MASTERTON MAYORAL ELECTION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2760, 28 November 1887, Page 2

MASTERTON MAYORAL ELECTION.

About thirty persons attended at the Kuripuni Hall or Saturday evening last at the invitation ot Mr A. W, Renal!, one of the candidates for the Masterton Mayoralty, to hear that gentleman's views on Borough and Town Lands Trust matters. Mr D. Carman was voted to the chair.

Mrßenali in opening the proceedings said that Mr George Beetham had introduced a new Bill into the House of Representatives which would alter the . whole tenor of the' Town Lands Trust, and contended that the Trustees had no power to alter the principles of the Trust. He explained that the land had originally been set aside for educational and Institute purposes; that a Bill was passed at the time dealing with it, under which the present Trustees were elected, and he maintained that they should not have meddled with that Act any more than they would if it was private property, without first consulting the owners. He was glad Mr Lowes was present, as he would be able to explain the action of the Trustees in the matter j but he did not think Mr Lowes was at all conversant with the objects of the Bill, otherwies he would be taking the same steps as he (Mr Renall) was now doing. In the Bill of 1871 these lauds were vested in the people of Masterton fori education, the Institute,and purposes o public utility, and he strongly objected to the alteration in tho new Bill that the funds, were to be devoted to primary education. His own impression was that the parties who put the word " primary" in the Bill did not know the meaning of it, and he did not think that they had made any improvement on the old Act. Tho Act of 1871 provided that if a Trustee ceased to be a resident in the district for six months the seat was forfeited, and he considered it to bo a very sensible proviso; but now they wished to alter this and insert in its place that a Trustee could stay away as long as he liked providing he obtained the consent of his brother Trustees; He contended that none but bona fide residents should be members of the Trust, and questioned if Mr E, Hare —who had caused all the mischief about the new Bill—was entitled, as a resident, to a seat on the Trust. He objected to Trustees being lessees of Trust property, especially if they were granted the power they were applying for, as they would then be able to grant new leases, curtail old ones, and toss them about just as it suited them. No doubt the Trustees conformed to the Act by lodging copies of the Bill at the R.M. Court and the Town Clerk's .office, but he doubted if anyone ever took any notice of them at those places, and thought the proper course was to consult the people on the matter. Mr Beetham had promised that he would send copies of the printed Bill, as soon as it was read the first time, and as the first reading had taken place, he expected to be in possession of it soon, He thought it was necessary to be on the alert in these matters, as there was no knowing how soon they might rush the Bill through, and then perhaps it would be too late to protest. With reference to the picnic fund that they were trying to abolish, he explained that there were three acres set aside for this purpose, any surplus funds to be devoted to prizes and scholarships, He was in favor of th picnic fund being continued, so tba the rising generations could have an occasional gathering, and have something pleasant to look back upon in after life. He did not believe so much in scholarships, as they conferred benefits upon only a few, but if the people wished to do away with the picnic fund, and use the money- solely for prizes and scholarships, he would not interfere. Then again tho Trustees wanted to be formed into a body corporate to do as thev liked with the property. A very likely thing that the people would allow that I "He would bet five bob,"'he said, that there was not one of the Trustees game enough to come on that platform, and explain the meaning of a " body corporate," (laughter.) However, with due respect to Mr Lowes, who had been a member of the Legislature, be would waive the bet, bat that was about as far as their knowledge went. He then referred to the misappropription of Trust funds in the city of London which had even got beyond the power of Parliament to deal with and warned his hearers of the consequences if they permitted the Trust lands to be diverted from the original purposes for which they were intended. He considered there were at least two thousand persons interested in these Trust lands and ho did not think it right that fire or six men should take it upon themselves to alter the foundations of their Trust without consulting their constituents. As the Bill had already been read a first time, he had prepared the following petition to their member Mr George Beetham—with a view to giving the people an opportunity of having the, Bill placed before them

To George Beetham Esq,, M.H.R.—Sir, We tho undersigned inhabitants of Masterton respectfully request that you will take no further action in reference to the Town Lands Trust Management Bill, which you have introduced in Parliament, until it has been properly submitted to us at a public meeting, and our approval of its provisions obtained,

If this petition was not successful in having the Bill placed before the people he had another addressed to the House of Representatives on the subject, but be did not anticipate that the latter would be necessary. He thought he should le wanting in his public duty if he allowed this matter to drop, and lie assured them that he would always be found using his best endeavors on their behalf. Speaking of the Mayoralty he said he had no intention of* coming forward, but when lie found that Mr Parsons was the only one that was at {ill likely to seek the honor, he thought that if they could find no one better than Mr Parsons he would come forward himself, old as he was, as he could not stand the idea of the Borough " going by the board" in that manner, Had he "known that Mr Lowes intended to come forward he would have requested him to call a public meeting to place his views before the burgesnos, and if they were

