THE EXHIBITION SURPLUS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 23, 27 January 1900, Page 3

THE EXHIBITION SURPLUS.

i MEETING. OF EXECUTIVE AND ,

GUARANTORS

THE PRBaipENT'S , ATTITUDE .7 SEVER@LY.CRITICI&Ep.

AN AMICABLE SETTLEMENT

AIMED.. AT,

The vexed question of the disposal lof the Ejcl .jbitipxi surplus ( £ 2000) was j again discussed yesterday afternoon, at- a meeting oli the" Exhibition Ex;ecuitive and guarantors. Mr John Brown

presided, the-other gentlemen present being. Mfifegr* W, -Ledj rjgharo .*, (.treasurer, of the Exhibition), J as. Russell, !.W. J. Napier, 11. C. Tewsley, Colonel Burton and Hodgson (members oi the ; Executive), and Wesley Spragg, E. iFord, George Powley and Geo. Eraser ; (guarantors). Apologies for non- , attendance were received from Messrs jA. H. Nathan aud George Fowlds, M.H.R.

Mr Ledingham explained that the meeting was .all»xl to consider the report drawn up by'Mr Russell and the Hon. Mr Mitchelson, who had been appointed a sub-committee to interview the President (Mr Kent), and the Vice-President (Mr Nathan) of the Exhibition.

. Mr Russell read the report, which has already been published. . In effect it stated that the President declined to take any further action,., saying that the money belonged to the. Auckland Chamber of- Commerce. Ue had also declined to -show the deputation the minute book -of the Executive. Mi*. -Nathan had taken the same attitude as ..:the-..•' President, but considered that they had a right to see the minute.book and other documents connected wjtfc. the Exhibition. Mr Russell went'on to say that Mr Kent declared he "wa. pot g9ing tp provide them with powder apd shot to fire at him," to which Mr Russell had replied that the production of the minute book would be the best means of avoiding a law suit, by enabling the Executive to determine their position. Mr Kent, however, ■ had refused to he moved, and that was how matters-now stood.

The Chairman said he' must personally express his great astonishment at the position taken up by. the President and the Vice-President. He should certainly have "'expected that they -would- treat-the deputation less.cavalierly. Assuming, after .the representations, made, by the guarantors, he thought, the President and Vice-Presi-dent were bound' in all fairness to receive the deputation and come to an amicable. -> undei;standing. Probably nine-tenths of the guarantors would prefer to see. the mone}'- expended on a technical school, especially if ample provision were-made for meeting the wants of the Chamber of Commerce. (Hear, hear,) If the Exhibition surplus was supplemented by a Government grant' ■ doubtless other funds would be forthcoming to make the school worthy of the province, and do far more lasting benefit' to our industries than the Chamber of Commerce .would; with some palatial building for thpm'selyeV. q.'(Hea'r.?'h'^r;);'; So far as he could see, the door was" open to put up - a first-class building.; The Harbour' Board Bad" offered a capital site. To go to law over the matter (as the implied threat -of-the gentlemen would indicate) would, in his opinion, be the utmost folly. Apparently," having, adopted a wrong course, those gentlemen seemed determined to follow "it -op; -but • why, as practical business men they should adopt such a course as "they had done, was incomprehensible to him. The scant courtesy shown to the deputation was most deserving of .disapprobation. If they must go to lavs? they must, but it seemed to him a silly threat,' and one that should liever have been made. This was a sample of Auckland all over. We never seemed .to be..able to pull together; He' did not think there could be two opinions as to a Chamber of Commerce, .and technical school combined being the best thing for Auckland. . Speaking as a /guarantor,;; he might say that in assisting the Exhibition it had never for one moment occurred 'to " him "that, any surplus would be devoted'to any other purpose than was..decided uponby a vote of the I guarantors.-, He thought the latter should have dictated in"what way the funds should be spent. Without the guarantors there would have been no ; Exhibition. :■-"- --•■- "

