NELSON FINANCIAL REFORM LEAGUE.

PUBLIC MEETING. Tut: adjourned meeting of this Association was held on Wednesday night, in the Temperance Hall. The attendance was thin, only a little over a hundred persons being present. Mr. H. Drrw was called to the chair. The Honorary Secretary, Dr. levine, read -the report which has already appeared in our columns. Mr. Bablow, the Hon. Treasurer, read the accounts, which showed that the 277 subscriptions had yielded £13 9s. 6d; donations, the greater part of which were for the purpose of meeting deficiencies, were £7 175.; balance paid by Waimea South Committee, £1175.; by Wakapuaka Committee, £1 35.; making a total of £24 14s. 6d.; which was tho amount of the expenditure for printing cards of rules and membership, bills, and for advertising, also expenses of meetings in town and throughout the country districts. Mr. Barlow said that, as he wns leaving Nelson shortly, he should no longer be able to co-operate with this Association, or any other that, may be formed ; but expressed the pleasure he hud experienced in connection with the Association, nnd tho efforts which had been made to direct uublic attention to the necessity of chocking an expenditure which was cau.r'ng considerable suffering by the taxation it produced ; and he hoped that those who had honestly gone into the work would not cease by voice and pen in advocating a return to a more careful system of management.

Sunsequently, Mr, Baulow proposed various names for tlje Committee of the Association for next year. Ou this being, after a pape, seconded, Mr. E. Lucas moved, as an amendment, " That the public has no confidence in the Association," and said that his reason for so doing was that the Association had admitted among its members men who Bhould not have been admitted, thus placing the society in the wrong hands. (Applause.) Mr. CLI3MENT3 seconded the motion. Dr. levine said lie hoped that resolution would not be put, for the object of the Association was 1 good, namely, the reduction of expenditure and of taxation, which must be worked for against all difficulties. If there were any on the Committee to whom the public objected, do not re-elect them. Turn out those who do not work, but do cot give up the work. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Lucas said he wislied to see the thing reconstituted, to be carried on with greater vigor in another way. lie did not find ifault with all the Committee, but with the principle of admitting paid officials. (Hear, hear.) After some little time, Mr. Ltjokik suggested that both these motions should be withdrawn until after the submission of certain resolutions bearing on the political condition of the Colony, and with which the meeting would be likely to agree. As for Mr. Lucas's motion, he should, although a member of the Committee, have no particular objection to see it put and passed, but that could be done afterwards. This was ultimately agreed to, and the resolutions were postponed. Mr. Luokie, in moving the adoption of the report, referred to the thinness of the meeting, and compared ifc with the large and enthusiastic assemblage wliich met last year in an adjacent building whon the Association was constituted. He did not know whether the small number of persons present should" not be considered as giving point to the taunt which Mr. Stafford threw at the Association,' which led to the implication that the League was a sham. The question was, Is it a sham ? Comparing the interest which' was awakened at the outset with that now exhibited, it would almost appear as if ifc were necessary to answer this question in the affirmative; and it would be well to probe the cause to the bottom. "Was the apparent weakness inherent jn tljo Committee itself,' or in the members of the' League generally, or in the public, who now exhibited the' customary apathy ? If in the Committee," he was ready'to bear any share of the blame tnat might fall to Kirn when the facts were known. The report, he admitted, was meagre, and probably there were two or three

causes for tllftfc fesuifi, to which he would briefly; allude. At the1 public' meeting when the Association was being formed, he took the liberty of warning the; public against playing into the hands of those very; men and that very party on whose management the formation of the Association was an unmistakable censure. (Hear, hear.) He feared that mistake had not been avoided; and the universal derision which followed the announcement that Mr. Stafford had joined the Association was an evidence of the popular feeling iv the matter. (Applause.) The truth was, the rules should have been amended so as not to admit as members those who had a direct personal, interest in the expenditure, or who were salaried officers of the Government. Imagine Lord Derby, the great Protectionist, being admitted as a member of the Council of the Anti-Oorn-Law League. Sir David Monro was admitted to the Committee, and read a paper which at once controverted the unwise rule that prevented the discussion of local or party questions, a rule which greatly crippled the action of the Association. That paper was a direct attack on Provincialism, without showing the shadow of a substitute for it. In a despatch of Governor Sir George Bowen, founded on a most one-sided and unfair memorandum by Mr. John Hall, the Post-master-General, he had discovered that his Excellency had entered into a