The Daily Telegraph THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1882.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3520, 19 October 1882, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1882.

The Municipal Council was unable to transact any business at its meeting last night owing to the removal of the furniture from the Council Chamber by the lay secretary of the Diocesan Synod. When the members arrived at the usual place of meeting they found the room in darkness, and on proceeding to the Town Clerk's office they further learned that the tables and desks belonging to the Council Chamber had been carted off to St. John's schoolroom for the use of the Synod. This information was conveyed in a letter addressed to the Town Clerk, and written by Mr Fielder iv his capacity of lay secretary to the Diocesan Synod. This document, on being read by His Worship the Mayor, naturally excited the indignation of the councillors, and some forcible language was used in censure of the gentleman whose zeal bad impelled him to so thoughtlessly insult the Mayor and Corporation. It then transpired, however, that it was not a thoughtless act by any means, but the result of a deliberate intention to secure the convenience of the Synod at the expense of the public husincss of the borough. It seems that Mr Fielder was warned in the course of the day that the furniture be had caused to be removed would have to be replaced by the evening, and on demurring to this he was told to go and see the Town Clerk. This he did, and he was informed that the Council would require the furniture to enable its meeting to be held. Mr Fielder then wrote the letter, by instruction, to the Town Clerk, in which he coolly stated that, as the Synod would be placed to much inconvenience by returning the furniture, it was hoped the Council would be able to do without tables and desks. This precious communication was not delivered to the Town Clerk till about five o'clock in the afternoon, so there was no time to compel the restitution of the furniture. It was of course impossible then for the Council to meet in the Chamber, and the question arose as to the legality of meeting in the Town Clerk's office. It was argued that if the Council could, without public notification, shift its place of meeting, the Act requiring its meetings to be open to the public would be rendered inoperative through the absence of knowledge as to the locality of the meeting. It is true that there is nothing in the Act prescribing the place of meeting, but the whole spirit of the law is that the meeting shall be held in some well-known and recognised chamber. It would not have been illegal, probably, for the Council to have transacted its business in the Town Clerk's office, but if that course had been pursued its expression of disapproval at the conduct of the executive of the Synod would have lost the whole of its point. No doubt it would have been an eminently Christian act to have submitted to the insult without exhibition of resentment ; but, if such resignation and forbearance had been shown, every little institution in the town would have claimed the right to cart away the furniture of the Council Chamber whenever it suited their convenience. For be it understood the Diosesan Synod of the Church ot England has no greater claim to consideration than any other administrative body of a religious denomination. If the Synod of the Church of England can help itself to what it wants belonging to somebody else, an equal privilege must be accorded to the elders of other persuasions. The Council Chamber would then bo rendered uselesa as a permanent place of meeting for the Borough Council, or for any other public body. The mistake was in allowing the furniture to be removed at all. [Since the above was written, we have learned that permission to remove the furniture was granted to Mr Fielder by the chairman of the Hawke's Bay County Council, who had as much light to give it as—the secretary of the Jockey Club.]