PUBLIC MEETING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3002, 13 September 1888, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

In response to a numerously signed petition a public meeting was held in the Mastertbn Theatre Rpyal last night (Wednesday) convened by the Mayor. Between 250 and 'BOO persons were present. Mr Mackay of guripuni was yoted to tho .chair, and called upon Mr Reuall to address the meeting, Mi'Benall said before l|e entered into tjio business of.the meeting he would say a few words in reference to the TOWH MNDS TRUST BJLI, which they had instructed him at the last public meeting to send to Sir George Grey, Mr Beetham and Sir George were to take charge of it, and Mr Beetham had written to him to say that owing to pressure of matter before the Houso the Bill had not been .submitted. A meeting of the Town Lauds Trust had been, held and they complained that they had not seen tho flill. before}{had been sent down, (hid a l 'resolution was passed to'get the. Bill ; back; The Bjlj'was got hack', and' as far' as he could see 1 , in the game shape as when it'leffcthefleoplo.' ..' _ : ; '•'''■' : .'.': A'vOWiNt)'!': ; : :"v The Mayor; You'll be heard Jater oriiv 1 ; :' K '.' '• ■.-"'• : ,: ■ :■■:.:':■-:■'.'.

; Mr-penall; continued," After the Tmiees-Jbad got BilJ- fcaqk- .j^ey introduced the very clause; that. tjioy (the people)%ad filijnipaied from-the preyiqus;'Bill, thom

proceeds of sala'of tljeir'Qreyt6>vii reserves ; witii i, £IJSO illegally added to .purchase four acres 'of; land beloigirig'to Mr Peny or his family., They were- getting £32 a year in the shape of rents from, their Greytbwn reserves and interest,:, : and' "their present investment was fringing in from their friend Darley ffl 5s per annum.'(Laughter).- The Bill however Cad only been introduced for the purpose.of getting itpriuted, and they Would have plenty of time to discuss it before it got through Parliament, (Cheers). THE! FINANCIAL POSITION, Thoy now came, to the financial position of the Borough, which was not very encouraging.. Ho was sorry to say they had an overdraft of L 1.200. That was oreated a great deal in tlio purohase 61 the Jubilee Engine, which was pretty well harmless for want of I a proper supply of water. The question was could they meet their present liabilities'and. keep their roads, 4c. in proper order, without an increase of rates. At present they were the easiest rated of any Borough in existanco. They had' no special rate, except for gas, and that he would speak upon later on. : Even > Grey : town was in a worse .position. On account of tho Waiobino river they were saddled with a burden; whioh increased their rates to 2s in the L. He hoped ; Masterton by economy would be able to tide along without increasing their rates above a shilling. When he first joined the Council he fomi'd it saddled with the old Town Board's liability of LSOO. When he joined them again after a five years rest, he found their overdraft L 1.200, Whilst in the Council before he had saved them the "cost of an engineer and other outside expenses. Notwithstanding their present inCreased income, their liabilities kept fully up to it and rnore... He thought to keep expenditure 'within lair limits th9y ought to do all their road mainteinance by public contract. ■ Ho had no fault to find with the labor staff, but there were complaints from outside, He had not tried to introduce the contract system, as it was of no use with such a Council as lie had got, It devolved upon them toreturn men who would support his views.... If they did not do so it was useless for hhn to exhaust his time so fruitlessly as he had dono during the last seven months.

