HAMILTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3031, 17 December 1891, Page 2

HAMILTON BOROUGH CO U NCIL.

INSTALLATION' OF MAYOR. A spkciai. meeting of (he Hamilton Borough Council was ht?ld at noon yestordiiy for tho purpose of installing the Mayor-eloct. There were present: Crs. Reid. Salmon, Tippen, Parr, Sandos and Scott. The Town Clerk (Mr C. J. W. linrtnn) occupied the chair, and read the crn;.--pondenoe from tho Colonial Secretary and the Re-tm-iiing Otlieer, notifying Mr Coxites' election a< Mayor for the ensuing year.

Mr Coatrs wart introduced by Cr-. Scott nncl Siil ■~..„, :••!■ I in.idi- Urn nUii.-.l formal declaration. Bufuro taking his i-wit His Worship said he had a few rani.irks to make. H« thanked the burgesses for the (treat hoiiniir tlioy had done him in returning him as Mayor for tho fifth time. It was the highest honour they could confp.r upon him, and he appreciate! it as such, but at the end i>f the present term he hoped they would find someone to take his place. Ho did not like a monopoly, but it seomnd almost liko one to return him for five times. Ht> hoped they would have no reason to cotnplaim as to his management. Referring; to the affairs of the borough, he said there was reason for congratulation at the improvement made during tho last year. The roads were never better than at present, and the financial position of the Borough was now as Rood, if not batter than it had ever been. They had monoy V keep nrt of rlubt and tho overdraft was gone. He did not like using the money that should have been expended nn the roads in paying interest on overdraft, During the year they had not let any big contracts but a good deal of work had been got through in a verv (satisfactory manner by the Foreman of Works, at loss cost than it could have been done by contract. He thought that they had every reason to be satisfied with the Foreman of Works. 'Muring the past few months a considerable addition to the Borough ondownments had been made, viz., the three allotments adjoining the Council Chambers and he hoped before very long to see sheep yards ertetod on somo portion of them so as to provide suitable accommodation for the fast increasing sales. The present yards, ho said, wei'fl large enough for cattle, but not for cattle and sheep. It was a step in the right direction to get the sheep yards and he hoped t<) see them erected in the near future. He would, he said, like to say a few words with reference to the furze nuisance cm sections owned by absentees. The burgesses had done very well to get rid of this nuisance, but the absentees had not done very mucb. In some cases they were not able to find the owners and in others when found the owners would do nothincr. It would be for the Council to take some steps in this matter during the next year. Considerable improvements had been effected during the past year and he hoped to see more so as t> make Hamilton second to no other place out of Auckland. The Hospital contribution for tho year, about £80, seemed very high. This was caused by the subsidy having been paid before October Ist whereas in other years only about half had been paid at that time. This had been done as it was thought that the subsidy from the Government would not he obtained if the contributions were not paid by that date. The rate was increasing, being n.iw equal to about 3d in the £, or one-fourth of the totil rales collected, and it would increase fuithor if tha subsidy is not continued, and may be nearly double, but the sick and needy must be attended to. The bridges in the borough will soon raquira attention, the school-house bridge especially, and lie thought it wmld be well to increase the rat- , next year so as to be able to put money away to form a nucleus of a fund t'i provide for tlnur repair. He was pleased to say that the valuation for the borough was giu lurdly increasing, last year being higher tha-ii for live or six years, and from tho present outlook he thought thrre would bo a still further increase The health of the borough during the past year had been very good. This was, t'i a very lai\ie extent, due to the untiring efforts of the Inspector of Nuisances, and if that olliuer continued to act as heretofore lie did not think there was much fear of fever breaking out. Tliero hid been soii'n talk of a water supply, which was needed very much, and he hoped that in a few years they would be able to get an adequate supply. The lovenue from tha saleyarls had mucn improved, and the assets were very satisfactory. Ho did not think the present system ot charges a satisfactory one, as

they were wholly and solely in the hiinth nf the auctioneers. In conclusion, Mr Coates thanked the members of the Council for the manner in which they hid worked w:th him during the pa-:t year, and ho expressed a li-ipo that they would contiue the same during his present term of office. Alter thanking those who had done him the honour of returning him, Mr Coates took his seat amid applause.

An adjourned meeting of the Council was held immediately after the above, when the following letter was read from Mr W. M. Hay :—Hamilton, 15th December, 18111. Messrs Sandes and I'.in-, members Legal Committee, Hamilton Borough Council. Gentlemen,— I have looked up the question oi the power of the Hamilton Borough Council to pass a by-law having fur its object the suppression or regulation of holding processions, playing musical instruments and of otherwise obstructing free passage in the streets, and am of opinion that the Council will not exceed its statutory powers in making such a by-law. There are a hrge member of English and several New Zealand decisions noted in the law reports having reference to by-laws regulating and prohibiting musical processions and street preaching by tho Salvation Army in some of which tlio by-laws have been held to be good and m others tho Court has been unable to support them. Great care aud considerable research will be necessary in order to frame a by-law in relation t.i the opinion of the judges in these decided cases. In most cases where the by-law has been held to be bad it has been because it was improperly dr.iwn being ultra vires of the corporation making it. I estimate the cost of framing such a by-law (printing extni) at £3 3s.—Yours faithfully. Wμ. Maughkgou Hay.—Cγ. Sandes in presenting the letter said that the legal committee had not drawn up a written report as the letter would speak for itself. Cr. Parr said that he understood that the by-law could not bo permissive, for if it were passed all playing o[ bands in the stroets would have to be stopped. After further discussion the matter was deferred until the next meeting of the Council, and tho legal committee in the. meantime to get further information and repoit. The remuneration for the djg registrar was fixed at 3s for every greyhound and Is (id fi.r other dogs,