FAREWELL TO RETIRING COUNCILLORS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 1010, 13 November 1917, Page 7

FAREWELL TO RETIRING COUNCILLORS.

' COMPLIMENTARY REFERENCES. From Oor Own Correspondent. , A fin- I,ho business of Iho llorowhcnua County Council had been transacted on Saturday, members and the press wore entertained. at .luncheon by the chairman. Prior to dispersing, CV. Monk said they wore losing Uio connecting link of the. old Councils and the Council of to-day. CV; Jvobboll was first connected with the Manaw'atu Council in 1878; LV._-Vc.uii had 27 years’ continuous. service- with, the liorowhenna Council, wliilo altogether lie had served the Council. for no less . than 35 tears; Or. Freeman had been a Councillor for nearly 22 years, while Cr. Stephenson bad 18 years of service. The Council owed ,i lot to those retiring members, who had given ungrudgingly of their services, while present-day members made complaints at having to’attend, and looked upon their attendance at meetings as a hardship. The old Councillors had always looked,do. dim future, and to-day the benefit was reaped. They looked forward to better roads and abetter state of affaire all round, lie had spent Ins first' two years of service under Ur.s.. Venn , and Stephenson, and ho had gained from them considerable knowledge. I f.V. Freeman had also been a member of j (.Ho Hospital Board for several years, while,; in connection with hospital severance Cr. i Venn had fought for it for over 20 years... It must bo a, tremendous satisfaction to see ! Ida object achieved, and though not m the j final stages of the battle his earlier tactics had assisted to win (lie day, hi was wellknown that members 'of the Vcllinglon , Hospital Board were afraid of him aud ios . open speeches. Ho always spoke- plainly aiid with an object in view. He. and too others would bo missed from the Council, but iliev must know that they cannot carry on for’all time but eventually giro way. to ■younger men, who had profited by then experiences; Each .retiring Councillor was leaving with a friendly feeling, and they felt a pang of regret at their severance. They bowed to the inevitable, but person(ill-/ if ho wanted advice ho would not bo. backward in going to these gentlemen. In conclusion, he wished them long life and said all the work being done now was laid on the foundation long ago, and although the labours of the retiring Councillors wore to. bo lost their advice would always be- available. . , I ' Cr. Kebbcli feelingly returned thanks, and staled he derived great satisfaction "t seeing the overdraft wiped oil. lie only retired from his position throngii infirmity and deafness, but .still he felt sorry at severing the connection. Mr Goldsmith said he knew the fom iotiring councillors well, and one could not help feeling the break, while mixed flings at such function;; were always expected. iU Goldsmith paid each a. high tribute. Or Venn said when he first entcicd f.hc Council they did not even have apologies for roads, and the reason he became a councillor was to got roads. He had woi Iced hard for hospital severance simply because Ins district wa.s a fleeted, and lie- "as glad ho had lived to see severance an accomplished fact. He considered that during tho past two years more good had been done In the Council than for years past. Cr. Freeman said lie was very sorry to sever his connection with the Council, but he was up in years, and liked to see youngei men aspire for honours. Ills term with the Council had atwavs been pleasant, and lie hoped his successor would ..have an easy time. He was pleased- to'.be able, .to leu-ni that the Council wa, ill such a, .satisfaclopposition. It had iv.i always been in such a pleasing state. During one term of his chairmanship he had been called, upon to settle a number of divisions by his casting vote, while on one . occasion he had to •r 0 to the bank ami give .-a cheque lor £ISOO to enable the Council, to carry on. He had, seen, awkward times, but. under Cr. Monk the Council should continue to progress. . . Cr. Stephenson said ho was kicked into the Council against. his ■ will ho j nciei aspired for the oosition, but "'as simply put there. Ho and" Cr. Venn had represented their riding ever since. On one occasion he had an opponent, but he got such a. drubbing that all future elections were uncontosted. He had always done his best for tho Council, and it was with regret that ho left it. He. was glad, however, to see things so good financially. . ~ Or. Monk then rneted out praise, to lie; staff Hating in Mr Goldsmith, they hud a man’who had worked uncomplainingly under great difficulties, and had sawed Ins salary times over. Mr Malcolm lia-d also rendered good service, and now that there was road machinery, better road results. should bn accomplished. The speaker said bo considered adequate provision should die made for old servants; it was a pity that thcro was not some sort of superannuation-some-thing- for them to look forward 10. It was hard to leave with nothing after hying a lito of usefulness. Ho considered the - matter was one tho Government, backed up by local bodies, should take in hand. Air Malcolm said he would confess the ceremony was one of the saddest ho had attended—ho was sorry to lose old friends. Personally he had done his best for the County, but had been handicapped at various times by seeing large amounts of rates written off. Tie had seen between £7OOO and £BOOO written off, which, if collected., would have long ago wjipcd oil the overdraft. An engineer was often blamed for a big overdraft, which, wag uiiCV. Goldsmith said lie appreciated the kind things said. Ho had always done Ins best, but he would admit that the first eighteen months meant very hard work. Things were much behind —in fact, were not yet overtaken. He admitted that great responsibilities rested on' the dork, and mentioned there- were over 100 special rates which had lo be faithfully accounted for. If it was not for these, the- office work could bo easily accomplished, and if it was not for the special rates, the audit fees would be reduced to one-half. Cr, Ryder s uicl a Council without .a chairman and treasurer was like a. ship without a- caotain and rudder, and in Cr. Monk and Cr. Goldsmith the Council had a little goldmine. Ho recalled iho times when, Cr. Keel>lc attended meetings in Otaki, in the old days of bad roads. After Or. Stephenson had proposed tin* health of the chairman, the latter proposed the toast of the Press, and the gathering dispersed.