A CORPS OF CITIZEN SENTINELS.

Evening Star, Issue 12067, 12 December 1903, Page 2

A CORPS OF CITIZEN SENTINELS.

FORMED TO GUAR? THE PUBLIC! PURSE. THE DRAINAGE BOABD DENOUNCED The meeting of ratepayers and householders of Dunedin and suburbs held in the Choral Hall, Moray place, last night, for the purpose of forming a Ratepayers and i Householders' Association, was attended oy j nearly 500 persons, the body of the hall i being reasonably full and about fifty find- \ ing accommodation in the gallery." The seats on the stage were occupied* by Captain Stewart, Messrs James Small, R. Brinsley, Joseph Mimes, Isaac Green, H. Spears, John White, James Connor, George Mackie, W. Asher, and others. Mr J. A. Millar. M.H.R., said that he had been requested to take the chair. It was a position he did not often occupy, j but seeing that the object of the meeting I was to form a Ratepayers' Association, ft ! was thought by the promoters that they I could not very well ask any member of a ! local body tr> take the chair, and he, as ' one of the members foT the City, had there- j fore been asked to preside. He agreed to i do so with pleasure, though as a rule he ) did not mix himself up with local politics, j believing, as he did, that the duty of a representative of the City was to look after the general interests of the whole <lis- j trict. The object of the meeting was to ; form an association to watch the expendi- j ture of the local bodies. During the past few years there had been a tendency en the part of these bodies to launch out. No doubt there were works that were necessary, but it was held by some that much of the money might be spent more economically than it was being spent at present, and it was with that object in view that it was proposed to form a Ratepayers' Association. He would call upon Mr Asher to move the first motion. Mr W. Asher said that he felt it an honor to have the motion placed in his hands. He supposed he had been selected because he was connected with the Ratepayers' Association that was formed in July of 1896—an Association that did useful work and kept together for about two years. Amongst the. many things brought before that Association was the matter of the road boards.—(A Voice : " Read us the motion.") . Very well, he would give themi the motion. It read thus: " That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable to at once form a Ratepayers and Householders' Association with the aim and object of watching more closely the interests of the people and of guarding against wasteful expenditure." He believed "that such an association was required now. The people were apathetic about elections—they did not seem to value the honor of being British electors. Thev had to be hauled to the polls, and if they went to vote at all they did so not because they were British electors, but to get aw;;y from the annoyance of being called on. If the people took more interest m the elections and in the proceedings of the elected bodies the members would feel the support accorded, snd more closely watch the public interests. Further, the people did not attend the Council or the political meetings as they ought to —they trusted to the newspaper reports—with the result that the members became aptithetic too. Look at the small vote given the other dav at the Harbor Board election. Out of 5.600 on the mil only 700 voted. Whose fault was it that Otago Harbor was said to be one of the dearest ports in the colony? Some would reply that it was the Harbor Board's fault. He (Mr Asher) asserted that it was the people's fault, in that they did not bike the trouble to elect as members those who would show the most energy in looking after the interests of the port. "Again, the Citv Council had had great trouble with their engineer. Public works had been done, public works had been undon», public works had been redone, and when he (Mr Asher) showed the figures the people would have to acknowledge that they themselves had been done brown. In the'early days the people looked on the City Council as the representatives of the "citizens—as stewards cf the money collected in rents and rates. How were they now regarded, or, to put it properly, how did the Council regard tha people? They looked on the people as the good grandfather who was always ready to loosen the purse-strings to find them money for what they wanted. The speaker then submitted figures which he averred proved that the municipal account was in an unsatisfactory position and that the tramways account, when all charges were included, showed a loss of nearly £5,000. The gas account paid, but our gas. cost too much. As for the bank account council-

