MILTON.

Bruce Herald, Volume IX, Issue 820, 18 July 1876, Page 4

MILTON.

Yesterday was the day appoiuted for the nomination of candidates for the office of Mayor of Milton, and by twelve o'clock a large number of ratepayers had assembled iv the Municipal Council Chambers. Mr Edward Stewart officiated as Returning Officer, and called upon the Town Clerk to read the usual notices. That having been done, the Town Clerk proceeded to read out the following nominations : —

Mr Robert Richard Jones, proposed by Mr T. S. Poole, aud seconded by Mr. J. Cunnii! :h tin.

Mr Wiiliam John Dyer, proposed by Mr George Coombe, ai.d seconded by Mr James Lock hart.

Mr Stewart stated that two candidates had been nominated. A poll would be taken on Friday next. The two candidates were present, and could address the meeting if they desired to do so. A poll would be takeu in each ward : — in West "Ward, at the Council Chambers ; in East Ward, at the White Horse Hotel ; and in South Ward, at the Milton Holel.

Mr E-. It. Jones said — Mr. .Returning Officer and gentlemen, I have been induced to come forward upon this occasion to seek your support as a candidate for the office of Mayor of Milton for the coming year. Xou will remember that last year I would have come forward but for some private reasons. There is no difficulty in the way, however, this year. You are aware that for the past four years I have represented West Ward in the Council, and t-iough I do not wish to indulge in self-praise, I can say, with a clear conscience, that I have been of some service to the Council. I have been attentive to my duties, and have fairly considered every measure that has been brought forward. Considerable discussion has taken place with reference ttrthe continuation of Eden-street to the railway station, and I may say that I have always been in fovorof this work, as it was of great importance to the people of the town, and also to the inhabitants ol the country districts. The Council did its best to induce the Groverriinents — -Provincial and General— to niaKe' the road, %ut both declined to have any thing to, do with it. After seine negotiations imwhich I took.'.partas one of a deputation to- the 1 okomairiro ßoad Boards^ thatbody' agreed 1 ; to bear a portion of 'th'ey;€!Xj)f!nseV. The, Board i^as not ; halfi -the expense, but limitedfi(theLamount;to £40.

