EXCEPTION TAKEN

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 299, 13 September 1933, Page 10

EXCEPTION TAKEN

Mayor Replies to Trustee’s Statements EASTBOURNE CARNIVAL Strong exception to statements made by Mr. S. F. Fisher in connection with the balance-sheet for the East Harbour Easter Fair is taken by the Mayor of Eastbourne, Mr. E. ,W. Wise, who made the following statement to "The Dominion” yesterday:— "I agree with Mr. Fisher that it is time the public were enlightened, but Mr. Fisher must take full responsibility for the delay. A corrected balance-sheet was sent to me as Mayor of Eastbourne by the Government Audit Department. In this balance-sheet there was showing an amount of £578/2/3 in the district fund account of the Eastbourne Borough Council. “The town clerk, Mr. C. L. Bishop, informed me on inquiry that two days before the new council was Installed in office, and while the town clerk was away on leave, Mr. Fisher withdrew £6OO from the Eastbourne Borough Council district fund account, and placed it in a trust account in the Post Office Savings Bank, with himself as sole trustee. Legal Opinion On Withdrawal. “To protect myself and my council, I referred this matter to the borough solicitors. They reported to the council that the £6OO must be returned to the district fund account of the Eastbourne Borough Council, as it was quite illegal for anyone to withdraw money from this account without the proper authority. The council has made every effort to secure the repayment of this money without undue publicity. “In the circumstances it was impossible for me to publish the balancesheet. Mr. Fisher criticises the Audit Department for returning the balancesheet to me, as mayor. This action of the Audit Department shows that they recognise the Eastbourne Borough Council in the matter and not Mr. Fisher. “This is' not a matter for a settlement between Mr. Fisher and me, but between Mr. Fisher and the Eastbourne Borough Council. Mr. Fisher states that he had a three-hour conference with me on July 4, and also several other interviews. I met Mr. Fisher on July ,4. A councillor was also present. Mr. Fisher made two proposals—that he be made a trustee of ihe East Harbour Citizens’ Relief Committee, and also named the executive that he wished appointed. I suggested to him that as he was still a member of that committee, and that as the committee had already appointed the trustees (namely, Mr. E. W. Wise, as mayor, representing Eastbourne, and Mr. C. F. Eggie, of Day’s Bay, as representing Day’s Bay to Point Howard), he should attend the next meeting of the committee and place his proposals before the members. “It was not in my power to accede to his request. I was but one member of that committee. Mr. Fisher did nor attend the meeting, and a( no time have I flatly refused to allow Mr. Fisher to be made a trustee. The only other occasion on which I met Mr. Fisher in connection with this matter 'was as a member of a special committee set up by the Eastbourne Borough Council to try to persuade Mr. Fisher to return the money. Statement Denied. “I deny the statement that the East-, bourne Borough ’Council had nothing to do with the Easter Fair. The council at a special meeting, at which Mr. Fisher was not present, agreed to the organising of an Easter Fair in terms of the proposals in the organiser's letter. The mayor, a councillor, and the town clerk, with the organiser and his secretary, were to be the managing committee. The council enjoined on its representatives the duty of keeping a close watch on the expenditure side. “At a later date a representative of the relief workers’ organisation was added to that committee. It was only correct that Mr. Fisher, as then mayor, should be chairman of that committee. At a meeting of this managing committee, held on April 11, it was resolved that the net proceeds of the carnival be handed to the East Harbour Citizens’ Relief Committee to be administered for the relief of distress in the East Harbour districts. Regrettable that Money Tied Up. "It is regrettable that money raised for the relief of distress should have been tied up throughout a hard winter, preventing it from being used for, the object for which it was subscribed; for Mr. Fisher has not forwarded the money to the East Harbour Citizens’ Relief Committee, in terms of the resolution of his own managing committee. Nor has he returned it to the district fund account of the Eastbourne Borough Council. This is the position in /September, and the Easter Fair was held in April! "I certainly took no limelight part in the Easter Fair, but I cannot understand any person who sets himself out to raise money for the relief of distress wanting individual recognition. The paramount consideration should surely be the welfare of those for whom the money was so freely given, not only by residents of Eastbourne, but by people throughout New Zealand. . “I take strong exception to Mr. Fisher’s concluding sentence, which implies that it is necessary for to be a trustee ‘to protect the interests of the people who subscribed to the funds.’ The East Harbour Citizens’ Relief Committee consists of honest people, who are endeavouring to alleviate distress among their fellowmen, and I can assure Mr. Fisher, and every other subscriber to this fund, that the carnival funds would be suitably and honestly administered by the public-spirited ladies and gentlemen comprising that body.”