disquisition on the merits or demerits of Provincialism aud Centralism, and this paper of Sir David Monro'Bj the' Governor sent to the Duke of Buckingham, the Secretary for the .Colonies. Mr. Luckie here read from the despatch of the Governor the following sentences :— "Two political parties have developed themselves in this Colony, under the names of Centralists and Provincialists. They are somewhat, aualpgous to. the two great parties in America, the Federalists, and the advocates of tho so-called sovereign rights of the separate States" [which analogy, said Sir. Luckie, was not very clear.] " Here the Centralists would be glad to see the Provincial Governmentsgradually replaced by Municipal institutions oh an extended scale; while the Provincialists prefer the maintenance, with some modifications, of the general system established in 1852. As this is a political controversy of local concern, and which must be discussed and "decided in the Colonial Parliament, it is, of course, the duty of the Representative of the Crown to abstain carefully from even the appearance of interfering on either side. " I forward herewith the copy of an address recently delivered by Sir David Monro, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in which the views of the Centralists are set forth ; and also the copy of a recent speech of Mr. Fox, formerly Colonial Secretary of New Zealand, controverting those views." He considered it a mistake calculated to mislead* that this remarkably one-sided paper by Sir David Monro —who, he was bound to say, exhibited a notable lack of acquaintance with the existence and working of some of the old and long established laws of his own country, (with respect to police, taxes, and. other matters of local. Government) —it was a mistake to send this paper, with, as areply,the brief speech ofMr. Fox, at Wanganui, in which only a few brief allusions occur, without in the least pretending to be an exposure of the numerous fallacies which are to be found in the lengthy address read before the committee by Sir David Monro. (Hear, hear.) And then the memorandum of Mr. Hall was what he could not but designate as dishonest. It referred largely to the establishment of Westland County, that acknowledged failure, that new Province without any power, presided over by a nominee of the General Government, in whose hands all power, was really vested. We find Mr. Hall in this memorandum, written after the first meeting of the Westland Council, saying that " the proceedings of the Council induce tho Government to believe that the experiment will be a success." He also said, " Provincial Governments no longer furnish that provision for local administration of local affairs which is, an important, element of an efficient Government in any country, but especially in the case of one so peculiarly situated as is the Colony of New Zealand." Everybody knew that the object of Mr. Hall and his fellows was to destroy all real Local: self-Gbyernment and substitute a centralising power for it. "'(Hear, hear.) He concluded his memorandum by the statement that the results of the Westland experiment will prove it to be " a great step towards the harmonious combination of complete local Self-government with all necessary national unity." This statement was as audacious as baseless; for the act was admittedly a failure, and the expenditure of Westland County had been shown to be grossly extravagant, while all but destitute of providing for public works. (Hear, hear.) He regretted that his Honor the Superintendent, the President of the League, was not present, as he desired to remind him of a pledge which he made to tho j>eople of Nelson, with lespect to Provinoialism. When contesting the office of Superintendent, in the beginning of last year, he said, in answer to a question— "If the electors really wish to muzzle me as a member of the Assembly, and silence me on the subject of the Provincial system, the best thing they can do is to elect me their Superintendent," Had his Honor kept this pledge, to do no harm to Provincialism, as a member of the House of Representatives ? He thought he had failed signally, not only by aiding the anti-provincial efforts of the Stafford Ministry, whose absurd and intricate Road Boards Bill was intended to place additional powers in the hands of the General Government; hut also in connection with the Consolidation of Provincial Loans Act, one of the series of Acts of which the Public Debts Act was the most prominent and obnoxious. Mr. Curtis was a member of the Select Committee on this Consolidation of Provincial Loans Bill, which provides for the conversion of Provincial into General Government Stock j and how the advantage of the Provinces was looked to by him is to he fqund hi an extract which appears in the Blue Book with reference to this committee, of date 20th September last:— : •' Moved by. Mr. Citbtis : That any gain arising from the consolidation of the Provincial loans by extending the Colonial guarantep to the Provincial creditor shall be treated as strictly Cqlonial revenue^ and shall be subject to appropriation by the Qenopal Assembly for Colonial services. It is understood that in the case of unraised loans, the term gain shall only apply to such sums as may be realised from sales above par." This motion, which was carried, ..was putting the General Government on a level with a stock-jobber, striving to .. screw paltry