CITY COUNCIL.

Evening Star, Issue 9834, 24 October 1895, Page 4

CITY COUNCIL.

The fortnightly meeting of tftt City Council, held last night, was Attended by the Mayor (Mr H. S. Fish), Crs Gourley, Hardy, Wales, M'Gregor, Swan, Haynes, Cohen, Carroll, Morrison, Solomon, and Gore.

CORRESPONDENCE,

Tho'Commissioner of Police wrote asking the Council to allow the matter of removing the buildings now occupied by Inspector Pardy and a constable, situated on the Town Belt, to stand over til! his next visit to Dunedin—probably nextmonth--when, perhaps, the Council might see their way to grant the department a lease of the site at a peppercorn rent—On the motion of the Mayor, who expressed a hope that the Council would set its face against longer encroachment, the matter was allowed to stand over. Mr W. M'Glashan, of Woodh&ngh, wrote ■with reference to damage caused to his property at Woo.ihaugh "bridge, which he attributed +.o protective works there carried on by the Corporation, and asking that the Council should, by supplying 140 loads of quarry boulders, assist him in walling the stream off his land.—lnferred to the Water Committee to report. The Unemployed Relief Works Association forwarded an account for £27 14s 7d for carting metal ou the Queen's Drive, aud suggested that hereafter the right to the grass on the Town Belt should be let on the understanding; hut the whole of the gorsc and broom should be closely cut at least twfre a year.—The former muter was referred to the Works Committee to act, and the hitter to the Reserves Committee. Mr James Uislop, on behalf of Messrs I*. and J. Walker, wrote asking if the Council would continue the pipe sever across High street up to their property, and stating that they were prepared to pay halt the cos*, of the extension. Referred to the Work? Committee to report, uy-law no. •_', Mr J. Mendelsohn wrote : Dunedin, October 18. AV By-law No. 2. Gentlemen,—l beg to call your attention to Mr Carew's reading of above., as applied to the late case against myself, in which I was convicted tor exhibiting interesting news in my win-tow. This practice had Ivou indulged in by xay predecessor in the same premises for tweuty-rive years past, and, never thinking thst above law was meant to apply to such, I wis under the impression I could follow the same course with safety. According to Mr Careu's decision, I take it that I or any other shopkeeper infringes the law by exhibiting goods or anything appertaining to his business (likely to attract attention) in his window. This, you will admit, is a great injustice when you consider a large rent is paid for a g<'od window, which is useless unless for exhibition purposes. I would ask if. when the law Was framed, it was intended to apply to such a case as mine, aud if uot is there any likelihood of it being revised? 1 should be pleased to have your opinion on this point, as often, in the interests of my business, 1 deem it advisable U> make a display (attractive to the public), but am averse to doing so now under the existing state of the law. Awaiting an early reply, aud thanking you in anticipation—l am, etc.

The Mayou said (.hat in this matter he Trad thought it was necessary and desirable to frame the following resolution, which he would move:—''(l) That in reference to the case of the Police v. Mendelsohn and By-law No. -J, this Council, whilst net expressing any op'-niuti upou the legal interpretation of the by-law, as rendered by the Stipendiary Magistral, desire to place on record that the by-law was not intended to apply to such a case, as wore it otherwise its operation might be extremely prejudicial to the carrying on of their legitimate businesses by shopkeepers, and would inevitably cause them considerable annoyance; (-) that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Mi Parily, the inspector of police, with a respectful request that he will instruct the police to refrain from prosecuting in any similar case, thu Council being ot opinion that should a crowd congregate under similar circumstances the law will be sulli-

ciently vindicated and the interests o pedestrians sufficiently guarded by thi police requesting such crowd to move on.' If the resolution sent to Inspcctoi

