PUBLIC MEETING.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 177, 2 March 1867, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

r '6ii Thursday evening^ public meeting totk place in the Religious Institution Room, Gresson street, the object of which was .iw stated in the advertisement of. the conveners'. —^^ c ' To consider the conduct of the Improvement Committee iv refusing to receive a petition signed by more than 200 ol the. inhabitants." The room was densely filled, and after a good deal of confusion respecting the choice of cha : .rmaii, Mr R. De Costa was selected to preside over the Weting. ' The Chairman wished it to be iiuderstopd that he had had ho thing to do with originating: the meeting; and it was for those gentlemen who had called it to explain the objects ofthe meeting. It seemed to him that a g<}od deal of class feeling had arisen on the qucs-; ; tiou of a inujiicipality, and it was right that those who dissented from any question should have a full, opportunity of ventilating their opinions. r " •- Mr James Fisberyolnntecred to act as secretary. ■.■■':. ''..■' \ '.":*'{.. : il.r.-Ashton commenced by accnsiiig the Qrey iUm'Arijus of ■wilfully inisrepdrting th.e \ procee(Ui!gs of public meetings, ami generally; of opposing the public iuterests. ; He proceeded to move, the following resolution— v That in the opinion of this; meeting the Improvement Committee have.offered a gross insult t(7 the inliabitaiits of Ureylnputh by refusing to receive a inemorijvl signed by moiotliah^half the^ householders in;tha tpwn; "f He thoiight it was hardly possible to conceive} a more direct insult than to reject with contempt a memorial upon public matters: signed by nicra than 200 iiihabitiints.,.;. ■ Mr Heron iv secendirig the" resolution, referred to the statement which had appeared in the : Qfejf'"Rivej\Aryuß^o the effect that\tliesignatures, to the niemoriid were many of theiii those of x>eriions without stake or interest iv .the town. The memorial would be'haniW'd'to the^haifnisin, aiui. the ''meeting would have the opportunity jof hearing the uames read over ami would be able to judge of the correctnessof the ; assertion^ ■ He was one who signed the memorial, aud he believed it would be found that it hail -been signed by all tlie principal •ovynej-s of propcrtj' in the' town. : !V\ r as it; because they /.did not beloiig;; to the "ka-ka aristocracy" that they wei-ei spoken of so ci)iitemptuous»y ? One gentleman had been mentioned as having signed the ineinoi-ial iii ignorance of ,its;coi] tents— * Mr Kissling. He (Mr Heron) Was piie of those who wenti rouiul with the memorial, and everyo ne who signed it read, it or. weiei made aware of its cputcnts. If tlie Improvement Committee (. liai gone in to serve their own selfish ends it was time the piibb'c did., away with ; the Committee altogether. (Cheers.) . I: Mr BaiUjliu reply .to. Mr Heron, simply wished to sa3 r that he distinctly heard "Mr 1 Kissling say ne,dul uot^'ead the first cjaut-e of the inernorial before he signed iti Mr Kenrick reiterated >viiat ho had stated in the Committee, and h e would now tell the meeting as near as possible what took place. He saw Mr Kissling at the meeting of the Chinch Committee, and -he asked that gentleman in the presence pf; several others why he had signed. the meinoriaU Mr Kisslingreplied that Avhen -he signed it he was not aware it had any reference to a municipality, but thought it -was simply to get the votes of the Pruyiucial. Council expended as quickly as possible. ' :' : ; '.. Mr, iSimmons as one who got up the mem- j o'ritil, and who' saw Mr 'Kissling 'though t that ! if that gentluinan did not- know its conteiits j he ought to have done 'So^ lor lie (Mir Sim- j mons) discussed the/question of deferring^ a mmjjcipai^ty with him when he was asked for his signature. ~ v: '■■" '•''• : : ' "'..