THE WATER SUPPLY, He now came to the much vexed question of the water.supply, After ' thepurclmsoof tho Jubilee he had written to the Council staling.the engine was only constructed to work along streets where the water was laid on and could be speedily utilised. There always was; what appeared to be a waste of time before an engine could be got to work on a fire. (He referred to what he had seen in London.) Tho delay, however, was more apparent than real, They could- not get steamers to work so quick as manuals, he instanced the fire of Mr Hare's. They had to thank Kingdon who drove the pipe or they- would have had no water to work with. After having received permission from the Borough Council to bring down water from his lead as far. as Villa street, (Mr Hessey; That's all you asked for,) he found he could not utilise the water box for tho Jubilee on account of the construction of the engine. It was then, like a distant earthquake, rumblings, began to be heard from the Council. He did not take much notice of that (laughter.) He saw Captain Barker and constructed a suitable, hose box. The rumblings became more pronounced, and threats abounded. That didn't frighten him. (laughter.) He had got an old razor at home that would keep them off. (laughter) He then. run the water down to the. feet of the Councillors as they were going to meeting just to lot them see that ho could give them a supply, (laughter.) They only got the soles of their boots wet however, as old (Jharley White seeing his flood-gates open went anil shut them down. The councillors were very .indignant, and threatened the E. M. Court. He didn't mind that, (laughter.) He proved to them that ho could send a supply; of water into the centre of the town in 88 minutes, and could flood the Post Office corner within an hour. Well, what did thoy want more than that ? He had done all at his own expense, and had-not asked the Council to assist him to the extout of a penny. All he got in shape of assistance was threats of proceedings in the Court. Crs. Gapper and Heron put thoir heads together, and if thoy could lmvo' made him pay they would, (hear, hear.) At tho election for Mayor, he had no intention of coming forward. Ho notified that if no eligible candidate presented himself, he would stand. Ten minutes before the poll closed his poor old friend Perry (laughter) arriyed at the polling booth, after having had a desperate struggle with Mr Lowes, to get him to stand. He was nearly sinking, hut had just sufficient strength left to put the nomination paper on the table, (roars of laughter.) The Council run Mr Lowes, while he (the speaker) came forward on the water supply ticket, Well, thoy all knew how that election went, (hear, hear,) When the Counoil knew that he had been returned by the voice of the majority, they should have put thoir own private grievances in their pockets, and helped him to bring in his-water scheme. Instead of that what had they done ? He thought it was one of the meanest things he had ever heard of to threaten him with the law. (hear, hear.) What right had they (excitedly) to sfand and persecute him. (hear, hear.) They had got the wrong sow by the lug, (laughter and plioors.) Tli'ey would not dp the work the.msej.ves, nor let iiim.

Cr Hessey: You know very well we could not do the work legally. The Mayor {mockingly); Legally, yalj,_ (Laughter). I did it illegally, why could not you councillors do the same, (Cheer? and laughter), . Cr Hessey you talk as your belly guides you. You're bungling. (Roars). The' Major explained that the act in one clause provided that they could not do a work of this port without striking a rato over- tjjq whole of .tho Borough, but another -clause (141) said gas and water was .excepted. That was where Cr Hessey had got wrong. Cr Hessey maintained that the Mayor said the scheme could only be'earried out by a side wind, and to that he ohjectod. The Mayor, said there was no necessity for a rate. They had the Waipdua river'aiid' an easy gradient, arid' he, the : speakor spending a few ljundfeds ! but 'of his own pbclfei fo hriiig tho water "(lowfl, (Cjigers)'. Did: 'Mr ■Hessey': understand '-that ? (LaugliterV ,Tlie : water' being once tojigjit-'in',; he beh'eyedlhe expenses hi.' cpiiheotion- with?, maintaining a ?!>s# iP?igW.be a legal charge oh the |jp ROiild:giye

£B M • oyefits llie"; collide get. wat^i*: dowu; at v ii coat of mad?:;a;' : .great ;outoi'y'aboutvillcgalexpeudiiure and what: had';•' they, thrown away in the .Waipoua. ■ .They bad to "pay:: Adaimv £lO "for' land, Engineer £l2los 2d and aw £2 Bs, (LaugbterJ, making a total ,of £2f 2s 2d,and what had : thoy got to sliefw for it ? Not as inuflh; as ■■ they, could put m theeyoof.a window' Shutter.'. That was not, all. Cr Gapper had got a lot of men pottering about shifting logs in the river bed. ■ A deal of use that: was. {Laughter); He pointed out the folly of attempting such work, and the wasto of money in trying to shift logs that the first flood would carry away for nothing. He pointed out how injudicious it 'was tointorfero with thocourse of a river, and instanced the Borough of Palmerston, which had been mulcted in heavy damages. He hoped-the Council, would be satisfied and not dabble further with the river. There was another Bum—£l4 law expenses in connection with, tho purchase of the, Jubilee, ; (Laughter.) ■ Things looked, very bad, but he was in hopes of tiding thoin over their difficulties/ I'hey only wanted water for sanitary and fire purposes, and if the people would elect a Council who would work withliinii.he would give them that without gettingi loan. He had sent a supply of water as far.asMr Redman's corner, but lie had no way of disposing Oi it, and he cutoff the supply,:/;. '■/.':.:■''[y : ':■'..■'•

