CAWTHRON INSTITUTE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 136, 10 June 1924, Page 3

CAWTHRON INSTITUTE

PROVIDING FOR CONTINUITY

ATTORNEY-GENERAL AND NEL-

SON CITY COUNCIL,

(BI TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

NELSON, Sth June. The following letter from the Attor-ney-General was read at last night's meeting of the City Council: —"l am in receipt of your letter forwarding a copy of the resolution passed by the Nelson City Council with regard to the Thomas Cawthron Trust Bill. I regret I am unable to agree with, .the view expressed by the resolution. It is always desirable in such trusts to provide for the continuity of some of the trustees. Apart from temporary tenure by official trustees, that is the object of the provision." ,

The Mayor said the letter required no action.- "He takes exactly the opposite opinion to what we do. There are two sides to everything." . A letter was received by the council from the Trustee Board's secretary in reply to the resolution passed at the previous meeting. Before dealing with the' questions, the trustees mention that the ,term "personal trustees" is not an ordinary legal term, but is used in the proposed Bill for the purpose of clearness and brevity, and in. this letter the term "personal trustees" is intended to indicate no more and no less tha-n "trustees." ■ .

'Your first question is," the letter ran, "is it proposed to increase the number of personal trustees, and, if so, why?" Answer: "It is not proposed to increase the number of . personal trustees, which at present are sii in numIV T£ is, ™ the effect of the Judgment of the Full Court."

The Eecond question was: "Is it now recognised that the ex-member for-Nel-son, the chairman of the Waimea Lonnty Council, and the recent appointee who replaced the ex-Mayor of Nelson (now deceased) cannot any longer be considered official trustees, and is it the desire of the board to provide for them by making those gentlemen personal trustees?" The answer is contained in the answer to the. first question, but it may as well be added that hitherto there have been no "official p^V' „ ! ere' a °ain> the judgment of the Full Court is the authority. The third question was: "Are seats to be provided for gentlemen now holdingoffices (including a member of the Legislative Council) mentioned in the wilf of the testator, and who now have no seats on the board?. Answer: "It is proposed to appoint persons for the time being holding the respective offices of Mayor of Nelson, chairman of the Waimea County Council, member of Parliament for the electoral' district of Nelson, and also persons for the time being holding the respective offices of Bishop of Nelson and chairman of the Nelson Harbour Board, when the last-named offices cease to. be held respectively by the said William Charles Sadlier and Henry -Richard Duncan to be trustees in addition to the trustees appointed by the will." ■-.■'

The next question refers to the desirability, -or the necessity, of increasing the number of trustees. The answer is that it has becomes necessary "to promote the proposed private Bill .because the Attorney-General, "• who represents the beneficiaries (that is,-the public of New Zealand), has intimated that in his opinion, it is desirable that holders of offices, as referred to in class b, section 2, of such private Bill should also be trustees. : ■■.-.•' •

The.last question asks why trustees now find it necessary t* promte legislation to provide for the appointment of trustees, when they previously informed you that they had nothing further to add to their previous reply. The answer is that, at the time so advised, the Attorney-General had riot indicated that he considered it to be desirable to increase the number of trustees, and as the legal position had^been fully stated to your -council, the trustees 'were obviously unable to add anything further to their communications.

_ The City Council also received a notification referring to the Bill coming before the next sitting of the Supreme Court. It resolved that Councillor Moffatt should represent the council in its opposition to the Bill. Councillor Gibbs dissented to such opposition.