Mr Hodgson held .that they were bound by a clause on the Exhibition prospectus, which stated the surplus of the Exhibition (if any) was to be devoted to the support and maintenance of-a first-class Chamber of Commerce." As a business man he must value the responsibility of any trust placed in his hands. He must stand by that clause. If had been discussed at an Executive -meeting, at. which he was present. - The -Advertising Committee had passed it, and they had arranged for' a' certain number to be printed and issued throughout New Zealand."": He had also been a canvasser for guarantors, and had told many of them what he himself had understood from the first—that' any surplus there was should be devoted to the object mentioned in the prospectus. It ■ had never been challenged before, and to do so now was.most unfortunate. ~......:

The Chairman said he'had been approached by two" canvassers (Messrs Garlickand E. Bell), arid no such clause was ever mentioned in his hearing. All he was asked-was whether he would subscribe and. guarantee-the ; money. He believed the great bulk lof the guarantors never gave a single thought as to what was to be done with the money. He doubted whether the above clause had ever been .mentioned to them- _Surely, after, getting all the honour and glory for the great success of the Exhibition; the' Executive, officials ought ta meet the guarantors fairly and discuss .the point. Yet the President and Vice-President positively refused. He. considered it was- most contemptible.;; • :;"

Mr Spragg questioned the existence of any resolution of the. Executive ear-marking the surplus.. The; treatment their sub-committee had' met with at the hands of the president and the-vice*pfesident was in his opinion apparent-evidence- that the minute referred to did not exist.. If the minute' was -found in' the book he personally as a guarantor did not wish to upset any-arrangement made in proper manner. As a guarantor he had no recollection of receiving a prospectus, and. the' gentleman who ■canvassed him told him'• afterwards it -was not mentioned. Respecting the treMment received by.their committee he was surprised. T-oey Were entitled

j to courtesy, and that they should be ': treated with such scant courtesy was a disgrace to Auckland. (Hear, hear.) , The guarantors had been treated in a manner -wh^ch would-tell very seriously against any future attempt to raise money. If it had not been for the splendid show made by the guarantors and the enthusiasm of the public the' Exhibition would have been a dead failure. (Hear, hear.) iHe thought their next step should be to take means-to compel the production of the' minUte-book, in order to satisfy themselves as to what really had taken place. Ho was far from pleased with the trearment which he as a guarantor had received in the

matter

- Mr Ledingham said lie was sorry the minute-book of the Executive had not been produced. If they had the book it would show whether this important proposal to apply the surplus to a Chamber of Commerce had been decided upon at a meeting of the Executive. As he could not get the book he had taken the trouble to go : tliTough the newspaper files from May, 1597, to March, 1898. At al] the ; meeting's up to June 8, 1597, not a -word was reported-as having been mentioned with regard to. a surplus,. j Moreover, on February, 1898, at the ; annual meeting of the, Chamber of ' Commerce the Council reported that they had launched the Exhibition, and handed it over to the gentlemen appointed to carry it out. In a press interview with Mr Kent not one word ' had been said as to what should be done with the surplus. The prospectus referred to was dated December 31, 1897. He was present at the Executive meeting when they adopted the rules, and they never saw Mr Kent's letter..untjl it was .published in prospectus form and scattered broad-east-over the land. Even had the surplus been ear-marked for a Chamber of ! Commerce, when-they had au oppor-. i tunity to do lasting benefit to the ! city the Chamber of Commerce as ; sensible business men should waive any claim they might have to the | money. Further, he-had- been-told- by i a high official of the Chamber of Com- : meree that the fact of their getting the £2000 came as an absolute surprise to them.

