DIVISION OF THE BOROUGH INTO WARDS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2455, 18 November 1886, Page 2

DIVISION OF THE BOROUGH INTO WARDS.

PUBLIO MEETING.

The meeting convened by His Worshi| the Mayor in the Theatre iloyal lust even ing to diaousa the advisability of divid ing the Borough into wards, wai attended by about two hundred burgossus His Worship the Mayor, Mr M. Oaseb berg, occupied the chair, and opened thi proceedings by reading the petition aßkiiij hnu to convene the meeting. He honed as the queetion was a most important one, and aerioutly aifauted the interests ut the borough tor years Ucouiu, they nruult give it their undivided attention. Ho ox plained the purposa of public meeting and said that wlwn they' met together tt ducuss questions of public utility and the expenditure of publie money, fair ulaj aud a pa.ient hearing should be aeeordec to every sneaker. He invited Mr Kenal! as the leading petitioner, to address tut meeting. .Mritenallcorawehoedby saying thai as the promoter of the question, hi would wail himself of the opportunity o explaining his views to the meeting 01 the subject. He had taken the iulativ, thore or four year ago in the division o the Borough into wards, and drew up i plau which he submitted to the Council fie contended that'tho priuciplo of anj Bjfoujhthosizaof Mutarbm,winthit it should be devided intowarda to conservi proper representation to every portiwn Masteitou at pieseut had dwindled dowr to a'Queen-street representation, and it was time it was divided into wards, in believed there wore two opinions of the question on dividing the Borough. Hii own idea was that Queon-Btreefc should be the dividing line, with Hon dl-St., anc Worksop road, as cross linos, thus giviu; Queen'street, representation to ovt;rj ward. He Contended that under the sys tern of wards, the works would be oarrjec out on a imuch nwre economical Boali and a spirit of emulation inculcated in al their actions. His idea was to have foui Wards with three members each. If tin people.did rot tako the chance baton January next to have four Wards, thej iniahfc perhaps never get more than threi as long as they lived, as the' Act shtet that alter that date no boroughs with i population of less than six thousanc should be entitled tii four wards. Refer ring to Iw mem irial 'for the division ni the Borough into four wards, he said hi considered it w,as his duty as soon as thi requisite number of signatures wen obtained to send it at one? to the Dover nor, and if the burgesses did not ijie ii there was plenty of time to send a cuuntei petition. As ho hud understood Mi Casplberg would not be a candidate foi the Mayoralty, h« had intended ut mtest inn the election with Mr Gapper on thi wa d quest] m, butasMrCaselberg su scquently, in roapnnse to a reqiiitiumi came forward, he (MP Renall) had inn the opportunity to do so. He wai informed that the Council had settled tin question. He would like to ask who gavi

