A LIVELY MEETING.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 46, 18 November 1907, Page 8

A LIVELY MEETING.

UPPER HUTT MILITANT. BOROUGH OR ROAD BOARD. Never in tho'history' of-.'tho-. Upper Hutt has so great an .interest in-public affairs been taken as sinco the cry, Towrt District versus Borough, arose.somo weeks, past, in tho general clamour for "Homo Rule" in tho Upper Hutt and separation from the Hutt County. The meeting on Saturday evening last in the Town Hall, stands'out unequalled as regards both importance and attendance. Long before 8 o'clock tho main thoroughfare was tho scone of animated groups—men and women—discussing tho prospects of., a lively meetir,-; in consequence of a big gathering of tho clans both for and against tho larger

At 8 o'clock about three souls—three promoting sonls —and the hall custodian wore tho only ones to lcavo.tho street, and the shop, and tho'hotel, all.of'whichVaro adjacent to the hall, and-it looked as.if it had) been arranged to leave it.in thoir hands— the, "dauntless three "—to elect /of .themselves a chairman, mover and seconder of a motion to declare, for a borough, and have done with it, and then. dissolve into tho street, the' shop, and the : hotol likewise. It was not until the custodian ( disappeared.into the night and re-appeared at,,the hall door with a glass and a jug. of'water, that the crowd followed—or ; seemed. to, follow —as if romemboring that. its, presence w,as required, and tho meeting proceeded along customary lines.' :,:'.'.

Mr. J. E. Hughes'.'(Upper. .Hutt), was elected to the chair, and Mr. George Brown (to promote discussion, as advertised) nioTed: "That, this mooting considers that the. time has arrived when the Upper Hutt and-,Trentha'm. should bd' formed into a borough," suggesting, in addition; certain individuals as a committee to define boundaries, • attend to the obtaining of signatures, and such like performances; to reportthosarao, to a further public meeting, and then.forward the petition to His Excellency asking him to declare the area chosen a'borough.

Mr. Gard (Silverstream): asked "tho promoters to explain the advantages of a borough over those of a town district.

Mr. George Brown ; (Upper.. Hutt) then spoke to his,.inotion,.arid desired all,present would consider the question;.Borongh versus Town Board, in an impartial spirit, as both proposals were good, one,, if anything (tho borough) being better than .tho other. Three years ago a Town Board would have met the requirements of the Upper'Hutt district better than to-day. Since then' the rapidity of settlement rendered the formation of: a borough, in view of , contiuiicd progress, almost a necessity. Tho Silverstream end of the valley had grown'so rapidly that before long they could form.thomselvcs into a town district, thus precluding-theV'chances of tho Upper Hutt amalgamating; as at, present, m the formation of a borough right away, and embracing an opportunity' whicli might not occur again if ever so much "desired in tho near future. As stated in their circular, tho conveners wero of opinion' that] whilst controlling a much larger area,- the cost of administration in'proportion.: would he very little in excess of that of a town "district, whilst tho importanco u of a borough far exceeded that of a town."district, which, in his opinion, could never, hope'for signal treatment, in the .matter :'df , governmental arid public buildings. The duplication of the railway lino to Upper Hutt and the extension of tho suburban area likewiso would induce settlement to such a degree that the requirements of sanitation, lighting,' drainage, and street mairiteriarica could 1 bo , "bett'er dealt with under a borough'thati "a tovi'ri district, whose borrowing powers were more or less limited. In fact, it scorned to him that the (Status and convenience of the" community would be raised to such air extent as to oiit- : weigh all objection's in' the way' of increased rent and "taxation-which'-'ever followed in the train of advanced settlement." Bv uniting the Upper Hutt with the lower end, as sugg?sted .in •■tho-borough proposal, all future difficulties of overlapping, in the manner of iiower Hutt and Pctoiie; were for all time set aside. He would, therefore, earnestly ask of those present to choosd aborough from the.-outset. " .'"',',■' " •••■" • "" ■