••■ THE .WORKS COMMITTEE, . What had the Works. Committee done' hi Dixon street? They had put in a culvert about eighty feet long that would carry as much water as his mill lead..--.'. • Crs Hessey and Heron; It was full on Sunday, at any rate. (Yes, yea.) The Mayor: That's a story. (Cheers*) Cr Hessey: It was, I tell you, (Hear, hear,) ! . . i The Mayor; I'll wager-you £2O. (Roars.) . Cr Hessey; Ah, what the use of you talking about wagers? You never put your monoy down. (Laughter.) The Mayor: I'm ready to stake the money now. (Cheers.) All the water that runs through that culvert is what goes through by Perry's yard. Cr Hessey: .You're wrong.

The Mayor: Cr Hessey is wrong. He is confounding the creek that runthrough the Chinamen's garden and Prangnell's section. If you had 10l me alone, I would have carried tho water down into the mill stream.

Cr Heasey: Why didn't you take it down? You did the. rest in defiance of the Council,

The Mayor: Now Cr Hessey, didn'fcjou lay by to catch me so thai you couldn get at me through the court, (cheers.) I saw your .little game, (laughter.) Cr Hessey: That's your imagination.

. The Mayor: I saw what you were up to and as soon as I did I put my coat on, You weren't going to catch the old dog off the chain, (oheers and roars of laughter). Oh no, Uh no. (laughter.) Cr Hessey reiterated that-, the Mayor had said the work' could not be done legally, but only by voting the money by a side wind. He was not going to work, on that principle, He would go straight, and not do things by. a side wind, (oheers). The Mayor then went into details of work done-in'Dixon street and the extraordinary amount of timber that had.been used there that was quite unnecessary, Ho said if they gave him a working majority in the Council he would rip up all the timber thatjvas going to waste there and put it down in Queen street as Burning to bring the water in. (cheers and laughter.) He then referred to the Totara supply. Brown and Rodgers had taken the contract for the supply of totara, but no one knew where their sawroilLwas. (hear; hear.) They found .out at last that the timber was coming from the' mill of the Chairman of the Works Committee, It was no.wondor there were no complaints that too much totara was being used, If they gave him a working majority ho would soon put things straight. AsforCr Hessey, when he was defunct as a, councillor, his epitaph would be " Now all is over on his tomb is seen, not what he was but what he should have been." (Cheers and laughter.) They would mourn over his grave andsay what fino opportunities lost, (Roars). TUB UNDERWBIIIiRS. They had been treated by the Underwriters with an,increase of insurance rates, and Mr Daily had got the information the same tiino as he did, and from the same source, that block risks had been refused on account of the miserable water supply, and had put in a short paragraph in small typo' on the top of tho page whero nobody would read it, (laughter), saying "It is mwuml." Why it was a fact, and the old Daily know it the same as he did, (Laughter), They had already refused to rofrew ' and the agents had been .instructed to that effect, until there was a better water supply in the Borough,

The Daily, in its leader, had stated that he advocated Gas introduction by the Council; Well, he was riot aware that he did. He believed that Mr Job Vile and Mr Bapp wore the first that spoke about it. The Daily forgot to mention that on a former occasion, ho had charged the Borough Council with having washed,£2,ooo over the intrbduct'on of Gas, ' These wore the councillors ho called " twelve business-like men." , Ho hiniself had no doubt the expenditure on the Work's had been too great. If they had kept it" jLojin to four or five thousand pounds, they could have made the Gas pay, The Wellington Gas Company's shares were quoted at sl9los. To makothe Gas pay they required a larger consumption. T|ie question was: wpuld a reduction to 7/6 induce enough people tq take Gas to warrant it. That he was not able to say, ''.■'■' wabds. ' Ho )iad been taxed with intror duping the Ward system into the Borough, That he denied. Mr Caselbei'g and others started it and divided it into three Wards, He (the speaker) did not like the way it was proposed to be subdivided, and he got up a petition to divide it into four Wartla, which had been done.. fie was quite willing to admit that it had not wwked satisfactorily. For that reason he had voted for its abolition. And for another reason also: to put in another Council who would carry out the programme 1 he had laid before them that evening, (hear, hear.) ' ' J CIIAMMIE aid, TJiq speaker referred to the Charitable Aid question end the pction of 'ceitain Councillors in opposing the' County Couuoil 'aud the

