MR ESSEX EXPLAINS.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXV, Issue 327, 31 January 1908, Page 5

MR ESSEX EXPLAINS.

HIS POSITION IN THE COUNCIL. AN UNEVENTFUL MEETING. The Mayor—like " Brewster's Millions—appeared for "positively one night only " at the Opera House last night. There was a large audience, especially downstairs, and the bright frills of the furbelowed sex were conspicuously in evidence. But the performance was pale, tame and disappointing. After all the municipal thnnder-and-liglitning of the past few weeks, one expected to see the atmosphere change to a deep, sulphurous purple as the outraged Mayor hurled his bolts of rea-liot denunciation over the heads of the spell-bound spectators. But nothing of the kind happened. Instead of scourging and scarifying his contumacious councillors with the bastinado of bitter invective, he purred as placidly as a puss before the fire. One had expected heavy artillery, and he was given a pop-gun. It was annoying. THE CHAIRMAN. The chair Was taken by Mr Hurley, a former Mayor. In introducing the speaker, Mr Hurley referred to the fact that there had been several "incidents" recently, and it was only right that the Mayor's side should be put before the people. He took it as an honor to be asked to preside at the meeting ; he and the Mayor had worked together and against each other in public affairs, and their differences on public matters had not affected their personal relations.

"THEY ALL KNOW ME" Mr Essex, who was received with applause, expressed his thanks at the outset, and then remarked that after what had taken place lately he could not do anything else but call a public meeting so that he could explain matters that were not as clear as might be. He felt compelled, in self-defence, to do that because he had met with a great deal of personal opposition since he was elected. They all knew his career, and were aware that he would endeavor to continue as Mayor as he had done as councillor. The first trouble was when Or. Holben was put up to cause unpleasantness in the Council and then after a couple of months, when he found he could not carry out the desires of those behind him, Cr Holben gave it up. Then came more trouble but it took a good deal to kick him out—(applause)—only the ratepayers' vote could do that. He had given way a great deal in the council and that was perhaps a mistake ; and when one could not conciliate, one must fight. The next trouble, said Mr Essex, was with Or. Haydon, and he went into details concerning the origin of the trouble when Or. Haydon instructed the engineer to do work that had not even been authorised by the council. That was an attempt to usurp the Mayor's functions and he (Mr Essex Hnstruoted the engineer (in writing) not to do the work. But the engineer had the work done—it was next to Or. Haydon ' s property — (laughter) — the water tables were oleaned out, and the grass done up, etc. Afterwards Mr Essex told the engineer

WHAT HE THOUGHT OF HIM pretty strongly,—and then Or. HaySon, at a committee meeting, used very strong language concerning him. The position was that Or: Haydon desired to carry out the functions of the Mayoralty withoutr being authorised to do so by theratepayers. They knew Or. Hay.don's record—how he interfered with ex-Mayor Dunk and ex-Mayor Hurr ley, but in the latter he found 'a strong man. There was no doubt, continued Mr Essex, that a deliberate campaign against Jjim was orga> nisedjone plan waß to get the borough finances so tangled up as to make his term of office a reproach for all time.

On one occasion, it was proposed to spend £20,000 more than the borough's income but he was able* to stop that. Mr Essex then referred to the Hokowhitu protective, works, which he declared were a perfect frost, and the £2500 was absolutely washed away. Dealing generally with the work of protection, he explained the attitude he had taken up, and the fact that, he but was met with derision when he suggested a loan. However, the loan was carried when it was put before the people. He referred to the suggestions he made that the Government should' be asked for a contribution towards the cost;of r the protective works—which suggestions were floutad at first—but eventually a deputation waited on the Premier, and the Government granted a subsidy of £4000. He did take the credit himself for obtaining that money, as he did not think they would have received a but for the efforts of Mr W. T, Wood, M. P., to whom a public de&fe was owing. (App'inuse.) M?>Essex then weafe on to submit that'he had not r&cQived from the the support,- they had promised when they took the declaration of office, but, declarations were soon forgotten.