■ j Mr Wiggins trusted thatthe meeting would ! not decide hastily in the matter before -them; ! There wure two fides to every question, and : at present tluy had only hvavd the accusation against the CorimiittcC. He for ojiedi^ sentediromthe-rosolntion. There wewn'o ' .grounds for supposing that a, body of riieii elected by n -.majority of their fellow citizans and as such siijiposed to have their confidence would': wilfully insult the inhabitants. He for one would not believe anytliiug of Jtlte-i' kind, and before the meeting passed tlie resolution just proposed, they should be well--, satisfied that the accusation was true. In his opinion; the evidence^ did ,not support .that view. That the Committee had made aii error j in judgiiientheitdihitled, aiid it seemed tojiimj t« have arisen from ignorance of the proper i mode ; of the procedure by deliberative j assemblies in matters of that kind. The ; committee seemed to have imagined that by receiving the petition they necessarily en- # i dorsed its prayer ; iiud. if that was tlie opinion | he could easily account for the rejection ' of j the memorial.* This was a mistake ;in all j assemblies from the British Parliament down- | wards petitions are always; "received,";) although their prayer may not have the least support. The humblest British subject ma!y,-| petition the/House of Commons for the redress j of gi'ievances, and his petition will be j. "received" even if there were not a -single, } pei son disposed to endorse' its . prayer. UfM course if the Improvement Committee thought that by "receiving" theme norial they-would be compelled to adopt its views, •it was evident they.could;not thus stultify themselves. ; They had beeu pledged by a public meeting to adopt a certain conrse, which the memofial opposed. The petition ought. to have been " received, " and any discussion on it shpuld •' have come on in due. order after the* propier. notice of motion had been giveu; He would' move as an aniehdment:—" That while this meeting regrets that the Improyement ConiT mittec declined to receive' the-^memorial;* it cannot come to the conclusion that the (Soinmittee Was'guiltj^ofa^deliberate: insult to 'the inhabitants of tltis.tpwn.": ' ■ Mr Alcora, although one of the persons who signed tlie memorial, agreed with Mr Wiggins that although' it blight to have been reeeiyediithe ; Committee were, quite justified in rejecting its prayer. A lthoufth, personally, lie was. ..opposed to a mumfcipality at present, yet if the Committee, after -due deliberation, '. decided to have a muuiMpality, he for, one ! was ready to sign a petitioii in .favor of - due - ; to-nibrrow.- ; / He; did not think the Com- : mittee had any iiitentionto insult the'inhabitants; but. they • ought .to. ' have treated ■'< the memorial. jvith more consideration. He. had great pleasure in seconding the amendment.^ '.'■;■; '■'■■-. " ■;■ '• ' '■•' ■:'■ ■'■ '■■ '■;. . ••: Mr Heron here called*upon. Mr J. Fisher { to read over the names of the memorialiits, and to explain what really did take place at the late meeting of the Improvement Committee.'. •'■' *.\ ;' ■'.". .'," ' . "■' ■/'A ',■""'■' . ':'• Mr Kilgour thought that as Mr Fisher was ; a member of the Improvement poiiimittee, he had ibetter wait until the time came for the members; of the Committee to make their explanations. ..j.;, . . k Mr Simmons said that although when the members of the Committee were nominated they were pledged to obtain a muiiicipality, I no time was -mentioned. The petition simply I fisked that this matter should be deferred, ' and: it; ought to /have-been- received.^ ;(sphe;Bpeaker was commencing to discuss tte prpceedingßofrthe last Committee meetiiig,;b-qit; w;as/called'tb apoint of iorder bylMrT-yler?) ]:>■ Mr Kenrick, in ,explanation:of of the y Improvement: Committee, .distinctly denied the ■ charge^ of inteMing to "insult tteV !i inhabitants. If they^ liad 'erred 'they had done' so iii error •and he feli; indebted t<i Mr Wiggins for tha explanation he had given of the proper course that should have been 1 adopted; The Committee felt themselvesm "