them tho pmvor tti-do it? It was nuti question for the Council to settle, but fot thebiivgessesbidecide. He was nutiti favnt of taking the centra out of the town, mid milking one wai'd of it, and then throwing the out kirts into one large ward. That would.be an unfair division. The only real question affecting the wards was that they : could raise a loan for niiy particutai work; If the Councillors had looked up the old Act, they would'have found that there was ut feature there which he considered they should have availed the.nsclviis oi viz. raising money for special districts, defined by the Council, and agreed to by four fifths of the ratepayers in those special areas, It did not require, wards for such purposes as steam lire engines, water cart, andspecial wurks, as theycoulc be obtained by a loan ohargeablo ; ti speoial districts, Referring to tho gai question, he said ho was greatly pleasec that.tha Council had gone in for supply ing the Borough with gas instead o! allowing a company the monopoly,,. 'Hi instanced tho town of Blenheim, "whior had just purchased the gas •plant for t sura of £12,000, and thd' Weliingbbr compiny which a few yoars ago offeree their plant for £14,000, and now wanted £25.0()0, This showed the position tho« towns bad been placed in through allow ing companies.to- h>.ve a nionopoly.-'-': flt would not go into the question of a watei supply very tully. Ha would tell then that thay oould not gat a better supply than tho one under tfioir feet/Jo (jet. i good force for the Borough they would have to go too far, which meant a great expense. They could easilygetagoot supply down Queen-street all the year round from their streams for less hundredi than could bo, done for tho thdusandi proposed, and if tho Council had not thi brains to do it. when the Borough-wa livid.'d into warcu, he would find then, some. After going into ■ the-' question o loans and their repayment under thi ward system, he moved "Tint in thi ;>pinhi of this meeting it is adviuble the Borough of MastertnnbedivideaMutofou wards." The Mayor asked Mr Renall whethoi lie had definud the division, and whefche ia meant that the petition and plan whiol 'io had sent to the Governor was the ou< he wished adopted. He thought it wai leoessary that it should be thoroughly mderstood by the burgesses in consider ng the motion. Mr Ronall snid all ho wanted to sei Ms a fair and equal division, and reform ,o his plan as beiu« tho most oquitablo Mr Wootlroofe and several others wautac iho borough reduoed, as they did no ippear to like the sniallness of thi Borough rates, and wanted to g i in undo ihe Road Board and County Oounoil where theyoipeotod the rates would grov mullar. He did not believe in any mat ike Woodroofe and himself* who owne< ots of land in the Borough, which hat noreased in value through being. withir ihe area, aoMnj stingily over money au< )ther matten 'affeoting the interests o :be public He alwavs did his bast fo: ;bo interests of all, and no man oould eai W ever passed him disrespectfully o isked him for a vote or his lnfluenco a ileotion times. With regard to roducuv he sias of the Borough, his opinion wa ihat those who wanted to .'curtail it ha< wy little brains and should have thei ikullswashedouband freshones pufcin. Hi hen went into tho diffareqoa betweei Jorough and County rates, his comparisoi leintt greatly in favor of the former. • Hi hen sat down amidst applause. Mr T. 6. Mason seconded the, motiot woformd. _ Mr Renall: Thatwonfc'doinameofcins iko this. I would rather you would le t alone, as you just second it for dis iussion and then vote against it. Mr 6. M. Wood then seconded thi notion. The Mayor moved as an amendment ' That tho word