Pardy a repetition of the case against MiMendelsohn would not occur. He would like to say that it had always been his practice, both as a magistrate and as a private individual, to support and prottct the police in the discharge of their duty. They had a difficult task to perform, and it was the duty of all good citizens to protect them ; but there were cases at times which rather inclined a person to object to the operation of the police, and ths case now before the Council was, he submitted, one of those cases. It appeared to him extremely doubtful whether the by-law covered such a case as this. The part of the by-law under which Mr Mendelsohn was summoned was section 3; And By-law No. f>, which practically was the: interpretation clause, led him to believe that the by-law in itself only applied to persons being upon and to acts done upon the actual footpath, and did not include the exhibiting of any tradesman's goods in any window. But while ha said this he was extremely reluctant to aay anything that would imply a difference of opinion to tho legal mind of the Stipendiary Magistrate. He (the speaker) thought this case ought never to have been brought by the police. It was for the police and authorities to administer wide, open laws with judiciousness and caution, and not in such a way as tiJ cause annoyance and iuflict hardship on any individual. He hardly liked to suggest a motive in this ca>c, but it would be bornt in mind that the shopkeepers at that portion of the street had complained to him that the police were uot carrying out their duties as they should by causing people to move on who were blocking up the thoroughfare, and it was uotorious that Mr Mendelsohn was the cause of that deputation waiting upon him and of the remarks that were afterwards made by him, and this prosecution seemed to him—it might be regarded by unthinking people, at any rate, as being more dictated by the desire to be rather sharp with Mr Mendelsohn for the sharpness he displayed in showing up the actions of the people. With regard to the by-law and its application to the street, it was quite easy to carry out tiie by-law if the police chose to do so. or to make it a nullity if they chose not to carry it out, or to make it oppressive by administering it with severity. The object of the by-law was to preveul loitering Cr Solomon : It docs not say so.

The Mayor said ihx.t so far as pedestriar-s wore concerned the by-law provided that they should not loiter in the street. If it were found that the motion he proposed had not the effect he believed it would have, the Council would have to take advice as to whether the by-Uw did cover the oft'euce by which Mr Mendelsohn was convicted, and, if their solicitor;-.' advice confirmed Mr Carew's opinion, the by-law would have to be altered.—(Hear.)

After a pause, during which the Mayor had to say that if the motion were not seconded it must lapse, Cr Goke seconded the resolution. He did not think for one moment that the Council intended that the by-law should apply to a imsc of this kind. It seemed to him that the police were paying special attention to a few ywds of footpath in Princes street, for complaints had been made to him that, not far from this place, a firm used the footpath as store and work room.

Cr Solomon did not agree with the Mayor's readiDg of the by-law, for it seemed to him it was plain and explicit, and he could not see how Mr C;irew could have placed any interpretation ou it other than he did. It seemed to him that the mistake was in the by-law itself, and instead of passing the resolution Ht3 Worship proposed it would be better to alter the by-law. Cr Cohen thought there was necessity for a relaxation of the by-law, but he disagreed with the mayor in saying that the by-law was not intended to do what had been done under it, for when th« by-law was before the Council in March o? last year he pointed out what its effect would be, and hi* prediction had been verified. As a matter of fact, the by-law was designed for one purpose, and it served a totally different purpose. If the police had acted uu.iti' the by-law and made a clean sweep of a notorious obstruction of the truliic, all credit to them; but that obstruction existed to-day as much as it did when the bylaw came into force. In every other city—particularly in Melbourne and Sydney —the congregation of great crowds for the purpose of obtaining information of much interest and moment to the public was tolerated, even though, as often happened, street traffic was interfered

with.; but it was never dreamed in those places of interfering with the people. The oustom of issuing "extras" had long prevailed in Dunedin, and had proved a public benefit If it proved that the by-law held good against the continuance of that custom, the sooner it was repealed (so far as that matter was concerned) the better.

Cr Wales was not disposed to attach much blame to the polioe for the action they had taken. He did not think it was wise to interfere with people who were legitimately standing on the footpath, but it was difficult to draw the line. The motion was carried. REPORTS. The reports of the Works, Reserves, Gas, General, and Finance Committees were adopted as read. Upon the motion for the adoption of the Water Committee's report, Cr Hardy proposed as an amendment—"That when the water inspectors are on their rounds and find taps leaking for the waut of a washer they be instructed to put one on at once," but this was negatived and the motion was carried.

Cr Carroll, chairman of the Reserves Committee, intimated that Mr T. W. Kempthorne had kindly forwarded a bag of patent manure for use on the flower beds at the Botanical Gardens—a gift for which the Committee desired to return thanks.

