Borough Council To Refer Area Officer’s Letter To Defence Minister

Northern Advocate, 2 April 1941, Page 3

Borough Council To Refer Area Officer’s Letter To Defence Minister

MEETING A THREAT OF REFERENCE TO A HIGHER AUTHORITY IF CERTAIN REQUESTS WERE NOT GRANTED, THE WHANGAREI BOROUGH COUNCIL AT ITS MONTHLY MEETING LAST EVENING DECIDED TO TAKE DEFINITE ACTION AND REFER LETTERS RECEIVED FROM THE NORTHLAND AREA OFFICER (MAJOR H, P. CONYERSBROWN) TO THE MINISTER FOR DEFENCE.

Following a letter from Major Conyers-Brown to its previous meeting, the council made decisions which were the subject of another letter from him to the meeting last evening.

“Ballyhoo” Unappreciated

It concerned the- moving of a public seat outside the army office in Bank Street, a comment made by the Mayor, and restrictions on the parking of Army vehicles.“It is not understood how the shifting of the seat a matter of nine paces would make any difference to those who use it and I am sure this would not cause a national calamity,” stated the area officer in his letter to the council.

“I would like to point uiut to His Worship the Mayor that very' careful consideration was given to thisJ’matter before ;'t was put forward, an/d that the slang word of contempt, t(o wit, ‘ballyhoo,’ used by him, as reported in the Press, is not appreciate/d, and I would like him to understand that, as head of the Army Department in Whangani, 1 am responsible for security

Danger of Garbled Kumoifirs.

“As the shifting of the seat is considered to be a measure to 1 hat end I would again request that the seat be moved to the other end of the building. Surely, it must be- appreciated that a one-sided conversation heard over the phone is liable to misinterpretation, the danger of which lies in the possibility of the dissemination of garbled rumours. / "As regards parking in (the area allotted to the Army, youj- instruction regarding 20 minutes is incomprehensible in view of the t utter lack of justification for such restrictions. "In other towns the area is handed over to the Army for Army parking without reservation and I cannot see what difference the time limit is going to make to anyone except to the Army. The restrictions would defeat the very object of getting an Army parking area.

To Higher Authority.

“Will you please have this matter reconsidered, and acquaint me at an early date with the result of your further deliberations, as, otherwise, I shall be under the necessity of referring the whole matter to a higher authority.” “Apparently Major Conyers-Brown has taken umbrage at the term of ‘ballyhoo’ used by me at the previous meeting,” said the Mayor (Mr Jones). Cr. J. G. Draper: What does it mean? (Laughter.) Cr. D. L. Smedley: It is an Irish term of endearment. (Laughter.)

Softening Blow

“If I had been like some speakers I would have said ‘a lot of rot’,” continued the Mayor. “I used instead the term ‘ballyhoo,’ which, to my mind, softens the blow.” If the area officer considered the term had been used to cast a stigma against him or his staff he was mistaken, the Mayor said. “It is nonsense in the extreme that anybody can hear anything through the window below which the seat is located.” he continued.

Mayor Could Not Hear

“I tested it with the windows open to see if I could get any bright news about the war, but I couldn’t.

“If any fifth columnists wanted to obtain information there would be nothing to stop them standing beneath the window.”

The seat had been placed in its present position for the benefit of the people, especially elderly people, waiting for buses, and if there was any real merit in the suggestion that it should be moved it would have been considered favourably, the Mayor continued. Nc Dispensation for One. For the convenience of the army authorities the bus stop had been moved to a position which the council considered unsafe because it was not thought the change would be for a long period, and the council had agreed to allow parking space for one car. Ic was agreed that a parking place should be available for official visitor? to the army office, but a by-law could not be put aside for one person only and not for others. “Actually there is no fault to be found in any shape or form,” said the Mayor. Discourtesy Alleged. In his first letter to the council Major Conyers-Brown had been discourteous, he continued. He had not made a request to the council to move the seat, but had issued a command. The Mayor’moved that a copy of the letter before the council and the former letter to the council should be forwarded to the Minister for Defence. “We’ll go to the higher authority first, as there fs a definite threat here that he will go to a higher authority,” said the Mayor. Seconding the motion, Cr. Draper said that he took exception to the threat in the last paragraph of the area officer’s letter. Apology Wanted. “We should call on the writer for an apology,” said the Mayor. “If security is left only to them well and good, but the security and good conduct of the town is left to the borough council and staff.” The motion was carried without further discussion.