lors might perhaps have saved 4 per cent. Under present arrangements, when an extra rate was imposed there seemed no chance of its ever coming off. The Drainage Board also required some attention from an association of the kind. There were sewers in the City, such as that- in Maclaggan street, that had drained the City well for the last twenty years. Another in Castle street was laid about ten years ago on the most approved plan by Mr Mirarrm, and it was running well yet, but so far ft had not been taken over by the Drainage Board—why, he did not know, but if the Board thought it was not properly formed the citizens ought to have some further advice, especially after the conduct of the Board in connection with the Frederick street sewer. The apathy shown by the public had been the cause of many of the councillors becoming careless. How many of the councillors came up to give an account of their stewardship? What did the people know about the Couneil business? It was all done in committee, and the people knew nothing of how the money was being spent. Captain Stewart seconded the motion. He said that householders as well as owners j ought to join/because owners only paid | cut of what they got from tenants. A j great deal of wasteful expenditure was I going oa He had heard of a man who was ~buuding a house having his elrainage cost raised from £l3 to £37 by the demands of the Drainage Board; another person told him that the cost of putting in a bath had jumped from £4 to £l3; and the other day he (Captain §tewart) was assured by a fine young fellow, who seemed to be one of Nature's noblemen, and who spoke the i truth although he was a plumber—(laughter) j —that there was terrible extravagance in I even putting in a bath. As to the Harbor j Board, £IOO,OOO was lost in a back period, I and hi a few years the people would peri haps find that another loss was being now • made. In regard to drainage, the engineer | said that thirty-nine engineers had approved of the scheme. Well,' he (Captain j Stewart) was going to differ from the I thirty-nine engineers. He was convinced ! that the septic tank system woidd have j suited Dunedin. He called on all present I to join the Association and make it useful I in stopping the present extravagance. The motion was carried without dissent, and on the call of the chairman, that thos?. who were willing to join the Association should stand up, the majority of those present rose. Mr R. Brinsley then moved—"That in the opinion of this meeting the Drainage Board, as at present constituted, has completely lost the confidence of the people."— ■Applause.) j Oapt-iin Fox here rose in the body of the, hall and said that he wanted to have an addition to and amendment of that motion. The Chairman explained that that could be moved later on. Mr Brinsley then went on to say that, be moved his motion with great regret.. The members remaining on the Board were men of good positions in the City, and it was a painful tiling for anyone to get up on a public platform and move a vote of want of confidence in them. In balloting out Messrs Denniston, Burnett, and Gore, he continued, the Boarel proved that they were not capable of conducting their own Lusiness. They showed that they did not want men on the Board who had any ability in carrying out public works. They ; were at the present time at the mercy cf the engineer, and there was not a single member of the Board who knew anything about public works. He expressed "regret at the retirement of the old Works Committee. The men that were really wivuted were, by having their public works report rejected, simply thrown off the Committee. It was well known, too, that the men put off the other day were watching the Board and keeping an eye ou public expendit ire. They knew that it any of the other tix members went oil' they "would never get on again, and so they put these three off. and left a majority on the Board. People v. ho ■ went in for drainage to any building were put. to a great- deal of inconvenience and expense, as already mentioned. Tbey would never have been treated in the I way by the City Council.—(Applause.) He went en to say that it was only after considerable consideration that the promoters of the Association had decided on what they were doing. In moving a vote of want of confidence in a Board like this, they should give weighty reasons. The people had had sufficient reasons given them iu the con- j duct of the Board. The first reason was ' that they rested at the present time with j the stigma upon them of having rejected a' scheme-! proposed by men brought in to consult with them in regard to what they were going to do. The speaker then proceedecl to criticise the present drainage pro- '< posals, and gave his views as to what the Board should have done. The Board were doing temporary work, and he did not see why there should be any temporary work. It was done just to show that they were doing something. He beheved that in four years the cost of the scheme would be £350,000 at the least. He then spoke of the work that had been done. There had been only £6,000 already spent on the scheme, and £19,000 in extras. H these, extras were going to go on in the same proportion, where would they be in the end? The Frederick street sewer might be judged j as the. class of work that they were doing in the alleged effort- to save expense. This I sewer was the kind of thing that pre-his-

/ toric man might have bnflt.^—(Laughter,} He then referred to the Maclaggan stree< sewer, and'said that the Board seemed tn have lost all idea that the sewer belonged to the people they were working for. J{ they built new sewers, it was a dead loss to the CSty; anyone could see that. Taka the statement of annual charges. Ihi Committee had gone into that, and foxmd it impossible for the sewers to be kept in repair at the rate estimated —8d- They figured it out that it would be a rate of la 3d at. least. After referring to the City Council's quashing of the proposal to hav<s a detritus tank in "Market square, he said that he had written to the secretary of tlw Drainage Board asking for a copy of their balance-sheet. He got a reply stating that copies were not printed yet, "and that bis letter would •be placed before the Board at- next meeting. It was a nice state oi affairs when a- citizen had to have his request put before the Board before he could find out how he was having his money spent. Roughly speaking, he went on, the present indebtedness of the City was this : B arbor Board loans totalled £700,000 ; municipal loans. £600,000 ; new water loan, £56,000 (probably it would be £80,000); tramway loan, he was told by one con« nected with the Committee it would ba £300,000; drainage, £200,000, but he believed £350,000 would be nearer the mark. It came to this: that- after their tramways and their drainage schemes had been completed the indebtedness of the people would be over £2,000,000. They did not sea this every day; but he was prepared to give data for anything he had said. A Voice: "What are your assets?" Mr Brinsley appeared to begin by saying: "Well, your tramways." Then hi went on to say that he had no wish to impugn the City Council. He beheved they had enough coming in in rents to pay interest on a quarter of a million. He believed the Corporation were one of the wealthiest in the world. Still, he thought they should know that thev would shortly bo saddled with £2,000,000 of IL.Jbtias. He counselled the putting in of men who. would stop wasteful expenditure. Mr H. Spears seconded the motion. He had, lie said, had long experience of drainage work, and he considered himself a thoroughly practical man. He had ex]>ected many wonderful things from thj new drainage eugineer. Since he had bees here he had seen what he never saw before. He then went on to condemn in detail tin work of the Board and the engineer. The motion was then carried on a show of hands, the gentleman who had announced his intention of moving an amendment having gone out. ' Mr J. Milnes moved —"That in the opinion of this meeting the only dignified course for. the remaining members of the Board to pursue would be to resign their positions and submit themselves to the vote of the people for re-election. This meeting therefore call upon them to resign." He said that te proposed the motion with great sorrow, because he was well acquainted with most of the gentlemen on tne Board, bat he did it as a duty. The main' reason why the meeting should carry the motion was that at the last meeting of the Board three members were balloted .out, not in the usual way, but in a mannei that showed that there was a determinaticm to have the three oppositionists oat bj hook or by crook. ; Mr R. Brinsley seconded the motion. Mr E. Howlisou said that the motion had his hearty support. It was a scandal t<] the City, the way the Drainage Board had been cany ing on of late, and it was a crying shame that men like Messrs Denniston, Gore, and Burnett should have been put off the Board. He believed that ol all the engineering work done in the City that of Mr Mirams was head and shoulders above the lot. ! _Mr H E. Stephens suggested that Ift Noble Anderson should also be asked t< retire. Mr Milnes, as the mover of the motion, • said he could not fall in with the suggestion. At a public meeting they snould deal only with their representatives, leavto" each body to deal with its own officials. ° ! The motion was put and carried unanimously, and The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the chairman. Many of those present then enrolled and paid the Is membership fee.