AN ACCOMODATING PERSON. He coula not understand their attitude because- he- had ever been at ■ ithe disposal ot th& council, and had 'consulted theifc- convenience at al| times in regard to meetings, etc. He complained that the council did rxot go round the borough and mn&e themselves acquainted with the wants of tfte districts as they oaght to do. As to the engineer, lief-said he had done his best to get on with him. Br.frhe did not agree with the gentleman who held the nf#ce; lie thought 1/hat it would be in the interests of the borough if a change was made, but he believed iji making the bosli of the position, aad had always been j»t the disposal of the engineer. Mr Essex, continuing said he did not agree with the methods of employment, used in regard to the ba-i rough—the constant shifting of mon "was a mistake ana caused a loss of time and money. THE ENGINEER APPRAISED. The engineer was a very clever man, but he ought to go more into details to see that the work was carried out. But a better man for setting out a scheme he had not met —(Applause)—Tliere had been a loss of time owing to levels not being given oufc to contractors, and in some cases to the day-labor system. Dealing with the Fitzherbert bridge, he protested against the fact that all the material was not to hand and had not boon ordered when it should; the order for the staging of the first groin was only sent away about a fortnight ago. Tliq council

knew all along"what was going on, and there had heeli great delay. Referring to complaints, Mr Essex denied that he had interfered between the engineer and the foreman, and ho had never followed that policy in regard to any of the men. He had never interfered on any occasion. It wan an absolute falsehood also to say that he got work done that had not been authorised by the council. Cr. Haydon oiice complained that he had given instructions to have grass removed off the footpath in Amesbury street. That was true. He went and inspected the footpath and found the grass had not been removed for years, and it ought to have been done annually according to a council by-law. He therefore gave instructions to have it removed as it was in the middle of winter and the wet grass was a nuisance. That was the only work he had authorised to be done without first getting the council's authority. * IS THE CLERK CROCHETTY? Mr Essex discountenanced the idea that he was a hard mau to get on with. He had heard it said that the Town Clerk was about as crocliett.y as could be found, but during his nine mouths of office as Mayor he had not had a single word with the clerk. "Whether lam afraid of him or he is afraid of me I don't know, but we have worked most harmoniously—and the only explanation I can give is that he does his work." —(Applause); Mr Essex went on to deal with the complaints that he spent " too much time" on the council's affairs, and in illustrating the need for supervision he pointed out that during the past nine months the council's financial operations totalled £36,029. NOT A FIGURE HEAD. If outside officers gave more time to their work he would not have to devote so much time to it. In any case, he was not the man to suit

them if they only wanted a figure head. Dealing with various matters concerning shingle deposits and crushing machinery, he said that if a tram was laid it should not be at Scandia street, but at the end of the Esplanade. He went on to advocate the purchase of a steamwaggon, which had proved an improvement over the horse and, waggon. It was useless to use the steam roller on streets where the metal had not been blinded. WHY HAVE A MAYOR? Ooming to the crux of the municipal difficulty, Public Works Committee No. 2, Mr Essex detailed the methods of Or. Haydon, and contended that it would be no use having a Mayor if such a committee was to be allowed to be set up; it would be a supreme body controlling the borough and all its works. Or. Haydon's idea yras to obtain the authority of the Mayor and belittle him (the Mayor) in the eyes of the public. Referring to the attitude of the councillors prior to the last meeting, when the motion of Or. Haydon wasput and carried, OR. STUBBS PROTESTS. Mr Essex detailed the meeting of" the oommittee called for Wednesday* to inspect the Mangaone; at first only two turned up, but eventually .five were obtained—a cab being sent for Cr. Stubbs. He had practically had to beg Or. Stubbs tp go with them to the Kawau. Or. Stubbs (fiom the stalls): No> sir, no; I only want the truth Mr Essex: Well, I had to tell you I couldn't get a quorum unless youcame, and to ask you to come. Cr. Stubbs: And I came at once: Mr Essex: That is quite true. Continuing, Mr Essex said he only wished to show the impracticability of having two bodies with the same powers. The position was made acute after Wednesday, when.some of the public works business was left over. On Wednesday he.-(Mr Essex) called a meeting of the Pub* lio Works Committee for: Monday afternoon at 2.15, and the cldrkiwas. instructed to send notices to each l ! councillor. Then Or. Haydon came* along to the clerk; and instructed' him to call a meeting of No. 2 Pui*. lie Works Oommittee for 2 o'clock, j on Monday next, and to have thi©' . engineer in attendance. | "PETTY PERSONAL SPITE." That showed that the object,-in: setting up the second committee was not in the interests of th&Bor t rough, but whs entirely a matter: of: petty personal spite and jealousy.— (Applause.)— The Becond committee could only lead to continuediclftshing and unpleasantness.. Thie fioiur who constitute the committee met and drove round the town,in a> cab which cost £1 a day, so they, could estimate what it cost the borough for their little airing. -*-.(<&, vxjice: Get 'en* a motor carl)-r%-THROWING DOWN, OTH GAUNTLET* Harking back to his arch opponent, Mr Essex said: "Lshouid like to challenge - Or. Haydon. to. resign his aeat at the next; and I shall have much pleasure in contesting the Mayoralty wiaft him.— (Lpud applause.)— But I'm, afraid he game.'' BOROUGH KINASES. Dealing with borough finances, Mr Sssex said that- on. December 81st iast the overdraft, was £5690 14s 'which was smaller than for some >. years. But frqm thatt must be deducted £1637, besides other sums, such as {for band rotenda, improvement to the Square, £400 special I metallinpr. of : the Bower portion of the borough, wliieh did not belong to the ordinary charges against the. borough. When, the twelve montfts! were ?p, there would have been 10 miles of main sewers laid and in tjie previous.three years the aggregate total walknly 15 miles. "THAT ]%JZORABLE FRIDAY." Dealing v <rith the councillors who did not devote sufficient time to their duties, he said they ought to resigu if they coulrl not find the time : and attention required.—(Applause.) —After a passing reference to the insults that had been hurled at him, he dealt with the "memorable Friday" when no meeting of tho Finance Committee was held. As a result over £349 in wages was withheld from the workman and their wives, and that was a very mean thing for a body of mer, to do simply to "get a dig" at lu;o. Dealing with the reasons that led him to accept tlie motion so as to end the deadlock, he explained that on the Tuesday