the Council called for tenders, they were found to be exceedingly moderate, and the tender for the metal amounted £81. It will be seen from that that the Council was not called upon to spend much more than the Eoad Board. At all times I have advocated the making of this road, and I should have^siall advpcate^i||tf the Town Counci]^|dJ^(eni obliged to incur, all the expense .^l^^raß absolutely' necessary that the road^should be made for the convenience and pr itection of people going to and from the railway station. The street has now been put into a creditable condition, and I am very glad of it. I am in favor of getting all the land between the railway line and the town boundary brought within the Municipality. It ts true that for the first year or so the Council may be called upon to spend more money there than they will receive from rates, but the number of houses is increasing every year in that locality. A valuable hotel has been erected on this block of land, and the revenue from the license will go to the Town Council instead of to the General Government. Thp land I refer to also includes Mr M'Gill's mill, from which a handsome revenue would be derived by the MuuicipaUt) r , if the town boundary were extended. The more rates a Municipality can collect the stronger it becomes. The (ieneral Government intends to give a subsidy of £1 for £1 for a period of five yeai's, and it would be well for us to increase the amount of our rates, and get the extra subsidy that will be payable upon the amount derived from the districr. That would soon give the Corporation of Milton a handsome revenue, and we would be able to take a first-class position amongst the other Municipalities. You have seen in the Bruce Herald a report of the speech delivered by Mr W. J. Dyer. He stated that the total indebtednsss of ths Council at the end of the present financial year would be something like. <£282, to meet which be claims the rent derivable irom the Fairfax re.serve. These rents are not payable until the Ist of August, and in no other year have they been anticipated in this manner. This money cannot be appropriated" during the present financial year, for it will not be received until the month of August, which is in the next financial year. The amount of the unpaid rates has been stated at £60, but I am doubtful whether this amount can be got in during the next few months. Probably one-half the amount may be received within the next month ot two. It is unaccountable and difficnlt to exexplain why these rates cannot be got in. During the last few months I have frequently put motions on the paper to the effect that all those persons who have not paid their rates should be sued, and the Town Clerk has been instructed to take active measures to recover the amounts. I have not mentioned names, but you may imagine some of them. This is all that has been done up to the present time. 1 know of some rates that appear to be in such a chronic state of arrear that ife would he difficult fir the Council + o recover them The Government proposes to introduce as uniform system of rating, in municipalities, road board districts, and counties, which will do away with some of the difficulties that have occurred with respect ro valuations, some of which have been too high, and some to low. In Milton a moderate course has been followed in connection with the valuations. If the proposals of the Government are carried out the towns and boroughs will remain under their present arrangement, and the extra subsidy to be given by the Government will be a great assistance. We shall uot be called upon to organise a new system of local Government. If I am elected Mayor I will do my best to reduce the amount of the ovei'dratt, and all the debts that we h-svc outsiui'liiiL'-. We have understood from Mr Dyer that these debts have been paid, but, in reality, not a. penny of the money for the road to the Railway Station has been paid. Our outstanding debts will amount to fully £300, to meet nothing but the balance of rates due are strictly applicable. M}' first wish is that the Council may be able adopt some measure to pay off the overdraft. The I'att-s are not made payable until October or November, and then a valuator has to l>e appointed. The valuator will be allowed n certain time to do Ids work, and the notices have to be served. The rate is then struck, and then a certain time is given to pay it, more time being wasted in obtaining payment. If ihe i'ate this year is fixed at one shilling in the £ it will amount to £350, and this sum will be entirely expended in paying the overdraft. This overdraft bears interest at a high rate no doubt. I am of opinion that this overdraft should be paid off at as early a date as possible. There is another matter to which I wish to refer. Mr M'Gill presented the Council with a forty links frontage to Manor-street, and with a road line through some sections held at one time by Mr Wyber. This gift was made to the Council nine or ten months ago and, it was brought before the meeting and accepted by a resolution passed the same evening From that time until the contract was let for forming and widening the street, nothing was said of the matter. Some three months ago, the question was asked " would the title be all right, and whether the necessary deeds had been obtained." I have from time to time told the Council that there would be no difficulty in the way. I may say without any breach of confidence, that Mr M'GriU's deeds %ere not in my hands, but were in Dunedin. The property was purchased by Mr .M'G-ill^rronrMr Wyber's trustees, subject' to a 'mortgage upon it: The mortgage has been paid since that time, and I suppose :!S Mr| M'CHll came back

