PICTON A MUNICIPALITY.

Marlborough Press, Volume XVII, Issue 1029, 16 September 1876, Page 2

PICTON A MUNICIPALITY.

From time to time our readers have seen in these columns mention made of the progress of the petition presented to the Governor praying him to proclaim Picton a Borough under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1867. A fatality appeared to pursue the petition from its inception to the time the last proclamation ..was made respecting an election of Councillors. First, the matter was hung up for some months, because the Government, as represented by some of its departmental officers, were not satisfied with the plan of the town furnished by the Town Board. A long and wearisome correspondence ensued upon this, and the matter would still have been in abeyance, had not Mr A. P. Seymour personally given the required explanations, and shown the department that the conditions of the Act had been fully complied with. When the Government was satisfied on this point, notice was given in the Government Gazette that on a certain day the Governor would consider the prayer of the petition. A day or two after the date mentioned in the notice, another Gazette contained a proclamation that Picton was thenceforth a Borough under the Municipal Corporations Act. Following this, after a few days interval, appeared another proclamation, in which it was stated that as there was no Mayor or Councillors in Picton, S. X,. Muller, Esq., was appointed to conduct the election for the whole number of Councillors required—nine. This proclamation caused some surprise, as it entirely ignored the previous proclamation where Picton was mentioned as being named in the first Schedule of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1867 ; and had the proclamation being carried out, it would have overridden a clause in the Act which provides that all members of any existing local body shall be Councillors of any credited Borough. This clash of proclamations did not stir the members of the Town Board to action, as they were waiting to see the intention of the Government. The next move was the receipt of a letter by the Chairman of the Board from Dr Muller, who required to be informed what number of members would be on the Town Board on the 21st September, this being the day named for the election of the whole Council in the proclamation. From this letter it appeared that Dr Muller was of opinion that there was an error in the Government proclamation, otherwise why the necessity to ask what number of the members of the Board would be in office on that particular day ? Owing to this uncertainty, and the difficulty of replying to Dr Muller’s communication, it was thought advisable to obtain advice upon the mailer. This was done, and the Hoard was advised that, as the last proclamation was likely to have been made in error. Dr Muller should be communicated with, and informed of the state of affairs, and at the same time an intimation be given him that, unless the Board received notice preventing it, the Act would be brought into force in the manner prescribed by the Act. On Saturday morning last intimation was given to the members of the Board that a reply had been received from Dr Muller, wherein he stated that he had been instructed by the Government not to proceed with the election of Councillors in accordance with the terms of the proclamation for that purpose. This appeared conclusive that an error had been committed by the Government, and the Board determined to bring the Act into force. With this end in view all the members were notified to attend a meeting on Monday morning last, and at the hour appointed five members were present, and after a short time the sixth was in attendance, thus making the full number of the Board present. A discussion ensued, and an npinluu wuo that it would be preferrable if the ratepayers were permitted to elect their own Mayor ; but it had previously been shown that no Act at present in force gave power to allow of any sucli proceeding. The Act of 1867 provides that the Councillors shall at their first meeting elect a Mayor, and an Amendment Act past last year, although it places the power of electing in the hands of the ratepayers, does not provide for the first election. The wording of the Act is as follows “So soon as the present Mayor of any Borough shall * * * cease to be Mayor of such Borough * * * then, and from thenceforward the Mayor for the time being of such Borough shall be elected in manner here inafter provided and the manner thereinafter provided is, that the election shall be made by the ratepayers. The amended Act of 1875 presupposes that there is already an occupant of the Mayoral chair, or such was the way it was construed by the Picton Councillors, and accepting this view they had no option but to elect the first Mayor. When the question therefore came on for discussion they decided to act on this interpretation, and after each Councillors had subscribed to his declaration the first business to be settled was the election of Mayor. A pause of short duration ensued, when it was duly proposed and seconded that Mr T. Williams be Mayor of Picton. This resolution being put to the vote was earred nem con , and this portion of the business was concluded Nothing else was transacted, as a resolution that the meeting do stand adjourned until the first Monday in October was carried unanimously, and the members left the room. There can be little doubt that it is the intention of the Municipal Corporations Act of last year to leave the election of the chief civic officer to the general body of the ratepayers instead of to the smaller number who comprise the Councillors, but the Act is so peculiarly worded that it does not leave the matter an open question ; and in this instance, to enable the Act ot 1867 to be brought into force, the members were compelled to elect. According to the Act of '.875 the time of office of every Mayor elected under the Municipal Corporations Act expires on the third Wednesday in December, and on that day the ratepayers will have the privilege of saying who shall occupy the office for the ensuing twelve months. We have explained, so far as we have been able to obtain the information, the whole of the circumstances connected wi ll the bringing the Act into force in Picton, and the subsequent proceedings so far as the election of Mayor, because there is an idea about that the Councillors should not have taken advantage of their position, but should have allowed the ratepayers to say who they would have to preside over the deliberations of the Municipal body. In the explanation as given above our readers will see what dilemma the Councillors were placed in, and if their intentions had been to let the choice be decided by an open vote they were compelled to administer the law as they found it, and adopt the only course that seemed open to them. It is rumored that the whole of the proceedings are illegal Upon this matter we will not venture an opinion ; but we should regret to see the money of the ratepayers wasted in defending an expensive law suit, should any person be so ill advised as to commence an action to determine the question.