IMPROVEMENTS IN DUKE STREET,

On the motion of Cr M'Gregor it was agreed—" Thit the sum of £l7 be voted for the erection of a fence in Duke street, at the portion of the Town Belt lately improved, and that the satvc be handed to the Unemployed Relief Works Association." I,OCAX POINT BATUSKEEPER. The Council went iuto committee for the appointment of a caretaker for the Logan Point Baths, and en resuming it was resolved that Mr W. Seoble be appointed. 'i'HK LOANS CONSOLIDATION RILL. Cr Wales inquired of the mayer whether he had received any telegram from the Hon. Mr Downie Stewart with respect to the conference of the managers from both branches of the Legislature upon the Dunedin Loans Consolidation Bill. The Mayor said he had received a telegram from Mr Stewart, and he had replied that he (Mr Stewart.) had better accept Mr Allen's clause, providing for viper cen'. sinking fund. He had left it a good deal to Mr Stewart's discretion, but what he had stated was, he thought, the gist of the telegram. In reply to Cr Carroll, the Mayor said he had in the first plnce given to Mr Stewart two alternative propositions, and the first of these had been submitted to the Conference. Mr Stewart wired that the Conference was willing to accept that proposition, but his own suggestion was that it would be better to accept Mr Allen's clause, and he (the mayor), thinking over it hurriedly, had thought it better to accept the 10s per cent, siuking fund than to give up the cash bouus.

TIIE BI'RO'ESS LI T

A special meeting was held for the purpose of hearing .objections to the burgess list.

The following claims for enrolment in respect to property purchased since the completion of the valuation roll were sustained :—South Ward—Abraham Solomon ; Bell Ward—lsabella M'Millan, Sarah A. Greenwood, Frank Butterrield, Gertrude R. Winchester, Lavinia Wynn, Frances Edith Reynolds, Cecilia Rose Wren ; High Ward—Ludwig A. Mariacher, Harriet Allen; Lcith Ward —William Fattillo, William Alexander Pattillo, Joseph Abernethy, C. F. Bruudclh Ruth Naomi Hill, William E. Whyti'. '

The following claims for enrolment by landlords rc-mming possession were allowed : —Bell Ward —Thomas Collins in place of Theodore Gov ; H ; gh Ward—James Taylor in place of Elizabeth Lowrie; Leith Ward —Arthur Smith in place of John Scott. The claims of the following persons for enrolment being reported to be not in order were rejected :—Leith Ward Elizabeth Growdea, W. C. Greig, J. H. Jones; High Ward—A. Mercer, W. Lilburne, T. S. Culling. L R. Wihon; Leith Ward-.T. Clark, E. Brooke, and G. Thomson.—Cr Haynes, referring to the case of Mrs Growden, said that she was entitled to go on the roll, having inherited the property through the death of her husband.—Cr Cohen supplemented this information by saying that he had been informed that Mrs Growdeu was the actual owner. Last year he had endeavored unsuecessfiillv to persuade tiie Council that it was their duty to give applicants written or printed uotice of any defects or omiasious in their claims for enrolment, so that these might be rectified before the Council sat to dispose of the claims. This applicant was a widow who was quite unused to such matters, and doubtless thought that she had doue all that was necessary whou she lodged her application. He noticed that it was handed in early in August, so that there was ample timo for communicating with her and asking her to produce the necessary documents. Similarly in the case of the Rev. Mr Clark. It was reasonable to suppose that if he had been informed that his wife must apply since tho conveyance'of the late Mr Calcutta property was in her name that mistake would have been at once rectified. As it was, the actual owner in both instances was denied the privilege of voting. However, it was hardly necessary to raise any trouble over these rejected claims, of which there were comparatively few, as happjly before long all this difficulty would be obviated. — The Mayor said it was not to be expected that the Corporation's officials would keep on communicating with applicants till they were enrolled. The Town Clerk and his assistant (Mr Wilson), particularly the latter, were very careful to tell applicants what information they must furnish along with their applications, and he believed that in all these cases the applicants had been communicated with. Mrs Growden ought to have produced a copy of her husband's will, and it was (|uite clear that MrClark had no legal claim. Some of the other rejected applicants were defaulters; other claims merely involved a change v.i tenancy, and uuder the advice of the city solicitors these could uot be dealt with after March.—Cr Haynes pointed out that the city valuer had certified to the correctness of Mrs Growden's claim. He agreed with Cr Cohen that the officials should notify in writirg tit! oie applicants objected to the grounds of objection, so that the persons affected could have an opportunity of making their claims good in time. —The Mayor explained that Mr Morris's certificate merely meant that he was satisfied that the applicant's name should appear on the next valuation roll.