commissions out of "iris' clients, instead of treating the Provinces fairly—-as part and parcel of one political whole. The result did not produce much harm, in consequence of the blundering and loss under the Public Debts Act, but the will to aggrandise the General Government at the cost of Provincial Governments was apparent in. the motion. (Hear, hear.) To return to the work of the League, one thing was apparent, and he thought would be admitted, to the credit of aH who went honestly into it for the good of the. country, aud that, was, that if it had no other effect than that of stix'ring up the people, not of this Province only, but of the Colony at large, to look after their own interests respecting the political aud financial action of the Government and Parliament, —it had not altogether labored in vain, although he was bound to admit that it had fallen far short of what he had at first anticipated, and this was mainly owing to the causes to which he had referred. (Applause.) Mr. Clements seconded the adoption of the report. He said that he had taken great interest at the time of the formation of the Association, and had hoped for good from it, but the proceedings afterwards threw a damper on its success; especially the admission of salaried officials to prominent positions. For example, it was difficult to discuss finance with the Superintendent as President of the Society, a salaried official, and with another salaried officer of the General •Assembly, the Speaker of the House of Representative^' in the Committee. He (Mr. Clements) had moved a resolution in Committee to hold :a'publicl meeting in order to get certain rules altered/;an"d«(JtherS passed. One of these was the abolition 'of; that absurd^ rule which prevented the Committee' fjoAa discussing local and Provincial ■ affairs which were liefore their eyes, and sending them to othefcs which' were at a distance," and about which they knew'comparatiyely little' or nothing. (Applause.) Before anything could be "done, ifir3t Mr. Stafford became a member of the League, and then Sir David Moaro

followed. And at the first meeting of the Committee Sir David Monro attended and opened a discussion, tabling a resolution which he wished to palm off on the Committee, condemning Provincialism. He (Mr. Clements) said that Sir David Monro not being a member of Committee, was only there on sufferance, and could not table a resolution. Dr. Irvine then proposed, in order to have all parties represented on the Committee, that Sir David should be made a member of Committeo in place of those who did not attend. This was opposed, but it was tried twice, and at last succeeded when only four members were present besides Mr. Curtis, who was in the chair. Previous to this he (Mr. Clements) had moved a resolution that a general meeting be held for altering the rules, so as to exclude all salaried officials of the Government, both Provincial and General, from the League; and this resolution was agreed to. In the meantime, however, it struck Dr. Irvine and Mr. Elliott that Sir David Monro could become a member of Committee in room of Dr. Giles, who had resigned, and this was moved. He (Mr. Clements) moved as an amendment, and Mr. Luckie seconded, that the motion for appointing Sir David Monro as a member of Committee should be postponed until after the forthcoming public meeting, which had been resolved on. This amendment was negatived by the casting vote of the Superintendent, and the original motion by which Sir David was appointed, was carried, also by the casting vote. This was abotit six months ago, and from that time to this, although repeatedly spoken about, there had been no general meeting called until this one. At the last meeting but one which he (Mr. Clements) attended (for he ultimately gave up attending the meetings), Sir David Monro moved a resolution to the effect, "That the partnership existing in the revenue of the Colony between the General and Provincial Governments should be abolished." Mr. Luckie then moved an amendment that it was inexpedient to abolish the partnership until it was shown what was to succeed it. This amendment was lost by the casting vote of the Chairman. Dr. Irvine moved a resolution which suited Sir David Monro, who withdrew his in favor of Dr. Irvine's. Another resolution was moved by Sir David Monro, to which Mr. Luckie also proposed an amendment; and that too was lost by the casting vote of the Chairman, two members of Committee, declining to vote on either side. And from that time he believed Sir David Monro did not attend the Committee meetings, except once, when lie proposed that we should go through the Estimates. It seemed as if he had served his end. "We had not been able to do anything beneficial to the cause of financial reform. There had been elaborate papers read which might do some good; but he thought the League deserved to lose the confidence of the public ; the Committee were crippled by rules, and by those coming amongst them who had no business to be there. (Applause.) The report was adopted. Mr. Elliott said he felt considerable disappointment at seeing so few persons present. This thin attendance could only be explained by supposing either that the public of Nelsou had grown indilferent to the objects the Financial Reform League had in view, or that they were dissatisfied with the manner in which the committee had conducted the business of the League. He