■Mr. James Brown,; oldost resident and Father of tho Upper Hutt." followed his brother, arid outlined the advantages of unity in public affairs, and cited the trend of affairs' since, settlement had really begun in carried to come Upper Hutt way. Said this speaker: Improvements 'in tho Upper Hutt during the last five years, from the-Silverstream to the Maori. Bank, and from the' rivor to tho base of the, hill, meant land' to the value of over £90,000 had changed hands; eighty buildings had been, erected worth between £40,000 and £50,000; eighty, acres of land had been given for street,;purposes, and about eight miles of road formed;''five miles had been motalled, and about'two and a half miles of footpath made, roads and footpaths costing close on £3000."All this had been dedicated to the Hutt County Council for the benefit of the ratepayers in the district free of cost by tho several parties-who had subdivided their land, whilst the district was practically in the same .stnto'.now as it was fifty years ago, so far'.as any public improvement was concerned."'.': ■■•

Mr. H. C. Gibbons (Upper Hutt) supported the last two speakers m their' contention that a Borough was in many ways'preforablo to a Town District, -which-limited.the: control of district affairs in the Upper, Hutt two miles' as against the proposed six. Without anticipating the arrival of tho time when the larger public works would' necessitate a heavier burden of taxation ' than'at' present existed, tho advantages "of locally-raised rates being spent'locally, meant' a great deal meanwhile. The extending of tho area also meant tho future welfare of tho Upper Hutt when tho demands of population required an extension, and the same proportion of rates as raised could bo spent till a more equal distribution of values camo about. Tho Upper Hutt was'in many respects an ideal place to reside in,, and doubtless thousands would follow once railway facilities, drainage, and such other needed questions had been disposed of. Wellington City could claim distinction in tho matter of municipal control, the advantages of wliicli now extended as- Mr. H. D. Bell (when Mayor) predicted, to tbo utmost limits,; arid, tho-Upper Hutt people wonld do wisely to cmbraco the opportunity now afforded of taking in Tronthara and Silverstream from' the commencement. " ■.-''.■ .•»•

Mr. J. T. Wilkins. (Silverstroam) supported tho Borough proposal, and contended that bv uniting with Trentham'and Upper- Hut't many advantages,'//not possible to obtain separately, would servo alike the good of one and all. ' . :\" -' Mr. W. Card (Silverstream) said no good could come of singling out tho, new residents from tho old. No monuments of progress marked the pathway of tho old identities of late years; and differences such as these had 'best bo relegated,to tho background in discussing future progress. .. .' • Mr. William Brown (TrbrithamV championed ..the " make haste slowly" movomont, and convulsed his audience. with ricli sallies at the.expense of both the Town District and tho Borough .champions. Ill: a-.good-natured way this speaker referred to,tho, " cure-all " properties of tho nostrums! suggested'in'tho circular and the poster, of tlic rival parties. " I warn you-in no uncertain voico,',' said tho speaker, " have nothing to do with either deadly concoction," and tho audience shouWd itself hoarso, quite forgetting that soonor or later it was to renounce the subject of its mirth and declare for one dose or tho other; nevertheless, it enjoyed itself in anticipation of tho nectar its own particular party hal provided. _ ~: . Two new residonts, Messrs.... Gregan (Trentham), and Barrett (Upper! Hutt), also spoke in favour of a borough.! ■ - Thon came a gentleman known as "Fighting Mac "—othorwiso Mr. A. J. M'Curdy— who asserted his right, to awaken both the dead non-resident and the dying rent-payor; adducing fact upon fact and figuro upon figure in support of a town district as against a borough. f From North Cape to the Bluff this speaker had ascertained tho exact cost of administration; rate of taxation, population, and. every •• possible available information,with tho object' of ] proving

that a Town Hoard was more easily run, and less costly than a borough. He compared rates levied in town districts and boroughs, and the undue raising of unimproved values which resulted in heavior rates being collected from a given area though tho rate itself might remain «t n fixed amount of one penny in the pound. Mr. Gibbons had spoken of land increasing fifty or a hundred-fold in value if a borough wore formed. Mr. M'Curdy said a house and land valued at £400 brought a rental of 10s. per week. If that value were increased nftyfold' to "£6OO there would be 200 more penco. rates collected, and that the tenant would be asked to pay in increased rent, with tho result that housos would be empty and progress stopped instead of improved." All the advantages of a borough wore obtainable under a town board as'wcro enjoyed in a borough, and they had the advantago of being governed for the first two years by residents and not absentee Innd-speculators and non-resident faddists. 'Cheers.) 'Further, Mr. M'Cnrdy waged lar against the old inhabitant who lived abroad, "and with the riow-comer who paid rent only, and wanted to outvote tho frno'mklor every timo. With similar sentences t!ie speaker' sliced heads off every membw;.„, tho conveners committee, and chaNci/jr,.,, contradiction gonerally 0 the audience aj,'!i m cheering lustily. Tho climax was aTmwt ■ reached when Mr. M Curdy moved as an amendment to substitute tho word " town district" in the motion where it read borough, and in addition selecting a totally new committee to go into the matter of immediately presenting the petition in hand (favouring a town district) to His Excellency. Mr. N. J. Bennington (Silverstream), in seconding the amendment pro forma, said the desire of the promoters of tho borough movement was for tho good of the community as a whole, not a limited portion of it, and none were moro pleased or proud of the Uppor Hutt's progress than tho peoplo of Trentham and Silverstream, participating as. they did in every advantage accruing therefrom.

