An 'Undignified Scramble'

Northern Advocate, 12 March 1948, Page 4

An 'Undignified Scramble'

“Surely members who have given so much time to the solving of this proolem will not agree to wreck what they had achieved and again to plunge the board into an undignified scramble to find ways to hide from the people what we are doing?” Mr MdcKay asked. "Perhaps it would be more correct to say we are hiding what we are failing to do from the people. They have a right to expect that our efforts will be such that there will be no need to hide them either from the Press or the people.” “It is not just a question of whether the procedure is legal, but also whether it is commonsense.” he added. "The main point that Mr Appleton has made is that the committee has referred questions to the board. You will find that there is not one atom of authority for that being done. “Ir is the board’s duty to delegate to a committee any business that it thinks, a committee should attend to,” he continued. “We have previously delegated our powers to the committee and that

is what Mr Appleton wishes to restore. "The public expect us to trust them as they have trusted us. We should let them know what is being done. There is no argument against that. “The board has all the power possible to delegate anything that can legally be done to the committee.” Mr Murdoch: If we pass this resolution we will have nothing on the books. "The board remains where it was before if the resolution is passed,” explained the secretary.

“We should stand as we were before the first resolution was passed,” commented the chairman. Mr Clarke: The final resolution was carried unanimously. If the two absent members want to record their votes it will not make any difference, as the voting would be eight to two against, provided all members voted as they did last meeting. Mr Finlayson: I feel that the present methods should be given a reasonable trial. We are getting that way that we will have a division of opinions forced upon us.