WELLINGTON CITY LEASES.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 102, 27 October 1904, Page 2

WELLINGTON CITY LEASES.

THE HON. T. K. MACDONALD'S PROTEST. Consideration of the Wellington City Leasing Bill m Committee was resumed by the Legislative Council after we went to press yesterday. The opposition to the Bill was deprecated by the Hon. J. Rigg, who said that much of the antagonism amounted to a hint that the City Council could not be trusted, fie regretted that it was a Wellington resident who was responsible for the bitter opposition, and suggested that the Hon. T. K. Macdonald's opposition had gone as far as his duty to the public required of him, and 'he ought tp . have taken the decision of the public njeetiiig of protest against the Bill which he had converted. The Hon. T. K. Macdonalcl' said he regarded! it as a solemn duty fo figlit to the last when he- saw an injustice Being done io the public. He was prepared to abandon any opposition to the Bill if the hou. member in charge would agree to include a clause providing th,at the ratepayers should be consulted. The City Council, however, had stated that "it would not consult the ratepayers and that it would not take a mandate from them. Whatever debates had taken place in the City Counci 1 regarding "the" Bill had taken place in the secrecy of tihe committee-room and not in open Council. Half the members of the City Council ■vfrere' ignorant of what the Bill meant. He • said nothing against the members of the City Council, who were a body oi honourable men ; but they were averse to being criticised — they were not used to criticl&m, and they did not like it. The action he (Mr. Macdonald) was taking would* be agreed to by the bulk of the citizens. The Council had been afraid to take a vote or a> referendum of the people 6f Wellington on the subject. He had been asked to take charge of the Bill, but he had declined, as it wets a bad Bill. He had no' personal purpose in opposing the proposal ; indeed, it would be a source of injury to him ; but he was determined to oppose it "tooth and nail." His only desire was to make the measure a gbodi one. Clause 4, defining the terms under which tenants who surrender their leases shall take up new leases, gave rise to considerable discussion. The Hon. T. K. Macdonald moved to amend the first proviso, which provides that the rental reserved under a new lease following on a surrender shall, during a term equal to the imexpired term of the old lease, be four times the rental reserved by the surrendered lease. His amendment was to alter four times to eight times. His amendment was moved because the proposed rental was altogether inadequate. Pie wanted to see the city get 5 pfer cent, on the real honest value of the land. He was prepared to -amend his motion to provide that the rental shall not be less than 5 per cent, interest on the capital value. , The Hon. 6. Jones, who disapproved of the proposed interference with the City Council, moved a further amendment to the effect that tbe word "four" (which the Hon. T. K. MacSonald had moved to raplace by "eight") should be altered to "riot more than eight." After further discussion the Hon. F. H. Fraser announced his determination to sticks to the- Bill, which was the outcome of the City Council^ enquiries regarding the wishes of tHe lessees. The Hon; T. R. Macdonald said the Bill had been engineered by a club in the citj r which had acquired epme qi what they called old shanties for £1600, contemplating the erection of club buildings in time to come, aird ther fult foree 1 of the club membership-.., had. been i brought . to bear on the City Gauncil, with the result that the Bill had been framed- The Bill was not' promoted by ' the City Council for the benefit of the city at all, but was the outcome of pressure by interested parties. The Hon. W. .Johnston said that as a director of the Public Hail Company he had to say that ihe company wits in no way responsible for the Bill,' and as far as he knew the company did not desire to come under th 6 Bill. The Hon. T. K. Macdonald's .amendment was last by 17 votes to 9. Mr. Macdonald then proposed another amendment. He said that the whole ' object from start to finish since 1895 had been to get to iVindward of the citizens and to secure a perpetual lease at an inadequate rental. There was no truth in the story that the object of these various Bills had been to provide for the erection of better buildings. He accordingly moved, to test whether there was ariy truth in this statement, that the clause, should be amended to provide that in the Cases where (consequent on a covenant by the lessee to build in five yeaifs) the rental is dnub'.ed, the covenant should be for rebuilding in two years, instead of five years. Two years was ample, he contended. The amendment was lost on the voices. The Hon. T. K. Macdonald moved another amendment to the same proviso to the effect that the new rental, instead of being twice the rental reserved by the surrendered lease, should be such a sum as would represent a return of not less than 5 per cent, on the capital value of the freeholds. His proposal would safeguard against robbing the citizens of their' heritage and birthright, and giving away the citizens' property, thus entailing increased taxation. The proposal in the Bill was direct, deliberate robbery of the citizens. . The Hon. F. H. Fraser urged that the Bill had met no such opposition in the Lower House as it was meeting in the Council. The. intelligence of the member's of the House was, as high as that of the members of the Council. Mr. Hacdonald did nab possess all the intelligence in Wellington. On division tbe amendment was lost by 17 votes to 11. The remaining clauses Were passed without discussion. Th? H6n. T. K. Macdonald then moved to add a new clause to provide that before the Act comes into operation the consent of the ratepayers must be obtained under the Local Elections Act, 1904. After debate the new clause wns rejected by 13 votes to 12. The Hon. F. H. Fraser then moved to aflß a new schedule enumerating the leases affected by the Bill. Tha schedule was. added, and the Bill as amended was reported. On the motion for the third reading the Hon. T. K. Macdonald, continuing his opposition to the Bill, announced that he would deal at some length with the Bill. He then spoke (with half an hour's intermission for supper) until 1.45 a.m., when, no quoium being present, the Council was "counted out." ' Consideration of the Bill will be resumed to-day.