following tho Friday iu question there was a sum of over £3000 due to be paid to contractors, and the council would have been posted as_a defaulter in London, had certain loan monies not been paid, CHEAPER GAS PROMISED. Referring to the gas question, he said it was broached four years agp,

but the council really had nothing to go on until the case of Feilding arose. Ho was certainly of opinion that if the council did not own the gasworks, they would soon be obtain* ing gas at very much lower rates than they paid now. At Wanganui and Napier gas for ordinary consumption was 5s a thousand, but in Palmerston it was 10s 2d, without allowing for the discdunt. That was altogether too much; the price ought not to be more than 5s 6d per thousand, and he hoped to 1 see an improvement made before this time next year. After a brief reference to'the wptetf works he came to the library, and said he was glad Mr Oamegie had refused a grant.—(Applause, t—The sum of £1500 had been authorised for library extension but that was j not enough—at least £2500 would be required. It was for the ratepayers to say whether that sum should be spent on the present building, at whether more should be obtained to erect a building on the Goldman l street site that should last. THE " BACKING-DOWN'' EPISODE. Mr Essex made reference to whatr had been called his " backing--down." "There was no power on earth to compel me to put that reso--lution had I chosen to stick out," hesaid, "but I consider it would have been the height of absurdity for me to drag the good name of Palmerston ; North through the mire to vindicate private feelings. There was no political question between the council! and myself, it was purely personal, and therefore J considered ifc< my duty, in the interests of the borough, to bury my own feelings for the general welfare of the com--muhi ty.''—(Applause). A BATCH OF QUESTIONS. Questions were then invited, the ; chairman explaining that they must be written. There was a liberal' response, and Mayor was catechised on most of the subjects under the ■ municipal sun, from band musio to dust-cart drivers. After some enquiries in referencte to water pipes, the following query was read out:: "Is it true that the engineer and one of the contractors are partners?" —(Loud laughter). Mr Essex: That is a question I ican't answer.

In reply to a question concerning I Fitzherbert bridge, he said one cause of the delay in the erection of the groin was that there had been no material for staging purposes—that he thought, would increase the coat by about 80 per cent. "Is it true, as is being said abont town, that at least two of the councillors have forfeited their seats by having done work or supplied gooda to the council in excess of the amount allowed by law?" was another question. Mr Essex: That is a very hard question for* me to"answer in view of the acute position between councillors and myself. If there are such it would be wise for them to resign. . As to the discharge of the rub-bish-cart drivers, he said that a committee .had already been appointed to deal with the whole question and a meafting-would be held shortly. Mr* J. M. Johnston, rose to ask a question, but was told by the chairman that he would have to put it in writing the same as the rest. Mr Johnston, however, did not appear to wiite out his query, and a motion was carried thanking the Mayor heartily for his address. A similar compliment to the chairman closed £hd«aaeeting.