with the rellipt in his pocket, thinking that nothinj^else would be rdquired. "When he was": requested to execute the conveyance Ip the Council the receipt was mi&sed, a|&; wtthout the^receipt the represel|j^^^ found it 'impcisgible to' ssayp Aether 1 the money hady&een -pJ»S^bf {i fl6t,' ! and would not give a [ c6fiveyWce until Mr M'Gill was in a positionio prove that he had paid the money and interest.' Mr ivTGill was able to prove that he had paid the money, and then orders were at once given for the execution of ithe conveyance. The solicitors certainly took a rather long time about the matter. During the last three weeks tte deed was signed, and then Mr M'Gill was in a position to give the Council a conveyance of the street line. It may be said that there was some object in keeping the matter behind, and perhaps that may be given by me to you as his reason for not signing tie cheque for the payment of the balance due to the contractor. There is no reason whatever for this. Mr Dyer told those who were present at the meeting called the other night, that he had had a deed prepared and executed in twelve hours. This in quite possible. — (Mr E. Marryat — Possibly he was in a hurry). People who do a steady respectable business are not generally in such a hurrj to run about in order to get deeds in twentyfour hours. It was better to let matters take their usual course. There was no object in the delay so far as lam concerned ; but had Mr. Dyer no object in refusing to sign the cheque. Mr Gordon, the contractor, did not make the street line, he merely tendered for the work in answer to au advertisement. There was nothing in the contract stating that the payment depended upon Mr M'Gill conveying the land. The contractor did the work, and of course must be' paid by the Council. When the extra claim for cartage came in some of the members of the Council expressed their annoyance ; but it was found that much of the surplus material could be. made use of in other streets. It wasi 'thought that the extra charge would; be £7 or £8, and some members of the Council were annoyed when a iclaim was sent in for £34. The. Public Works Csmmittee explained the transaction, and the Council decided that the balance of the contract should be paid. It was about this time that the Mayor said he would not sign the cheque until the conveyance had been signed. None of the Councillors took much notice of this at the time, but finding that the money was not paid, although cheqcs given afterwards had been paid. Cr. Stewart refused to sign any more cheques until that in favor of Gordon had been signed by the Mayor. If the cheques had been brought to me I should have refused in a similar manner. I felt that the Mayor has taken upon himself to upset the action of the Town Council. The Council is composed of six members, and there are invariably four present. I do not think Mr Dyer had any right — particularly under the circumstances — to stop that cheque, for supposing that no title were ever given to the land the contractor must not suffer. The blame would fall upon the Council. If the Mayor objected to the passing of the account he should have entered a quiet and gentlemanly protest. Mr Dyer wanted the ratepayers to understand that the Mayor is elected to watch over the Councillors. Now. I do not agree with this. The duty of the Mayor is simply to conduct the proceedings of the Council. The Mayor has far iess influence than a councillor, and that is whi* I have not sought the position before. A councillor has much more power in the: Council than the Mayor. To come to other matters, I may state that the footpaths in the Main South Hoad require some attention. In many places the footpaths require gravelling ; but I cannot see our way to very large expense next year. If the road to the Railway Station is kept in good n-jair, most of the traffic will be directed to the main street. The Council Las to keep the main street in repair in consideiation of receiving the license fees. The amount received in this way is about £170 or ±,200 a year. I think a rate of one shilling in the £ will be quite sufficient, for the subsidy of £ for £ will be a grt,at assistance. I am not in favor of borrowing these thousands of pounds at whatever rate of interest we can get the money. Mr H. White— Will you go to the poll or will you let Stamper interfere again. Mr Jones — I will go to the poll. Mr Cunningham — Will you be in favor of giving some sort of encouragement to the Milton Volunteer Fire Brigade. Mr Jones said that on a recent occasion the action of the Brigade had undoubtedly prevented the spread of the fire. He thought that some time ago the Council voted £5 to the Fire Brigade, and that he had the pleasure of moving the resolution. — (Applause.)

Mr Marryatt said that the Insurance Companies had given £5 each. '■ Mr Grindley asked the candidate if he was in favor of having a weighing machine being placed somewhere in the township.

Mr Jones replied in the negative. Mr Grindley said '-.that, the people, of Milton lost 30 per cent, on their coals, throngh the want of a weighing: < machine. v

Mr Jones said that the people; .clutha|had'prociived''a'^eigbing.vinac£i'ine^but now they did not know whaibtci do with it. . ;/- ; v In reply to Mr Farrell, Mr Jonps said that be spoke in the Council aganst the opening of George-street, -through': the Police Reserve. ' He " had no b clanged his opinion oh the subject, and he would not bring the mTtter before the pouncil. . ,rp .;^-:/ s _ M In : reply to other' questions, <

Mr Jones said that he considered that Mr Dyer had grossly insulted the Council by not signing Gordon's cheque. Mr^Farrell considered the Mayor entitled to i the thanks of the ratepayers ,for, his action, and that Gr. Jones should pay Gordon, as he himself waß the cause of the delay. Mr.W.-'J. Dyer addressed the meeting. briefly. He said that he came forward at the request of the ratepayers. — (A Voice— That is like G-oodall.) He was not a copyist of Goodall. If pleased with his past actions they could say so, and he would serve them again. He referred to the Government subsidy of £~L to £1, which, would make the revenue £700 as against £613 last year. He was in favour of a public weighbridge and the extension of the municipality to the railway line. He was opposed to borrowing money, as it could not be profitably done except in large sums of £10,000 or £12,000.

A few questions were put to Mr Dyer, and a vote of thanks to the Chairmau terminated the proceedings. No show of hands was called for.