three" be substituted fo ihe word "four." He gave Mr Renal sredit for instituting the .movemen or dividing the Borough into wards, bu itated that the Gounod had taken aotioi n the matter, as he Bad moved in thi ]ounoil that tho tirao had arrived whai ihe Borough should bo divided. M Woodroofe was entitled to a little credit r or by moving for the ourtailment of th Borough he had forced the question o livision upon thorn, Mr Woodroofe has Mkeii them all in the Council to h :obbors, who wero taking his money am ipendimjit elsewhere, and expressed i dab to get out of such had company. Hi lympathised with Mr Woodroofe on tlv lueation, (Mr Woodroofe: No!) M iVoodroufo Bays" No." (Mr Woodroofe [ shall tell you off presently!) Ho couli issure them the Council received M vvnodroofn courteously,, anil listonec patiently to his complaints, and felt mil; :oo pleased to get him out of the Borough He explained Mr Wnodroofo's actimui: >oing to Wellington to see the Minister, tie had promised to consider the questioi ind no doubt was still doing so now, am viiuld be after they were dead and gone Referring to the division of tho Borough ia considered that the Queen-street por lion, being the richest, and requirin< Ktra works, such as lire protection miter cart, etc, should have these neccssi ;ies if they choke to pay for them, M Ftenall, no doubt, wished well m his plan is they nil did. but thev' must divide thi Borough so that there would no clashins if interests, According to Mr Runall'i livision there would bo twelve men ii he Council, instead' of nimv ai it '• present-. .The three ward plai ihowed an outside ward with i 'ateablevaluoof £«Q00, and two iune vards of wards of £'18,000.!' In explain ng the requirements of the various ward ie said the plan would! be advantageou othe outside, which, would not, perhaps ■lava more than a s'iipenny rate to pay while the inside would probably be ratei :o tho extmt of Is 3d. ~ With referonc io the remarks that outside rate's had no wen spent fairly, he read a Btatemen ihowiug that during the past seven; year M,IOO had been collected on the outsidi wrtion of the Borough, and' more thai ;hat had beeußpeut in Contracts, w'ithou ncntii'miiig cost' of maintenUnce. B ihought that in tho Queen Street Counci is it was termed, the outside had doni veil. He did not consider that men witl ali and talent, such as Mr Ro'nall had ihould ooine there to get thorn to lau»h it their representatives; who did thei jest for the interests ot all Mr Gapper seconded tho amendment md said lie was greatly please I with thi ipeech of Mr Renall, He took exceptioi o what Mr Renall said about the Counci ottlitig the ward question, and he musl lony it. They had merely talked tin natter ovor in. the Council, so as to havi i definite plan to lay before the meeting [he original idea of the Council was i our ward division, butafter consideratioi t was thought advisable to have it an thi ireaent proposed basis. ■ Mr Renall hat lid that the outside of the Borough hie igen robbed by ;ho inside, but as tin igures read by the Mayor w«rj oopie; rom tho BoroiK'h books, they wen io far satisfactory to the outsiders Mr Hesßey; one item might be strucl mt, the £IBO for the Upper Plain loid me end of which iB in tho centre- of thi ilimmgh.) The Upper ?\m roai j jferred to waß from Mrs Yates' io:id ti iV'ilton'B corner, With reference to thi livision of the Borough, he would sugges hat niile men be selected from among th' atepayefs to confer with the Cuu leil m: he subject and fix the foundations fo h proposed division. Mr J. Russell said ho kd sisn-d M lenall's petition, tut he did so before hi aw the plan, '"Op it being show to him übsequeatyhefuundit-was not to the