this, position i They were elected by the people of GreypQouth, and directed to docer- "' tain things (Mr Kenrick read the resolution of the previous public meeting), and then, at the very outset of their career, they were s a3ked not to do thorn. Many of the Committee wished the. memorial to stand over, but the; chairman directed them that they must either receive it or reject it; and as they wt re under the impression that if they received it they would be compelled to act upon it, they ■ rejected it. Were they to stultify themselves, and stultify the public? pic repeated that there was no intention to insult the public, or any portion of it : the 4 simple fact was, they found themselves iv a dilemma, aud they were told by Mr Whall their chairman, they must' either, acceyt or ■rejici the p-jtition. - Mr Heron wished to know what difference the.c was between puttiug the petition aside for six months, and throwing ; it'^out altogether.?, One clause of the , memorial ; stated that it was inadvisable at present to petition for municipal powers. • . Mr James Johnston : The Committee were put in to obtain a municipality. The money ; voted by the Provincial Council would bo spent just the same whether there was a liinnicipalityor not. ' . Mr Kitgour, as. on&of the Committee who had opiwsed the memorial, did so because liQ- : cousnlered hi^elf pledgpd by the resolutibu of the previous jniblic njeetiug to carry out a municipality. If they hivcf dpiie wioiig in ' : fc doiug that which they were directed to do, he- only trusted the public would: be nibrc fortunate with their next Conimii^ee. the public were dissatisfied, they had : yuly to call. upon the Committe to-resign. v ; '~i*?-'. Mr Fisher said that a number :; pf iis fellow^ townsmen had done him the^oiibr of olectiag^ himas a member of the CommitteeV buihhe % : did not consider himself pledged; by the res£ lution of the public meetings because it did' v not represent the feelings, of the inhabitants; ''':,'■. The meeting was mainly bopiposed' of tb^uk-; clerks ■andGo\xrnmeii6:;{dffiaal^YMilVifr;^iiia ; --'.'., a matter of no diffsreaceJtp them- whether they were rated five' i w^te'u soillißgs in iha pound. HefonndthatWscpiistitaxehtsVere- ' strongly opposed to a muiiicipality, and hel' : did Lis best to give ejpfect to^ their \vishesV He now resigned the trust^:as ! he fouiul" ii was no use remaining iii • tlieCCbinmittee, as he was always outvoted by 'a clique. Mr Dayies : Air Fisher h|id said something about rates being a matter of indifference ta those who advocated a municipaiityj^iefpi^'; one, would have to pay rate? equally with * Mr v Fisher or anybody else, aM had , r a gopd-deaU of property of one kind ior another in ; the* - town. As to the " clique" Mr Fisher talked ;. ab.»ut, it was composedjefall : the- Committee^ twt). With '-egarf to the rcsoliitibiw belore the meeting, he eould^tuly affirm that ; ' there had been no^^utoitipurto- insult tiuj memorialists. : ■'.. _ Mr Joyce askedj^r-lul^ur tt- point out. in the list of signat^sVtpAhefmeinorial^ any of those who had mistake ; interest iii the- : town. ■ *■"';■-; c^ : '-'^'--c!:. : ' : -" --■'.'■-"■'■■'■.■..' ;Mr Kilgour— There is piiel at any rate^ Robert Ashley, who is now working on the : Murray. * - ' 'vj;-: v ni'-' r -.-'"-- . ■.- : ' ,'* Mr Uavies— l see alsov i-he^name, of Mr Isaac Blake, who to my knowledge is iii Mcl- * I '^ bourne. v Mr Heron said his manager skrued it for ■ him.— (Oh, oh.) .' '; : (A desultory discussion ensued regarding / other names in the document.) - Mr- Heron, who read a passage from the * l&yliiig article m the Grey Jtirer Jrgu'ft, asked, "if that was a correct report of what took plac%i)ithe C'immittce"-or words to that effect. Mr Kilgour explained to Mr Heron what he had said iu.-thu Committee. Mr ! Alcoriv deprecated "the . personalities which iiituiy oftlie sj)eakore,;h)yd given utter- -"'- --ancs to. '•' The jneßling slKjifltt^ coiiiine itself • to the Teal biisiuoss. N? ; J. •//■/■' ;' = ; The Cluvihuuii was about t^piitfth^motipns " to tlie meeting, when Mi- Oi^lwboil suggested. th;it;it/woukl be advisable tp|hsiye some :--ex> plauation from Mr Whall, as he: wasChair^, : ; iiiiin of tiio Committee. ' -■}; i--J'^ ■■ : -::iv" ':";, '.