The following is the correspondence referred to in the foregoing remarks : “Resident Magistrate’s office, Blenheim. “4th September, 1876. “Sir,— Being informed that you are Chairman

of the Board of Works, I shall feel obliged by your given me the following information. Hie Governor has appointed the 21st September next as the day for the election of Councillors under ‘ The Municipal Corporations Act,’ and I am not aware how many have to be elected. It appears by the Act that members of the Town Board become Councillors ex officio, and as I am not aware how many members of the Town Board will be in office on the 21st September I do not know how many vacancies will have to be supplied. The Town Board consists of six members, but if three will have to retire before the 21st September there will be six vacancies to supply. • • Please let me know by return of post, as I have to publish a notice on Wednesday next. “ Apologising for troubling you, “ I am, Sir, “ Your obedient servant, (Signed) “ S. L. Moldeb, “Returning Officer. “ T. Williams, Esq., “ Brewery, Picton.”

“Picton, sth September, 1875. “ s IK> —I am instructed by Mr T. Williams and the other members of the late Board of Works for the Town of Picton to reply to your letter of the 4th instant, and to inform you that the said Board of Works consisted of six members, none of whom would, under the Picton and Havelock Improvement Act have had to retire from office until after the 21st inst. lam further instructed to call your attention to the circumstance that the proclamations of the 10th August and of the 17th August appear to be contradictory, the former recognising the fact that Picton is a town mentioned in the first (Ist) column of the ls> Schedule to the ‘ Municipal Corporations Act, 1867,* and thereby in which (under sec. 34 of that Act) the members of the local Board become members of and compose the first Borough Council; the latter proclamation stating that it has been made to appear that there is no Council for Picton, and thereupon prpceeding to direct the election by and before you of the whole number of the Councillors assigned by the said Act to the Borough “ The members of the late Board of Works are advised that they should call a meeting at the earliest convenient day (under sec, 134 of the said Act of 1867,). to put the Act into execution, and also that they should (under sec. 130 of the same Act) proceed to elect a Mayor to serve until December next, their power so to do not being apparently affected by the Act of last sessiou.

“ I assume that before acting under the proclamation of the 17th of August, you will apply to the Government for more definite instructions as to whether nine Councillors, or six, or three only, are intended to be elected, and I shall be greatly obliged if you will favor me with the substance of any communication that you may receive in reply, in order that my clients may guided thereby. Their only desire is to act in a regular and legal manner, and the conflicting language of the statutes, and of the recent proclamation, renders their position a difficult one. It is not their intention to move for a few days, but if they should have been rightly advised, as above mentioned, the Act will be brought into execution and the Mayor elected before the 21st instant.

“ I have the honor to be Sir, “ Your obedient servant (Signed) “ Edwd. T. Conollt. “ S. L. Muller, Esq., “ Blenheim.” " Resident jyragißu«n.c*o üBIm, ntonhoim, “ 7th September, 1876. “ Sik, —In reply to your letter of yesterday’s date, re the election of a Council for the Borough of Picton. I have the honor to inform yon that I have received a telegram from the Colonial Secretary, directing me not to proceed with the election. “ I have the honor to be Sir, “ Your obedient servant, (Signed) “ S L. Muller, “ Returning Officer. “ E. T. Conolly, Esq., “ Solicitor, “ Picton.” “ Picton, Bth Sept., 1876. “ Re Picton Borough Council. “ Dear Sir,—l subjoin a copy of the letter written by me, according to instructions received from you and Messrs Clark and Syms, to Dr Muller, and also of his reply to the same. I assume that the proclamation of the 17th August lias been found to be a mistake, and, therefore, that it is conceded that I was right in advising that the members of the late Board of Works have now become the Borough Council, and that they should proceed to bring the Act into force, and elect a Mayor, under the 134t1i and 130th sections of the Act of 1867.

“ Yours truly, (Signed) “ Edward T. Conollt, “ Thomas Williams, Esq., “ Picton.”