satisfactory be would not have opposed him, He was going to say something about the Gas Works, but his friend the Daily had taken the wind out of his sails, and had stated that the Council had wasted some thousands of pounds on it, As Mr Puyton was a man that know things pretty well, and his statement,, which was public property, had not been contradicted, it must be taken for granted that it was true, He thought it ps an injustice that the outside ratepayers should have to pay for the gas loan, and considered there were enough just men in the Council to remedy this if they had a good head to lead them. He intended to carry his water supply down each side of Queen-street, and those who benefitted by it should be the only ones who would pay for it, or he would cut off the supply, It should not be a charge on the whole Borough, He considered the Council acted diametrically in opposition to the Act and the wishes of the burgesses in purchasing the Steam Fire Engine, and he promised them that if he went into the civic chair they would have nothing of the sort to complain of in him during his term, He did not think a Borough Councillor should hare a seat on the Town Lands Trust, as the Council were applying to the Trust for some of the funds towards paying for, the Steam Fire Engine. This application was no doubt all very well, but they must remember that the Trust property belonged to the people, and any grant made should be in accordance with the value of their property in the town. Mr W. Lowes said he never intended to speak at the meeting, but as Mr Kenall had been so pressing in his invitation he would briefly reply to some of his remarks. He would not, however, undertake the duty of accounting for the action of the Town Lands Trust, as he considered »Mr Renall—who was a former memberwas just as much responsible as ho (Mr Lowes) was, seeing that he had only been a member for a few months. ■ He did not approve of a candidate vilifying a body of men to make his own case appear good, and did not think there was much Kudos to be gained by saying " The men in are all doing wrong j elect me and I will alter things." He considered Mr Renall's statements were all misleading, and said there was really no alteration in the foundation of the Act. It was well known that attempts had. been made from time to time to alienate the fuuds of the Trust, and he did not think that it was ever intended that the lands of the Trust were to be devoted for roads as they had been, He was opposed to the granting of scholarships, as it was generally the wealthy who benefitted by them, and he thought it was wiße on the part of the Trust to insert the word "primary" in the new Bill, to prevent an injustice being done. The Trustees after repeated invitations, had hiled to get anyone to take the picnic in hand, consequently the money had not been made use of so they had come to the conclusion that it would be better to divert the money in the direction indicated in the Bill. He maintained that everything had been done in accordance with the Act, and if Mr Reuall had any thing, to object to he should have done so when it was placed before Ihe public. He promised Mr Renall that when the Bill was printed he would have an opportunity of discussing it at a public meeting to be called for the purpose. He did not at first aspire to a second term in the Mayoral chair, as he did not think he had the time to devote to it; he had, however, consented to stand, and would not attempt to gain their suffrages by casting aspersions on the actions of the Council. Re the gas question, he said that if action had been taken as he advocated there would have been no special rate, or loan of £9OOO to meet. He was always strongly opposed to the Borough undertaking the construction of the works, and favorable to the formation of a company for that purpose, as he considered that the people would always have the power of regulating the price by refusing to use the gas. He did not think the Borough bad any business with a steam fire engine, and if the centre of the town required one they should have defined a special district and struck a special rate for it, and not make it a charge on the whole 'Borough. That was a question the future Mayor would have to deal with,

Mr Renall, in reply, denied thai lie had vilified the present Council, and said that as Mr Lowes was a nominee of the Council, the election had better be taken on a vote of confidence, If the people were satisfied that they had done their duty to the town, let them vote for Mr Lowes, if not they should vote for him (Mr Renall). He stated that he was always favorable to the Borough having control of their own Gasworks, as experience had taught them that Gas Companies were a bane when they got the monopoly of a town, and when he found that Mr George, of Wellington, and Mr Hessev were on the directorate to supply Masterton with qua, lie thought it was not right to leave the town to the tender mercies of these gentlemen. He pointed out that the City Council of Wellington had endeavored to buy the Gasworks from the Company there, but the price of it was being raised to a fabulous extent, and that both the towns of Blenheim and Nelson had found it advisable to purchase the Gas works from the Companies who had started them.

Mr Hessey explained how he had been placed upon the directorate of the proposed Gas Company, and he considered that it would have been better for the town if the Company had erected the Works, and supplied the town. Although Mr Renall had taxed them with wasting thousands of pounds, he did not think the Council had made such a bad bargain as he (Mr Renall) would have them believe, seeing that they had only spent £9,000, and the Nelson Borough, according to Mr Kenall's own showing had paid £14,000 for their works.

Mr Renall j I did not say you had wasted thousands of pounds. I only quoted from the Daily, Mr Hessey; The' Daily knows no more about it than you do. Mr Renall: If it's not true why doo't you contradict it 1 It's public

property, and should be disproved if 'jt not true. Mr Hessey: They can put in what they like as far as I care. It does not trouble me, Mr Renall: That's all very well, but if charges are brought against a pnblfc body and are not contradicted peojlSp will think they are true. At this stage the meeting becamesomewhat conversational, Mr Renall entering into a discussion with Mr Tinsley and others on the merits of the property acquired by the Town Lands Trust from Mr F. Chapman; ; A vote of lhanks to the Chairman concluded the meeting,