Mr Napier pointed out that there was no. intention on.the part of the Executive.or the guarantors to commit any breach of. trust, as was feared by Mr Hodgson. Nor was there anything in the prospectus binding them to hand the money over to the Chamber of Commerce. All it said was 'tha'fr the money -should be devoted to the purpose of a Chamber.of Commerce. They proposed to do so, and at the same time, with the help of a Government subsidy, to establish a technical school. They merely asked the president and the vice-president to concur with them to accomplish two objects—the one set forth in the prospectus, and a scheme for a technical school, .in which case a Government grant would"be available. The attitude assumed by Mr Kent was not only rude, but inimical to the welfare of the city, because if successful it would prevent them from obtaining £2000 from the Government, to increase the fund for a two-fold purpose. The whole trouble arose from Mr-Kent's autocratic demeanoiir. The persons who now owned the surplus were the Executive Committee. The president had"seceded from the Committee he had refused to attend the meetings.;and illegally-* withheld the books. .But*. .tuitil,ithe..Executive, was .formally,, dissolved .it could carry on its functions so far as its legal status would allow. He could not understand Mr Kent's action in withholding documents as an individual. He could corroborate the treasurer in saying that at none of the Executive meetings he attended was. the prospectus discussed. It was not printed for several months after the initiation of the Exhibition. It was drafted by Mr Kent himself. He thought they should insist on carrying out the prospectus and also the scheme for establishing a technical school. The sooner they made it clear that they did not oppose a Chamber of Commerce the better. But that' institution' known as the Chamber of Commerce had no legal right to the money. If the Executive chose to hand the £2000 over to the Chamber well and good, but they had entire discretion in the matter. They should form a committee to take all

necessary stepp to carry out the prospectus and have a technical school erected in Auckland.

The sub-committee's report having been adopted, Mr Hodgson said the Chamber of Commerce should be consulted, to see if the two objects could be carried out.

The chairman said he agreed with Mr Napier's views. He thought he and Mr Napier should endeavour to come to an arrangement with the Chamber of: Commerce. Failing that, he was prepared to carry the matter much further.

Mr Russell wanted to know whether they were going to do nothing to obtain the production of the minutebook. If the book showed that the Executive had decided upon the disposal, of. the money it was a question Whether "the guarantors should go any farther in the matter. He had not the slightest doubt that a simple application to the Supreme Court would show Mr Kent that he was! not the "Pooh Bah" he set himself up to be. The Court would at once order him to give, up the book.' However, he (the"speaker) felt averse to proposing legal proceedings. He would rather adopt Mr Brown's suggestion, that Messrs Brown and Napier should wait upon the Chamber of Commerce. By doing so they, admitted, to a certain extent the Chamber's right to a say in the matter. He therefore moved: "That the chairman and Mr Napier be asked to meet the Council of the Chamber of Commerce, with a view to endeavouring -to effect an amicable arrangement by which the interests of a Chamber of Commerce and a Technical School may be combined. Colonel Burton seconded the mo-

tion. Mr Tewsley said he remembered distinctly that the prospectus was gone through seriatim at an.Executive meeting, and that Mr Kent had then stated clearly to what object the surplus, if any, would be devoted. There had never been any word of dissent as to the disposal of the funds from that time until after the Exhibition had been practically closed. Unfortunately, at a certain point before the Exhibition there had been a difference of opinion between two of the members, the president and the treasurer,, and that was the crux of the whole- matter. Mr Russell: That had nothing to do- with it. , ~ Mr Tewsley reiterated Iris statement. But for a certain private matter between the two members mentioned there would have been no dispute about the disposal of the funds. Mr Russell: That is mere assumption. . Mr Tewsley went on to say that there, would have been no washing of dirty linen in public if the treasurer on finding he could hot work with

the president had decided to retire.

The chairman

I object to your

making personal remarks and rash statements. 1 have been personally i moving in the matter independently [of the treasurer. The committtee of : guarantors • has been ignored., So ' that when yon state that' the opposiI tion arose from.one individual you

I state what is absolutely untrue. ■ | Mr Tewsley said all he wanted was j to put the facts before the public.

j Mr Russell: And I shall insist upon ' the matter being put before the pubj lie in its true jiosilion, and not garbled las you have given it.

j Mr Spragg then moved as an amendI ment: "That the meeting request the | members of the. Executive present |to make application to the Supreme ! Court far possession of the books." j He thought that was the proper course as until they gpt the books they could I not ascertain their true position.

Mr Ledingham seconded the Umend-

I ment. i Mr Spragg said the question of getI ting the £2000 was a secondary one ! wiih him. What he fought for was i that the committee, and not one or

; two persons in that committee, should ! have control of the money.

I Mr Napier said he thought the original motion the better one. Other members expressed the same opinion, and eventually Mr Spragg was induced ,to withdraw his amendment. . .

The mot'on that the chairman and Mr Napier should approach the Chamer of Commerce was then carried, Mr Tewsley alone dissenting.