(^k \Mv Wlijtll, wJiose lising.wa^ tiie^tgn^i|[ii:-w cheering and confusion, said tha^li^wbuld ask the indulgence of th« meetiriglf hcniaile a short digression from the sul«jecti in'doing/ "which he should' have to deal a little -wath l:eivi>nalities. The speaker's "VUgrassipii**; > coii-iotkl of -a lengthened speech, wmpojseil of charges aud attacks against the OreyjßiOe^J: Atr/uji^Lnd certiiiii. public officials; In the X course of his : remarks -lie made an accusation. ■ against Messrs Revell aud Kenrick, charging; them with having abusetKflieir positiomin : possessing themselyes of s-ictibiis of land; fo : the exclusion of the public. He stated tliat. on one ocsasion, they had "tossed-np"-for the possession of a section of land tliafchad been -applied for, for the purpose^ '<& '-C eructing a sclibol on ic. j*fter censuring the *! policy of the Grey River Argus, he. stated T ; that he had written seS*e^l : :lett,^B:'-.-t^-tliifc-''*-- L *. journal which had been refused insbrtion^ The only remarks he made^ on the subject;-;-' before the. meeting were to the effect ithat lie^ ' did not think, aiiy insult/hadbeen inteiMi^^ the rejection oC- the meinqrial/hayiJig^ afiseiiJc through the majority of the pbtnmittee feel--ing themselves pleilged to^support a imiiii^ cipality. .' ' -\ ; :; -:." ■'**/■, ' . .' tM^^y :: " Mr Hamapii: Mr Whall^liad ma^e'ani?;; assertion which he ,(Mr Harrison) * would flpt?? ? wish to go' forth; unchallenged. He had -in^> :; sinuated that he biwi^ n°t fair access to^fc^ > columns of : the paper, and had stated that^) his letters were refusedViri^ertibn^ Thupiia^f (Mr Harrison) emphatically denied^-; Whall had never written a letter to \^j&r&jf* River Argus which had not bee^ubUslwd^ ■ ;^ Mr Kenrick would not allow Mr remarks to go -unchallenged. W^at^hejiia^ \ 5 ; said about taking up sections unfairly was^ ■ deliberate falsehood, and heichaUengeS-liiia. to prove his wonls. (^f^:^^' :^" : -'.'r-B^ ■■':■ .Mr Revell denied most :*im-||iafcically,?Sii^ truth of Mr Whall's staigmeiit'Te^ect^g* taking up land.. Afc one time he was agent for the Native Trust, aud K|d|M^beeii'ia^ clined' to take advantage of that position^Ke could have taken up all the best^c-Hp|i iix the town. But he entirely;^^ "r|-fjtimed*ftoin taking up land at all, and' h^K^^lyer possessed himself of, or had /any^terestiink a. single section iii the town, ■untiT;|tft^he^ak relieved of the charge of the MadnuTrri^tSand had since taken iip one section at tlie. enft'jbf We'rita street. As to Mr Whall's -sfetemetit, ibput tossing up-for a section thia||^a|^eeu ; applied for to erect a school vn, it '^^iu : ifci|e¥ly'. ' ■ false. The facts of the case were ti^B^|:|Anappiication was made for a sectio^fbr a school, and-tiie applicant was told thert Were. none open for application, except ]sSnie iiear ' the Catholic church. ; 'He and M^^eimck had certainly tossed up for the|^h*M^^^ section dt Qfertto^(laughtei;).^^^^aap ■ : each applied for a town allbtinentl^d^^-^; had got ■: two .close ; one^j^Baid^ ; V be a little better than -.the other,- '••iiju^Hi^i*- '~\ arranged to toss up -for the choiops^^Sfiy^ Keurick laughter svnd «iieSrs^^ ; The Chaiimsto'-nbw^t"^ amendment to the r meeting;, and the amendment was carried by a show of hands, the numbers being-r-f or the amendment, 75 ; for thpinotibn; ;^4.-*^The anhpuncetiient of the result iwasi ]bud . ch*eeriag, mixed with i expressions of dissent/ ,j Mr ;K^iitickvbrie^r expressed this 'Bati(»^c^ tiou. of: the- Committee at Hpi urgedVthVpubli^toi mnnicipfality: Bettled|ane Cw^^tther;! Let those whtfiop^ to the Su-pen-ateu^ent, «r call > public pi^t^il ing ; -but n^mpre^ettiomlsto; the ImproyeS; ment:Cq i mmit'^,S ; ;;^' '^f'}'- ' : M':' : ■ '* : : ■■'■•■■^^^;#J A vote bf ' tnankß td th^ chairman coiJtp elided the meeting. : ;»|^