liust interests nf the Borough, He wa in favor of the three wards as explains by the .Mayor, wliiuli lie considered' wer bust fur the interests of the community. ..Mr W, Lowes was afraid the pusitiol he :wonld occupy would not be" a po'pula one, as he was of opinion that if they con sidered the question they would fina it ti their interest to have nothing to do witi dividing tlio borough;''(Hear, hear,). 'ihi only urgu nent he had heard in its favo wa*- the levying of a special rata- fo works uver a defined area. This was pro. vided for in the old act aud for which i was not'necessary to divide the Borough There were absolutely no argument it favor of the division and he would asl thorn to seriously consider the questioi beforo voting ou it. Under the propose! system the outsides would be subservien to th; central wards, which would havi the preponderance of power and the levy ing of the rates. He asked: Was thi just ] What gave the oent'ra its itu ■portance ?, (Mr Hessey : Outlying dia triots,) Of-ooUrse they do.. The shop keepers and business men-did hot livi upon• theniaeJyeß, but.werc supports! by the trade made by outside .settlers He based a high oompliraenli upon thi ■working of the Borough Council, and. sai< that froin Inveroargill to the North Cap the records of the colony would shoVtha it was the best worked and most eooho mical borough in New Zealand, If thej were divided there would be i cjahinj o interests, instead of the onanimity b fedling whiobat prß»eiifcexUtod(Mr Raaall No, No), ' if they gave one part of ,'th Borough the rating power over the other they would oreate a division of interest* He, recommended them to keep the powe thoy had trot, and not to part with it. Hi was content to leave the issue in th hands of the Council, who, he was sure would do their beat for the interests o the Borough as a whole. Mr Woudroofeascended the platform and commenced by having a truhgula •duel'with the Mayor and Mr Renall. Hi 'referred to-the remarks made by thi M lyor with reference to his beiny stingy, and said that if an account was kept ii would bo found that he had given .is muol as the Mayor had to public charities. . The Mayor said he was aware he hat made a mistake in his allusion to M WopdJoofe, aud apologised for th< remarks made, and wished the meeting ti understand that Mr Woodroofe was a fa: more liberal man than himßelf. Mr Woodroofe said he did come then to be joked at, and thought the conduol of the Mayor in proposing anamendmen was anything but correct, and was onb done to shut him out, as he hadafurtbe amendment to propose. Great amusement was'here caused b; Mr Woodroofe's panto'miuio'ccontortions and his allusions to Mr Renall aud thi Mayor. He eventually left the platforn expressing a 'wish that no hand shonlc be held up for the raotiora or the amend uient beforo they had heard his. Mr Renall, replying to Mr Lowes, sai< he was wrong in the positiou he took up as whether he liked it or nottheßorongl would ba divided, as they could not hal< themselves now that his petition and plai had gone to Wellington. Mr Lowes fa reply said Mr Renall' action to sanding the petition and plai dowu could not be considered the righ thins. He had been asked to sign the peti tionby Mr Renall, but had refused, at thi same time he suggested that a requiiitiot should be presented to the Mayor asking him to convene a meeting, which was acted upon. He thought that Mr Renal would act fairly and lot the petition H< in.abeyance pending.the meeting, bul what did ho do? He got the required number of. signatures aud lost no time in forwarding it to the proper quarter If that was oalled the generous action ol a publio man he did not know what was, (Mr Renall Oh 1 Oh!) He dared' say Mi Renall would get out of it in hi* asm way, by his "all fair in love aud wai method. (Mr Renall: I'll make you to* the mark directly?) Ho considered tha' the meeting had been made a fool of bi Mr Renall, who had practically divide! the Borough aud then got them to g< through the farce of having a meeting U discuss tne Question, Mr Renall was glad that Mr Lowe: had given him the pleasure of mootinj him, especially when his memory hac given way, as that gentleman had told him that .ho would rather have a foui ward borough. (Mr Lowes: No, I sait rather four than three.) He ther referred to elections under tin present system, Mating that Mr Hessej was licked by the block vote of Quean street, He wanted to do away with this and ho took action so that they could gel the benefit of the act before the nen year. If the majority disapproved of it let them send in a counter petition. He could t»U Mr Lowes that he (tho Bpeakor was just and honest in his aotions, and ht Hoped they would be the same in dealing with the question. Referring to Mr Rub »ell, he bungled everything he attempted, and did not know half he talkedabout, Hi went into tho history of Renall street, anc said that the present Counoil had got at i»veidraftof£looo, £SOO of which hac boen spent by tho Local Board on Queen street. This debt had been taken ovei by tho Bonm?h Council without knowing why or when it was spent. If ho hac been in Masterton at the time he woulc Iwvo made the looal Board pay the monej iut of their own pockets. Ho astaii: referred.to Mr Hessey being put out ol the Council by the block vote of Queen Street. (MrLowes; No, no. He wai put out by the outside vote on the wagw question.) Why draw the red herrinj uver the soent 1 They oould no more pu him out if he represented a ward than the; oould fly. If, aB Mr Woodroofe said some people wanted to take their name off the petition, he could tell them tha he oould put twenty more on for ever, one they tojk off. He would inform M Lowes that it only required twoaty-fiv< out of every hundred to carry a nefcitloi for a division. Tho Mayor then put the amendment which was lost by eleven to twenty-five Mr Renall :„Cpuin on Woodroofe;.oom< mi old man ; now is your time! Mr Woodroofe mounted the platform, md moved as an amendment, "That it ■he opinion of this meeting the area ol :ho Masterton Borough of 4311 acre* i« uyfar too large, and should be reduced So moderation, and that the advice given by the Hon. Sir Robert Stout bo taken, md that a respookful request and deputation wait on Mr Beetham, asking him ;o prepare a Bill for its reduction, and :ho same be made before a division ink I'ards takes place." . He said that he rould tell them something whioh perhaps ;hry did not kuow. He then read a Petition presented by himself to Pat'iV nent praying for the reduction of the Borough. He attempted to ojplain to ho meeting that the Premier was with vim, amidst cvießof" Rub it into them," 'Turntuem inside out," etc. As.tho ieht was rather bad a lamp was placed on •Jib table for Mr Woodroofe's benefit, ivhen the Mayor remarked, "It's a pity ,vo can't have gas," " Too.much of .it lere, sir," said Mr Woodroofe, ''and us mtsiderß will have to pay for it. You'll )6 taking our rates to meet-those debeu,sures some day." He : thott read an ixtract from his interview with the Borough Council on 'presenting the Petition t!ithem.and l; interlopated such 'emarks as "Here's a nice man for Mayor," " That's the conduct of your epresentative," and wound up by strikn<; a finished dramatic attitude, which airly brought down the house. The Mayor seconded Mr Woodroofe's mieudment pro form, and went into

