MR. VIGOR BROWN AND HIS MOTION TO WHITEWASH

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 102, 27 October 1914, Page 6

MR. VIGOR BROWN AND HIS MOTION TO WHITEWASH

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— ln to-day's "Political Notes," from Wellington, it is stated that Mr. Brown has given notice to ask tho Prime Ministor whether he will put a clause in tho Washing'Up Bill, legalising tho contributions of local bodies to the War Fund, and inserting the names of the Napier Borough Council and the Napier Harbour Board in the schedule giving those bodies power to give any 6um up to £500 towards any wa,r fund." As a councillor of the Borough of Napier I write to say that such a motion is most improper, and I trust tho Premier will refuse Mr. Brown's request. Public bod' les have already by special Act boen permitted to vote eomo of their ordinary income to a national fund, known as tho Patriotic Fund, but Mr. Brown, as Mayor of Napier, and on his own mo* tion, induced the council to vote £500 to spend in other ways than for tho Patrio« tic Fund. Such vote under the Municlpal Corporations Act is undoubted' ly illegal, and at a recent meeting of the council I moved that the vote be rescinded. Mr. Brown at thu meeting stated that such grants had been legalised by the Parliament, to which I replied that there was no evidence of euch in Hansard, which only doa.lt with tho Patriotio Fund. Mr. Brown said that tho evidence would appear in a later Hansard, and ih deference to tho Mayor's statement I asked that the motion be deferred till the next^ meeting of the council. You can "imagine my Rurpriso when I read the motion quoted at the opening) of this letter. Now comes the sequel. The mouths of borough councillor** aro to bo closed by tho Premier at the instigation of the Mayor of Napior in his position as ti representative of Parliament. Mr. Massey now knows how matters stand, and I trust that Mr. Brown's mO tion will receive what the mover himself deserves, for suoh a moan sction.—l can, ttc , % COUNCILLOR, HILL. Napier, 22nd October.