THE MORNINGTON COUNCIL.—THE WHOLE TRUTH AT LAST.

Evening Star, Issue 11656, 17 September 1901, Page 7

THE MORNINGTON COUNCIL.—THE WHOLE TRUTH AT LAST.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —The Mornington ratepayer is a most patient and long-suffering individual, and if only permitted the privilege to grumble—which is the birthright of every Englishman—he will submit almost to any exaction, insult, or humiliation; but even with him there is a limit beyond which you must not go, or, like the proverbial worm, he will turn, and rouse himself from extreme-apathy to stern and stubborn resistance. Just now the Mayor and Council of Mornington have passed the Rubicon. They have pitchforked one of their late members into a billet which, in the words of Sam Weller, may be described as "a wallable sitivation, with a good wage, little to do, plenty to eat, and two good suits of clothes per annum." Now, if we dispense with the two suits of clothes, and substitute two pairs of polished gaiters and gauntlets to match, our humorous friend Samivel might .well serve as the clerk of works for the happy Borough of Mornington, and deem himself an enviable prince upon a salary of £3 per week. Unfortunately, however, there are two parties in connection with this appointment—the one who is the recipient of the amount, and the other who is additionally to; pay it. Had the Council stipulated that certain compensatory labors should be discharged equivalent to the sum received there might not be much to urge against, it, but when it is well known that Mr Smith, the present town clerk, has, for many years carried out all the duties appertaining to this new appointment without any addition to his salary, it is (to say the least) a very creat injustice to him that a new man, without any special training or experience, should step into this appointment with a salary of equal amount 1o that which he (the town clerk) received at his induction into the borough for performing the various duties of surveyor, inspector of nuisances, collector, engineer, valuer, clerk of works, returning officer, etc. That the work of town clerk during his period of office has increased to a considerable degree every ratepayer will admit, and it is also patent to everyone who knows anything about the management of public bodies that he has far more to do than should fall to the task of one man; but if he have to bear the responsibilities of all these various departments of labor it is essential that the assistance afforded him should be in the clerical work, so that he may have more time to devote to the wants of the ratepayers, which for some time past have been sadly neglected. We do not need an ornamental figure-head merely to walk up and down the borough, and serve as a. living object for scorn and sarcasm. In the present impecunious position of the borough a clerk of works as a special officer is wholly unnecessary, and at the same time very expensive, as it drains- from the Council's exchequer those funds which could permanently employ a !jood surfaceman well skilled with the pick and shovel. I will not go so far as to contend that the mayor has been influenced by any other motive than the desire to do what he thought best for the ratepayers; but however upright his intentions may be, if they are based on a vicious principle they will not tend much to mend our footpaths and metal our roads, which are the crying want of the hour. Nevertheless, the mayor cannot be altogether oblivious to the fact that when on September 3 a deputation waited upon the Council to protest against the appointment which had heen too thoughtlessly made he displayed a zeal of partisanship which ill became the guiding light of the borough, and misled the large meeting that escorted the deputation by an explanation which was more ingenious than ingenuous, and "made the worse appear the better reason." He had no wan-ant for saying that as the town clerk had been hastily summoned to Wellington to confer with Mr Arnold, M.H.R., they were urgently compelled to appoint Mr Clarke as clerk of works to perform Mr Smith's duties during his absence. Had this been the true state of the mayor's explanation would have carried weight, and been regarded as satisfactory; but evidently the mayor's ideas had become sadly confused. ' He " soared on imagination's wing" till he blended fact and fiction so inextricably together that Council and deputation were at a loss to trace the bearings of his arguments. Since then the truth has come to light. Instead of Mr Smith's visit to Wellington being the cause of Mr Clarke's appointment, it had nothing whatever to do with it, as the following dates will clearly show:—Mr Clarke's appointment took place on June 24, on June 28 he resigned his seat on the Council, and on July 1 commenced his duties. All this time, and up to July 23, Mr Smith was unaware that he would be required to visit Wellington, but on this day he received a message to meet Mr Arnold, and departed from Dunedin on the 27th, returning to Mornington on August 6, and meeting the Council on the evening of the following day (August 7). Thus, it will be seen there was an interval of a month between Mr Clarke's resignation as councillor and the town clerk's visit to Wellington, and neither councillors nor minute book have a word to say in support of the mayor's explanation. We believe that certain embarrassments arose while Mr Smith was absent in which Mr Clarke and Mr Bateman were concerned, and which has led to some friction between them a.s to whether the work was properly executed or properly tested; but these are matters which do not come within the scope of the deputation. With the protest of the ratepayers against the appointment of the clerk ->f works which the deputation laid before the Council their mission came to an end, and it is satisfactory to know that the attitude assumed by the Council towards them is strongly disapproved of bv all three wards of the Mornington Borough. Undoubtedly the mayor has done his utmost to foist, Mr Clarke unon the ratepavers, but now, as the whole troth has been blurted out, perhaps he will not think it beneath his dignity to tender an apology to those whom he has sought to place °in a false and invidious position.— I am, etc., E. S. Mantz. September 12.