todiesliaci re sblSpMi|pjS .demand and \fhen Borough Counil delegatest? money should be paid.> r■?• £&§{%§. ss -. Or' Hessey: I ,did with you.'; Y&tfre a iv}m&.;;; f to the truth. .: ■;'!■ ■The Mnyori-'I Hessey. '•'. I^ookcd..-at : ;:the;;lmjnutelp bookand saw-your t naml; : voting the demand to be^paid.^ 'osss . CrHessoy; Wellit'swrong Kdjd|| not vote for it. : ■■ ::: :'^y^ r^; s^ TlioMayor: Well that's yom-,loß|p out. You should when the minutes came up : #>;cbjttj:-p firnmtion at * Cr Heron; I voted for it M;wpuld]f* vote again. . and the; Government;. [pay it. "Wo more expense,,; .''■.. ■■■■' \:: : -:o". K - ,; S?£ The Mayor: 'i The; - Government will do nothing of the sort." (Laugh- ~; ter), Do you thinkthey are e-ang to',' take aotion ■ agauisT the 26 VRcils that oppose it, V£l4o in liantl is ft' blessed sight better'thau paying it to - Wellington.? -We: would never get - £4O of it back. My, friend Heion is" running his head so against the post', that I believe ins brains awgetting addled. (Laughter);!* r W' ' iCr Heron' said the; Government would only, stop the amount out of the subsidy, and it cam'e to the same thing as'their paying it; Hehad no more wislrto pay-than his friend the Mayor, but :the,Governme.nt had got the whip hand of .them, In regard to the water supply if Mr Eenall had -, given. them any right,to take the' water through; liis'land no difficulty would stand in the way of a supply. . Mrßenall could shut the water eff at any time.' He had the gates and wanted to carry the key in his pocket. If ro-eleoted to the.Councilhis future course would be the same as in the past. He would not support Mr Eenall unless he changed, and there did not soem much likelihood of his doing that, (Cheers and laughter). The Mayor said he had spent a considerable sum of money tojboiiro water, and if he gavo the Council a supply-for nothing, it was nothing but fair they should pay him interest on his outlay. As forgivhur them rights, if he stopped tho wat(Jf could they not stop payment of interest. However, the matter rested with the ratepayers. If they returned a Council to support him he would carry out his Scheme. On the other hand if thoy returned Cr Heron mid his party he would take it as a hint, and at the expiration of his term of office he should retire...

Cr Hessey said he would like to say a few wordsuponjhe water supply question. ■■"■'. ' .- ;^.' The Mayor: Come along John. (Laughter). •'•'. Cr Hessey. said in respect to the"' ; steam fire engine, ho had consoieii-, tiously voted against it, as he believed; iibetter to do without a thing they; could not afford, As regards tho

- - —O" —" •"" water scheme, he was one of the committee appointed to see what Miv . Eenall had to propose.' He went' up : . to tho head of the race with Mr Renail and the others. Mr jPfeiall '

said in case of the water faiMOe. v,i should expect the Council^, do . something to tho head of the race., v : i It would be a great deal of; expense,'" it- might mean that they ,woiild .• requiro to expend £2O or it might mean £BOO. That would depend r upon the river.' The'. Committee reported' to the Council. The next ':■■■', thing he knew was that tho waterwas running down to the cornet of : ' Chapel-street.. -What he objected:, to,.' was Mr JRenall not; complying withi; the Borough by-laws. From his • position he should be the first to set.'? an example of obedience If anyone % elso had noted as Mr Eenall had done. : . wouldn't the Council have prosecuted." them for it? (Yes yes).;. Of course'; they would. If he had hisAvay Mt ;■ Renail should have been prosoouteaY ■■.. . Mr Renail wanted a Council tliat-h'e' ■' could twirl round his thumb, but he would not be led by Mr Renill, or;. anyone else. (Hear hear, and oil's).: When Mr' Renail came intovthe Council he treated them like' ajmok of fools, and bullied and beated them. whon. he -could not get his own-way; This was objected to, hence the row. The papers said Councillors had looked after them- . selves in getting theirs roadsnietalled. Ho had no axe to grind. He could ; safely bet £2O that no more than his' own rates had been oxpendedonor' within halt a mile of his own prope'rty'iHe meant, if returned, to act in the' same straightforward manner, He (' -■ would not bo led into voting on a " side wind," ■ Mr Renail had ashed : them to vote money for his-water: scheme. (Mr Renail: No, no, Mr Hessey: Yes, yes.) Mr Hessey continned, They hatl beon first askedfor £25, thon for £SO then £lO. It was only for the purpose of getting the thin end of tho wedge in, and then Mr Renail would do as ho lilted. He had taken tho water down to' the

