take up sh iros in tho Building Society to .liquidate the amount they, would have to borrow, and he thought the suggestion was a good one Mr Gapper seconded the resolution, Mr A, Hathaway said the Theatre Royal Company was not defunct, it had only beon in abeyance. He believod he was justified in «aying that tho Empire Store would be taken over in a fortnight., Ho was authorised to 6a;? that if the meeting adjourned for a month, work would be actually proceeded with. He moved that the meeting adjourn for that period. • ■ Mr Caselherg Baid he was not aware that a town hall had anything to do with a. theatro royal. He thought thai, if the '{own required ft town hall it should bo a town hall and not a theatre royal. A, '.town hall was not necessarily antagonistic to a theatre royal. The one meant business, the other amusement. If" a small place like Maßterton could not support both.that would be a matter for the company to consider rather than for them • selves. ■ He would voto for the town hall, bt the same time he would like to see the' company proceed with their project, He regrelkl more data had not been sub- . mitted .to them by the Trust, : - ■ 'The'chairman said the view , of the trustees had been that if a theatre were .erected a hall would be unnecessary, (Applause). The trustees were not anxious to build if the people did not desire them • to do so. ■ , ■ • • ' Mr Woodroofe then made one of his characteristic speeches attacking the: ■ chairman for his'ignorance of law, and ■the trustees for going wickedly'wrong. They were never satisfied unless they wero Rroßely in debt. 1 Their proposal to build was a gross dereliction of duty, Mr Gapper then rose to a question of •order.. Mr Woodroofo: Just tit down if you pleaso, Mr,. Gapper.—Ho i proceeded to t argue, that • the irusie:s had been 1 a stumbling block to.the progress of Masterton. 1 hey had let tho old hall for .skating rinks and other purposes for .nothing and ought to be tarred and feathered. ■ ' Mr Paytou said that whon the hall was used for skating he had paid : a rent to the trust, and did not think Mr ' Woodroofe should make public statements whioh were grossly unlruo. (Applause). Mr Woodroofe rose to explain, but: Mr ' Oaselberg objected to this looling. They had nothing to do with what happened when Mr Woodroofe was a little boy. ;-Mr - Renall who rose amid applause said the question they had to decide was whether it was desirable to build another Town Hall, He did not think the theatre question h:d anything to dp with this, as a Town Hall was a matter for,, the whole of the inhabitants of Masterton in whom the Trust lands were vested, The trustees who were the stewards of the acted rightly m calling them to- - getter on this'quostion. If Mastortoii " wap to progress it panted to'show more 'pluck, It could riot oven gat togothera dojien oows for a 'public' dairy. He was .Jflmpflhijt'fiUfpriied at the apathy of, his flwq. men, a's far as he himself..was I jjincerhqd, he was excused for by old '■age. He thought a new hall was desirable, that £I2OO would be obtainable for.building one, ami that;the Trust ' could bear tho charge for interest on the 'sua which they would have to borrow, He approved of spoiling rnoney on the . hall in;, on tho park, because in doing so . jhey wera spending it on Ilia people to ftp the-Trust funds belonged, The ' WW W hi °h tuiit tho first hall waß .Jflaihly, the. savings of the Trust. ;He 'wjshed the Theatre Company pprity, but at-the same time, he thought tj|e hal} should'be provided for j'rreflpeclife, of it. He regretted •'the 'p'res'ent ■ meeting.had been called in the' Wight of ' harvest season, , . Mr Coker pointed out that it would be cheaper to rent a"private.lpilding fof the public purposes of the' town, and leave '■ the Trust to expend; the £soo.it had id hand in some other more profitable direo- , , ■■ .• ,Mr ,Worth, 'thatf own Hal) '. plight to.lie .built/ It was a ieriom matter i'u a borqugli to trust their interests to a -private company. He regrotted "thftt the Town Lands Trust, was not merged in the 'municipality, ' Ho .thought the '.Borough. Counciljhould find: half the v moneyfor ; biiilding the hall, .and the .Truat Abe qtherjialf. uTha-Trust should assist;, the,Council-I,and the Council the ■ Trust. "v.), Mr ; f?^,V|fflii( t lb ? ;lnstitttW

worn would, not suffice for the publip 'piii". posefc of ifiejoWi|i _ Mr "Worth replied the burgesses had a tight jij possess.a ;hall;Of;theiif own. The resolution was then put and carried all but unanimously. ' '' Mr Casolbwq said he iiiul been 'asked to propose that the old school acre bo tliii site of the umv hull. He had- riot jquite mado up hit mind on this point himiolf so' lie would move tliu resolution, pro forma tuelfoit discussiiin, There wo'uld. be'in the site suggested, ut larger area of ground, building! which could be utilized (A* , voice: ICiruwo id) a. cottage, suited for a ctisiodidn, and less lVoise and interrupt tiou than at the old Bile,- ; ' Mr Renall proposed the old site if they could not get a better one. He thought the Hall should be built about the centresf the town near tho new school and St."' Patrick'schurch but as he did notexpect the peoplo to agroe to this he would eupnort the former site. Heobjected-to Mr Worth's proposal to Imtid the trustlands over to the municipal body. This could not bo done wit bout robbing one half of t he community, tho rights which they now enjoyed in of 'the Trust,, and such a change would not lio sanctioned by tho . Legislature He. desired to know what the Bank of Australasia' required for ilio adjacent site, and moved that the trustee bo requested to lay further diita before a future fneet* ing. ■ The Chairman Baid that the .old site measured ninety feet frontage by,a depth of 132 eel. The price required for :the adjacent section, iwas £l5O, The latter measured 75 x 132 feet; Mr Caselherg thought they ought to purchase the adjacent site. Mr Worth, thought the corner, site w()uld be a grand investment,;. He advocated putting the new hall on ilia comer. Bite, and letting the old space,for business purposes. It was th6n resolved that the new Town Hall be built as near as posssible on the same site as the old one. Mr Caselherg moved that the Trustees be requested to give the Bank.of Australasia the sum they required for their interest in the corner section which would become valuable should a large Hall be erected in its vicinity. Mr Hall asked how many years the lease nf the Bank had to run, i Mr Brown "sixteeen or seventeen years.' 1 Mr Pay ton suggested that Mr Caselherg should make hie resolution recommend rather than request the purchase. It was not desirable to embarrass the Trustees by too stringent resolutions. . Mr Caselherg thought Ilio Trustees woujd have no difficulty, and that they could borrow a few thousands if they required them. Mr Renall agreed with Mr Paylon, and hoped Mr Caselherg would modify Mb resolution. Mr Caselherg offered to do so out of deference to Mr Toenail's superior knowledne, . ■ _Mr Hall thought that. it would be. injudicious to spend £l6i) on iecuring the corner site, niore especially as' they sticrificed a rental of £8 per aimunHti doing so. ' ... Mr Caaelberg'a reaolution as amended was then put and carried. ' The chairman thou thanked tho settlers present for their attendance. He was glad to see that they had taken so much interest in tho matter, It was the intention of the Trust iu offer a bonus for the best'plan of a town hall, (Applause).' An orderly meetiui! then terminated with a vote of thanks to the chair,