"COME INTO THE OPEN!"

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 66, 18 March 1915, Page 7

"COME INTO THE OPEN!"

A CHALLENGE TO DETRACTORS FROM MAYOR OF MT. EDEN. HOW "THE ARMY" GOT '£10. "Insinuations have been made and circulated in this borough that the engineer is costing the borough large sums of money by mistakes," stated Mr. O. Nicholson (Mayor of -Mt. Eden), in the coun-e of commenting, at a public meeting in St. Alban's Hall, on unfair ' methods by opponents of the loan proposal for the drainage of Mt. Eden. "But." he continued, "there is not one ratepayer prepared to come out in the open, and charge the engineer with incompetence. Such a charge is a very serious thing for a professional man, and the engineer ie waiting for some person to make such a statement openly. It is, I believe, a vile slander; the engineer has proved by the general echeme of his work here that he is a very capable engineer." WHERE MISCOXCEFraONS AKJSE. iMr. Jvicholson went on to remark on the admiration .for the engineer's work, expressed by visitors to the borough, and pointed out that clever use had been made in interested quarters by little things the ratepayers caw. and did not understand. The lifting of kerbstones that bad just been laid, and their relaying differently (wilioh had frequently occurred), did not mean that the engineer had made a mistake in hie levels, as was sometimes concluded by ratepayers. It was done on the instructions of the Council, for the reason that immediately the kerbstones showed residents in the street that their properties would require filling in, or cutting down, to conform with the street level, they complained to the Council, and a conference frequently resulted in an agreement to cant the footpath a little, or change the level slightly, co as to meet the wishes of propertyowners to same extent, and the engineer was instructed to change his kerbstones accordingly. The cost of the change in taking up the kerbstones and relaying might be 10/ or 15/, but that action sometimes saved the Council from £3 to £20 in litigation and compensation that might have resulted from rigid adherence to the echeme of permanent levels. )<o the engineer was blameless in the matter, while the apparent waste of money was actually a saving to the ratepayers. Mr. Nicholson also explained how the shifting of material deposited on a road one day and taken away the next was easily explainable, and not an error by the cnginwr. though the natural misinterpretation of it by an I honest ratepayer was used by some people who knew the real facts in a manner that was hurtful to the engineer's reputation with ratepayers. ■ADMINISTRATION , AXD MOTIVES. The "come-into-the-open" . challenge was issued by Mr. .XichoJson also in referring to the fact that a rumour had been epread that the affaire of the borough had been nial-administered. and more particularly with rumours reflecting on his own personal integrity. "The statements,' , he said, "emanate from a little coterie in the borough that are pretty noisy, but at the same time pretty clever, so that they can't be got at. 1 will make mention of one. A certain individual, who ought to know better, endeavoured to show you that ho ie actuated by the l>eet interests of the borough, but I would ask any ratepayer who wants to judge for himself to go down there to Edendale Road, and s"ee certkm erections which are an eve-sore. (A voice: Jerry built.) Certain individuals, who' are so noiey, have had to come to cross purposes with the Council through breaking regulations, or doing something they had no right to do. Go to Sunnyside Road, and see one individual's property encroaching eighteen inches on the road. The Council has not yet had the, line ebifted because he would raise the cry of 'persecution!' Those are the people who are taxing the Council with mal-administration , ." HIS PERSONAL HONOUR. It had also been insinuated, stated I Mr. Nicholson, that he had had road* 'made by the Council /or his own advantage to properties in which he I interested. Balmoral Road and Westminster Estate had been quoted., but he had not a penny interest in : Westminster Estate. He'wae, unfortunately, interested in the EUerton Estate j syndicate, which had had to put a road costing £3,500 through to connect with another estate, a road which was no good at all to the Ellcrton syndicate, but. .having some, public interest at heart, they had deviated that road in order to give the Maungawhau school a full frontage to a public road. .He didn't expect to get a penny out of that investment. been insinuated," concluded! Mr. Nicholson, "that 1 have made commission out of floating debentures for the borough. That is an absolute falsehood. You will get no public man of standing to take an interest in your affairs if you, as ratepayers, allow j people to make these imputations, un-' challenged. They are too clever to come into the open, but the moment any individual makes an insinuation of this eort that I can trace home to him I will make him face the music, to protect public men in office, and the money I get out of him I will hand over to endow some public work in the borough." HOW A CHALLENGE ENDED. At a later stage in the meeting Mr. D. Meikle, a borough councillor, stated that Teeently Mr. John Davis, on that very platform, had made a statement which appeared to him (Mr. Meikle) to reflect on the Mayor's integrity. It concerned a loan raised when Mr. Davis was a councillor, and Mr. Davis' remarks indicated that he had protested against the money being got at a certain rate when, the Government was offering the money at a lower rate. Knowing that the Government offer had not been made until the Council had agreed with the other lender to take the loan, he (Mr. Meikle) challenged Mr. Davis to prove that he had protested, for the Council was bound before the Government offer was announced, and he had backed hie challenge up with a cheque for £ 10. Mr. Davis had said he would prove his statement or forfeit £10, and he had not paid his money. "Did you hear Mr. Meikle say I did not pay the money?" asked Mr. Davis, rising in the body of the hall. "Tomorrow I shall instruct my solicitor to issue a writ against Mr. Meikle. because the Salvation Army has had that £10 long ago." Mr. Davis went on to state that the day following the challenge he had cent a cheque for £ 10 to the newspaper office agreed on ac the stakeholder, and that, alter eoxne

delay occasioned by the people handling it not knowing its purport, the money had been paid over to the Salvation Army, as agreed upon. A voice: You did it hard, Johnnie. Mr. Meikle: I apologise to Mr. Davis, becauee I never knew about it. This is the first time it has become public that the money was paid over.