would not then pursue that inquiry, nor would he attempt to justify the course the committee had followed. That there should have been differences of opinion among the committee was only natural, seeing how it had been composed, but there was no reason for bringing those differences before that meeting. It was not to speak on such subjects that he rose to address them, but to propose a resolution which had been placed in his hand, and which he would at once read :— " 1. That in the opinion of this meeting, the General Government expenditure of New Zealand has increased, during the last ten years, in a degree much greater than was warranted by the growth of the colony in wealth and population ; greater than was required for any legitimate purposes of Government, and greater than can be maintained in the future." That the General Government expenditure had inincreased in the manner stated in the resolution, was apparent to everyone who had resided for any time in the colony. Within the period named, the Customs tariff had been more than once largely augmented, and a stamp duty imposed. But not to rest his statement on general terms, he would quote from official documents, and show by figures that such increase had taken place, and in what ratio with tho increase of population. By referring to the Appendix to Hansard of last session, he found the revenue expended by the General Government for the last ten years, thus given :— Years. £ 1858-9 67,283 1859-60 70,799 1860-1 ..... 105,673 1861-2 146,699 1862-3 212,576 1863-4 275,797 1861-5 256,490 1865-6 513,574 1866-7 669,324 Now by turning to the statistics of the colony, it would be found that, at the end of the year 1858, the population of New Zealand was 59,413 souls, so that the taxes raised for General Government purposes was then at about the rate of £1 2s. Bd. per head. In ]861, when the census was again taken, the population numbered 99,021 souls, and with this increase of taxpayers had come an increase of burdens —for the amount contributed to the General Government was now only a fraction less than £1 9s. Bd. per head. The census was again taken at the end of 1864, but population and taxation during this interval of three years kept almost even pace, and there was only an addition of about twopence per head. But, at the end of last year, when tho census was next taken, he found an enormous addition had been made to the burdens of the colony, for then it required something over £3 Is. per head from the people to defray the charges of the General Government. So that between the years 1858 and 1867, while the population of the colony had multiplied fourfold, the expenditure of the Colonial Government had been multiplied tenfold. These facts fully bore out the statement contained in the first part of the resolution, and few would deny the impossibility of the existing rate of taxation being long maintained without inflicting the most seriour injury to tho permanent welfare of the colony. The cause of the great increase in the expenditure of the Government since 1864, was doubtless to meet the interest of the Three Million Loan incurred for the native war, and from this there was now no escape. It was useless now to disjsuss whether the colony was justified in entering upon so costly a war, and in imposing such heavy liabilities upon sosmall a population. It was believed at the time that the expenditure to be incurred would be recouped to a large extent by the Bale of the land to be confiscated, but this had proved a pure delusion. Nothing had been got from the confiscated land but trouble, and addi'ional expense to maintain our footing. [Hear, hear.] Could this result have been foreseen, he was sure the war loan would never have received the support it did from many members of the Assembly. [Hear, hear.] It was difficult to fix the blame of this great blunder on any individual, nor indeed of other blunders of a similar character. The fact was, when the colony was prosperous, few people troubled themselves about the future. There was a good deal of truth in what Mr. Stafford told them when last in Nelson, that the people liked to gee an expenditure of public money. The Panama mail service has been so popular in some provinces that it was in a measure forced upon the Government. Nearly every province in turn has made demands for extravagant mail services, both inland and by sea, and the electric telegraph was generally regarded as a most desirable thing. But was the colony able to afford such luxuries? [Hear.] The people of New Zealand —a colony but little more than a quarter of a dentury old—expected all the conveniences of the oldest and most highly civilized countries. [Hear, hear:] This was a geat mistake,'and they were now paying the penalty of their folly. [Bfear, hear.] He •would not longer occupy the time of the meeting, but would move the adoption of the resolution he had read. Mr. Macintosh seconded the motion, adding a few words respecting tho desirable objects which such an