tho past history, of MuiWfaiii. Ho explained the signing of a petition by Mr Wtjcidrcitife fortheforminguf the Borough. (Mr Woo'uWe: Never* Sir, never, in alhny life.-) - if Mr-.-Wiwdruufe did. not Bignit.ke must have been miainfottnedv • ••'. '■ IfhVdidwant'theßorottghwhy did-he J noVoppoae it. He would explain whyV' "" Afr.that time there was a land fever,.-.aud they all' fronted to be included; in tli« •-•'•.> Borough area, as it was to onhance -the ' value of property a thuusand fold. Jfagv terttin was to be a second Chicago. Messrs' Woodroofe and Renall went about with plans in their pockets showing new Btreets with quarter acre 'sections laid off which were valued i at fabulous prices, but tho Chicago did not ootuo off, and only those uow in the centre of the fjL town got the anticipated prioes. Mf ■ Woodroofe's property was valued ab his i own valuation, and ha was now anxious to dosort those ho wished to join in the first plaoe. He read a list of tho valus* tioh, giving the comparative value of, property in 1879 and ISStf, whicn shewed, 'a reduction in sjme'oases of as maoh & fifty per cent. He thou gave Mr Woop roofs wmeadvice,recommenditighim te> .abstain. from presenting petitions, a« wm» with whi°h he was connected bad: epined bim tbo name of" madman." Eje; had presented ono to dissolve the. Borough (Mr Woodroofo: No I no.) He 'womd.' ~ say " Yes""(Mr Woudroofe :-To curtail t> '.:' • He would say "dissolve." When the Premier dame to Ma6terton,j'who,',WßS ; is.. . maligned the character of his townsman,' '"'''' but Mr Woodroofe. He finished by es* , pressing a nope that Mr WoMroof* - " would work as assiduously for the k towni as he appeared to work against it. .;. Mr Ru6sell explained that his name had i beenmistakon for Mr Woodroofe's on the petition, and in vindication of that : gentleman's character Btated that he ,-L opposed the formation of th'e'Town Board, Mr Woodvoofe: tfo, no, 1 did not.. I : ' proposed that.

The araeudmentwas then put and lost,Mr Woodroofe's hand beiug tho only one raised in its favor..

Mr Lowes moved that a poll be .taken on tho quostion of dividing tin Borough into wards, with a recommendation that the Mayor should give effeot to it as soon as possible. This ho considered would be an answer to Mr Renall's equivocal conduct.

Seconded by Mr AV, Perry. • Mr Renall stated that the petition jfo tho divisiob of the Borough could upset by a poll, and no doubt Mr Lowes would like to orush the minority by big motion.

Mr Lowes'said It would give them an ' opportunity of letting the .Government know that the petition had beoa signed uuder a misapprehension... Mr'Renall- said he could get mora signatures to his petition,.', and the Act was framed to probeob the minority ir»m •"' rhe oppression' of the majority. Thiswa* i : ', provided for by a fourth being ensbjed to , : ikm/ get the Botoughdividsd. ' The motion was than put md carried, and a vote of thanks to the ohalr co»«. eluded the meeting. ■.