orner at Mr Oowio's shop,; Whyf lid he not continue it,. Was it for I lie Council's permission ? No, he did.; lot wait for that before, prwouldhe -. . lien, But the real reason-wjfeo-v ould not run water up ppealed to Mr Benall (who into-' upted him) to let them have a little : oinmon sense and no bunkum. !he real trouble- - was, as he had. : efore said, Mr Benall could not make ■ he water run up hill. Ilr Eonall: Yos I can, (laughter).-.'• '.' rith the Californiaii pump (roars.) : ■ ..-•

i Cr Hessoy continued: Ho would: support the schemo if it ivaa i put in legal form, autl tlioy got fit ' > i right to carry the .water through' Mr ' : Boiinll's land, • As ranks' stood,'it was very unsatisfactory.'Life iva? uncertain. Mr Ijenall might bfe > translated to a higher sphere andlnpt| successors rnij[ht'dowri with the He impressed upon" them how sary it wag bteforo they spqht t^''sixpence. on tho. wutep scliemfl thftt%'" their rights should boseoured. (Hea^i■?.' hear). Ho.was down on illegal 1 ponditure. (Cheers).;. . y " : The Mayor:'' Well flpne JbWr- ?:-, Hessoy! Exceptin oneortwp"thili ■'• ; you'vei got on very' well, (lau'ghM:, ■: The Mayor gav9 a.humorous history? ;• of to trials and tribulations of thoser # who tried, to work the' Califomiah- ; ? pump. He rupted wilh peala of. laughior amlfe comments., Mr Eehall concluded his '>'■■■ address by appealingto the to put in a Council thatwould siip- > r . port him,.aud he.would give them i' : ■■{ water Bupply for tlieir streets arid ? footpaths and for fire purposes. -J:: -> ; - • Mr A. AV. Hogg, proposed that- .'a 's hearty yotq of. thanks be •accordecl- i: ' the: Mayor, for.:the iclear ton; giyen ■of B6rough. : tot, tor: Mo^;;::tesblutioif WM •Broom*'A:;J. ; bo|i^ti|bfi

payers as candidates at tho forth- " coming eleotion," Ho was not awaro whotuor. the whole of thoso gontloinon would respond to tho invitation, but he thought it the duty of overy ono to respond to a caso of necessity, suoh as ho doomed Jlio ' present ono to ho. Tho present councillors had como to' look upon themselves as a fixture, with a vested interest in their seats. He thought it was time thoy woro disposed of. (hear, hem - .) He considered that tho way Mr Konall had been treated by tho meinbors of _ the Borough Council was something infamous. It was not only in bad tasto, but a thoroughly un-English procedure. Thoy stood night after night around him, endeavoring to hound him down, because he was doing a great service to tho town, Tho most frivolous objections had been raised to his water schemo. Not ono single councillor would do what ho haddorto for tho town, (hear, hear.) He referred to illegal expenditure in the Borough. Ho asked: Was the money spent on Worksop Hoad illegal or not? fit Horon; Legal,) (Tho Mayor; No.) If tho mattor was submitted to the Auditor-General some of tho councillors who hold property tliore would have to refund, (No, No). Ho referred to the money wasted in the purchase of a gravel pit in the bed of tho Waipoua and othor items, to the work loft undono in Bannistor-street, to the gas question, and othor matters and concluded by expressing a hope that thoy would exert themselves to return members who would support the Mayor. Mr Prangnell seconded tho motion which was put and declared lost on tho voices. A show of of hands was taken and ten wero counted in favor and threo agaiwt, Tho motion was then declared carried. A vote of thanks to the chair concluded tho meeting.