Mr. P. Davis (Upper"Hutt) supported Mr. M Curdy in the matter of limiting the area, thereby limiting ,tho responsibility and tho expense of government till a groaior population existed to warrant a change He had lived in tlie Upper' Hutt all his life, arid qesired as much as any to see it go ahead, but thought, tho time had not yet arrived to form a,borough. \ The Chairmann then read the amendment, and on the voices declared it lost. Beingrequested, he invited those in " favour to step to the right, thoso against to the loft, and, amid great, confusion and uproar, Btated the division (discounting several on each sido not eligible), thirty-two for tho amendment -and thirty-four against. ' Tho supporters of the Borough hofe cheered lustily,-, the groans of the Town Board supporters' notwithstanding, and the chairman declared the meoting closed. INDIGNATION MEETING. An indignation meeting was immediately hold, Mr. M'Curdy taking down tho names of all those who had- voted in favour of the amendment. Mr. J. T. Bengo was voted to tho chair, on the motion of Messrs: M'Curdy and Read. The roll of those present in' favour of a Town District, and who had protested against Chairman Hughes's decision, was called, and fifty persons responded to their names. Mr. Thomas Edwards moved, and Mr. Rcid seconded, a resolution :— "That this meeting declares the decision of Chairman Hughes to bo inaccurate, and that the figures in favour and against the amendment were—so for the amendment in favour of a Town District and 29 against tho amendment." The names of tho fifty who recorded their voto in favour of tho amendmont wcro appended to/the resolution. -'Messrs; Edwards and M'Curdy stated that they had each counted the number of opponents of the amendment, and only, found 29,'0f whom Mr. M'Curdy said three wcro ineligible to vote on tho subject, being neither ratepayers, freeholders, •or ront-paycrs, as provided by .tho. Municipal Corporations Act of 1900. The names of T. F. Boyd and H. Williams were added to the Town Board Committee by the mover of the amendment in favour of a Town District. A voto of thanks to Chairman Bengo closed tho proceedings a few minutes before midnight. THE DISPUTED COUNT. Sir, —In tho matter of tho grossly-inac-curate declaration of 1 * voting by Chairman Hughos' at Saturday's meeting at Upper Hutt, I have tho honour to enclose for your information an affidavit quoting tho names of all those who were present at>tho public meeting when tho amendment was put, arid voted m favour of the amendment, and who handed in thoir names to me immediately upon Chairman Hughes announcing his figures. You will observe thoro are fifty names therein. . I am prepared also to swear an affidavit, and' give the names of the persons who voted against the amendment. I am, etc., ANGUS J. M'CURDY.

Upper Hutt, Novembor 17, 1907,

Tlie names in Mr. M'Curdy's affidavit are as follow:—Messrs. Gillibs, Gallagher, Boyle, T. F. Boyd, Taylor, J. Greenwood,. Young, Foottet, Craig, Harmon, A. Martin, Hastings, T. Edwards, Harrison, H. Williams, A. Cudby, J. Kearney, Fuller, N. Ward, June,-Miller, J. T. Bengo, F. Wilkie, Mitchell, W. Wilkie,'P.-Davis, Roberts, C. Colletfc, W. Brown, W. Doller, Matthews, E. Wilkie, J. Geange, A. Boyd, C. Ileid, A. Colder, S. M'Burney, H. Pratt, R, Butler, D. M'Curdy, A.- M'Curdy, B. Bcnge, J. Harrop, G.. Wyoth, A. M'Burney, F. Whiteman, H. Blair,; J. Whiteman, H. Moulder, and E. Greenwood.