association might accomplish, and especially pointing to the necessity of decreasing the heavy burdens of the Colony. The motion was agreed to. Dr. Irvine rose to move the second resolution— " That while successive administrations are primarily answerable for thy prodigal expenditure of the Colony, the House of Representatives, which is the constitutional guardian of the public purse, has fallen short of its duty, inasmuch as it has offered no earnest resistance to the extravagant budgets laid before it." In moving the resolution, Dr. Irvine expressed his entire concurrence in Mr. Elliott's remarks, adding that one might almost suppose, from the headlong manner in which superfluous expenditure had been incurred, while needful work for roads, &c, was left undone, that the colonists had adopted seriously the jesting proposal of the Seven Wise Men of Boston, " Give us the luxuries of life, and we will dispense with its necessaries." The next question was, Who is to blame ? Whom shall we hang ? Mi*. Stafford had said at Nelson that the people were to blame, for that he hated economy. He could not concur in this, for large expenditure meant heavy taxation, and no people under the sun preferred heavy taxes to light ones. Another politician, Sir D. Monro, had written an elaborate essay to prove that Provincial Governments were the causes of our financial difficulties. If so, why was it'that Victoria and Queensland which had no Provincial Governments, (and no Maori war) had quite as heavy an expenditure. When a Province in New Zealand was in difficulties it speedily reformed it finances and squared its expenditure and income, whereas the General Government when in difficulties did not reform, but laid on increased Customs' Duties or taxes. (Applause.) The Ministry having the chief say in the budget were to blame in the first place; but the House of Representatives could not escf.pe censure, being art and part in the wasteful expenditure. (Hear, hear.) It was all very well for a Minister to come down and refer any objector to a pile of Blue Books, which the average elector could make as little of as the fox could of the broth when the crane invited him to dinner, and served it up in a high pitcher; the Ministry were paid, and well paid to do all this for us, and deserved a reprimand when they attempted to shift the burden of responsibility on to the people. (Applause.) Mr. Webb seconded the resolution, remarking that he objected to the payment of members by an honorarium of so much a day. He thought many went for that, and if there was no pay, or if it were limited to a certain sum, they would sit a shorter time. We should never be right until we got men bold enough to oppose the extravagant expenditure alluded to in the resolution. Money was being squandered at present in the North Island by thousands and hundreds of thousands. He was informed that there were in the North Island, between Taranaki and "Wanganui, about 1000 men who were doing little or nothing except quarrelling among themselves and getting drunk ; the officers differing in opinion and time being lost, while nothing was being done against the rebels. (Hear, hear.) Government seemed to delight in increasing offices; for these were multiplied without number, many of a most expensive nature, while their occupants did not appear to know what to do, except that they seemed only to make work for each other. He hoped the people at large would take more interest in public affairs in future. (Applause.) Mr. Lttckte moved the third resolution as follows : —" That no eJlbctual and permanent reform in the Finances of the Colony can be expected until such changes have been made in the machinery of legislation as shall render the representatives of the people more fully cognizant of, and more amenable to, public opinion ; and with this view this meeting recommends that the duration of Parliaments bo shortened, and suggests to the constituencies the expediency of inviting their representatives to meet them both before and after each session." He argued in favor of the necessity of the electors taking a more actively personal interest with respect to the proceedings of their representatives; to bring them to book for every mistake either of ignorance or of intent; and not allow men who either violated their pledges or acted in opposition to the wishes and welfare of their constituents, to escape deserved censure under the goodnatured plea of letting bygones bo bygones. Let the electors carefully tost the ability, character, and antecedents of each candidate, test his sincerity and the actual value and bearing of his political principles, and not allow themselves to be seduced and tampered with by zealous electioneered, who frequently misled by trickery or cajolery,—unscrupulous men plying victims with beer and rendering them either oblivious and unfit to vote at all, or setting them to vote contrary to their intentions. He told a story, connected with the Province, illustrative of this, and advised that there. should be a thorough reform among the electors themselves in that respect. Mr. Elliott, he was glad to observe, had seen the error of his ways and acknowledged that we all had been too fond of luxuries in Government, going in for such extravagant things as tho Panama service, and other mistaken and costly schemes. He (Mr. Luckie) did not include himself among those who had advocated these. His hands were clean, for ever since he came to the Colony, he had strenuously opposed them, and although unsuccessfully, tho logic of events proved that he was right. (Hear, hear.) The resolution pointed to the necessity of shortening the duration of Parliaments. Five years in a new country was too long; for it was five years and not four as was generally believed, that Parliament lasted. This long period very much reduced the power of the electors over their representatives, who too frequently cared little for what they did, knowing that their seats were secured to them for so long a period. (Hear, hear.) He thought that a Parliament, lasting only three years would be far better for the country. (Applause.) He referred to Mr. Stafford's frequent allusions to Constitutionalism, but contended that though the Constitution was often on his lips, in his heart it was far away from him, as was proved by his acknowledgement that he could state no policy at a serious time like the present, when the country so much wanted able and hqneat foresight to guide her through the difficulties with which she was environed. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Luckie concluded by pointing out the advantages whioh would accrue from, the representatives of the people meeting th,eir constituents and learning their opinions respecting prominent political questions before the meeting of Assembly, and then faithfully doing their beat to give effect in the Legislature to these opinions. Had this been tho practice hitherto, instead of only meeting the people after the mischief was done, many costly evils like the Public Debts Act would have been avoided. (Applause.) Mr. Gilbert, Wakapuaka, seconded the resolution. The principles in all the resolutions which had been proposed were such as all would agree with. It had been remarked by an authority in tho House that there was no public opinion in New Zealand. It was for the people to show that this was a fallacy and that there was a public opinion. The electors should take a lively interest in all the things which concerned them politically, for it was most important that they should do so, and then bring their opinions and conclusions to bear on their representatives. (Hear, hear.) He had read Mr. Stafford's speech in reply to Mr. Fox, and he was struck with tho cleverness with which he warded off home questions. But boyond that there was nothing in his speech. He had always made great pretensions and large promises, but these promises he had never fulfilled. He gave no explanation of his policy, and not a single fact in Mr. Fox's speech did he overturn. Mr. Gilbert, who was warmly applauded, impressed on the electors, for the sake of themselves and I heir children, to watoh narrowly the conduct of their legislators, and reject those who did not do their duty to their constifcuertCs. (Applause.) ■ ■■■■■■ The Chairman, in putting the motion, said that it appeared t.o him that, the Government hud a policy which, to him, seemed clear enough, mid that wa*, to tax us as hart as they possibly could (hear, hear) ; but in that they could ndt now go niuuh furl hot*. It wns for us to 'show them that 'the peoplo had a policy, and that that policy was, that tho Government shall not continue this system any lorigor. ' (Applause.) Mr. G. D. Grant then moved the following resolution:—"n:—" That this meeting views with disapprobation the wish shown by the present Government to bring about legislation by the Assembly on subjects which

can be better dealt with by local bodies, according to the special requirements of each, and protests against the tendency thus evinced to curtail the legitimate action of Provincinl and Municipal Councils." He po'iited out that the course followed by the Government was one which waß calculated so as to curtail our powers over the money that was taker, from ns, and deprive us of our rights in seeing to its expenditure to the best advantage. (Hear, Hear.) The motion was seconded and adopted. Mr. Clements said tha{; while agreeing with the resolutions, he thought they did not go far enough in the expression of an opinion as to the duties of our legislative representatives. While there were still more and more taxes levied on us, the thinking portion of the public could have no confidence in the Legislature. When Sir David Monro in the Committee proposed his resolution for giving all the revenue to the General Government, he (Mr. Clements) asked him whether if that were done, there would not be more " billets " made for a lot of idlers and men who could not provide for themselves. " Oh no." said Sir David, " we would reduce the taxation of the country." But did anyone see any prospect of that? Certainly not. (Hear, hear.) For twelve years he had looked in vain for a patrot in New Zealand, and he saw none until Dr. Featherston, of Wellington, delivered that manly, powerful, and honest speech against the Public Debts Bill. He moved the following resolution: " That this meeting is, of opinion that any representative legislature which failed to secure the political happiness and prosperity of the people it represents, is no longer worthy of our confidence." Mr. Phillips seconded the resolution. The motion was objected to by some on the ground of its being too general, and merely stating an abstract proposition which was always acknowledged as a truism, and •wasjthereforo not necessary to be included in the resolutions of the meeting. The motion was not adopted. Some proposals were made for renewing the Association and appointing a new Committee, but on the suggestion of some of the members of the late Committee it was determined rather to adjourn the meeting sine die, and if the public wished to reorganise the League at a fuller meeting, it could be done afterwards.

A vote of thanks to the Chairman, terminated the proceedings.