Nelson Evening Mail MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1904. THE NELSON CITY COUNCIL. REDUCTTON IN THE NUMBER.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 219, 7 November 1904, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1904. THE NELSON CITY COUNCIL. REDU CTTON IN THE NUMBER.

THE majority — if not indeed all—^of the citizens of Nelson will rejoitv* that at last the Borough Council has seen its way to resolve that its numtber (12 and the Mayor) is excessive, and that the old nuni'lx'r of nine Councillors and the Mayor be reverted to. The resolution carried on Friday night without a single dissentient in the Council has lx»en •brought forward on three occasions ■by the mover, Cr Mercer. Reasons, or rather causes, into which it is needless to enter now, led to th-» Council by small majorities then refusing to agree to the reduction in nunlbcr. Hut from the unanimity displayed on Friday it is obvious that in their inmost hearts thu members of the Council 'have long b;-en convinced that a more compact 'body will do better work with loss waste of time * * » * It is a pity the step taken or Friday was not adopted as Ion" ago as the commencement of tlii s\stem which gave Nelson 12 councillors without anyone asking i'oi that number. It "vas by the Municipal Corporations Act of IUOC that the number (;{ councillors ir boroughs having a population ajbovt a given limit became automatically increased. Since tneii, each smal •borough in turn has found th( larger number unworkable, and hv degrees the old number. 1 -: of nine 01 less are being reverted to, till it i.' likely that in a year or so the system of automatic increase will become a dead-letter. The. method o procedure for a Council wishing tc reduce its number does not wm tc Ik> laid down definitely in the Act Hut it is understood that applications i'oi- such reduction aiv attended to by the Government, and Councils may obtain permission for a reduction of numbers as applying u the next Council to be elected. Thi« doti'btli'ss will be the course followid with regard to th<> .Wlsoi Borough Council, and happily citizens will again be able to oxeroist sonic measure of choice in the selection nf Hios- to whom tln> destinies of i he city are entrusted. • • • • Without srning a word in disparagement of those who havr iormed the Council since the number was increased from nine to 1 : ••>,v the automatic operation of tin Municipal Corporations Act of 19<>< it must be admitted by all thai municipal matters in Nelson havi drifted considerably since the tinn when nine councillors and a iwa.voi looked aftor civic business. Pro bably it has been no fault of th« Council as at present constituted but solely due to thw impossibility of maintaining coherence aird avoiding waste of time when twelve men all with divergent interests, an elected from a limited list of candi dates offering only a small range o choice. Previously, even if the nun her of candidates was smiall, tin election was based on only two oi three councilors going out eacl year. Whatever the faults of t three years tenure of oilice ma\ have been, the- system- had the \ir tue of thoroughly familiarisiuc councillors with their duties, anc establishing them in a position of ten extending through half a life tinio. All our old and experienanc councillors, from whom very frc (fuently tho mayors of 'borough; have graduated, were chosen undej the old system— and it cannot lx .said that they compare at all tin lavourably, even when veterans with 'ho new men elected 'for bien nial terms and all together « » * • Furthermore, as already pointer out. i« perhaps frequently 'happened that there were few candidates ai the annual election of councillor in the room o f those retiring b\ ';5" n of tiine - But >n each bo louph a correspondingly fe-w hac to be chosen, so that even in th< most adverse circumstances thrange of choice was fairly extensive, Suddenly, changing from this method )>oroughs in common witl other municipal areas wero remiiret to elect six, nine, or twelve iron as the case might be. every two years. The paucity of candidate* continued, with the result that •« P° t rl(1 . 11 Q {_. thc fiurvjval of the imfk set in. The difficulty in furnishing IJJl ne \ ol . choico wiU cantinut" e\en when nine men instead of T 1 have to be chosen together: nut the range will be extended in exact proportion to the reduction in the number to be returned, .and the principal K aiu will 1» in the affairs ol the Council .being enrrw-d on more expeditiously, ami with more interests ,n common th 81 , J , r &enc possible. ' H ' " « JJ » * The foregoing comments are not based in any way on the results of a Council of 12 and a Mayor h N n lBOn n 1O K e - The e 4erien C e 0 all small boroughs which came uudei tho automatic increase provided »>y the Act of 1900 has -been alike and in lew instances has there been such singular unanimity in tho desire tq render the clauses of tho Act a dead-k.ft<3r. Tj>e Nelson Council is to he congratulated on having at last seen i(s way to t .r_ feet a reform which has been wv ces>sary ever since the. new regulations camo mto furoß, and the Councillor who carried his res o hi- ( on after steady and persistent efforts is also to l>c congratulated on his ultimate success, especially as he is one of those who ha.vo. P) L erwl municipal lire since t he ri;t-\s-iwg or the Act of 1000 ' '" « t » « Finally, it. is for the. citizens a nd ratepayers generally themselves to see that the difficulty of electing ortioroughly representative Borough Council every two years under tho system of the current Municipal Corporations Act is reduced to a minimum, 'by bringing fnrwqpfj aaid supporting a sufficient number o f candidates to enable a fairly wide range of clloice to be exercised. Tho The affairs of the CgunciJ are full of growing difficulties. It will be noted thar a further increase of overdraft had t'O bo applied i<w on Friday. bringing the Council still mere perilously near, if not beyond, itf legal limit. Tho problem of thc fufuro

which must bo confronted, is tho ex- I pewliture of money on maintenance J without which the results of past outlay will be irretrievably lost. iVith growth and progress, the city i •fias to face an increased rateage, I tempered by an increased valuation, * and the sooner this nettle is firmly • grasped the better will it he for the well-being of all. It is the duty of thc best and most representative citizens to come forward to undertake the management of their own affairs, and it is hoped that, now the. number of Councillors will be reduced to the old workable nine, there may be no lack of suitable and desirable can* j didates next April.

The Rev. Mr Haddon, a Native* minister, will lecture at St. John's Ohurch to-night, at T..'iO o'clock, on " The Story of My People. " A collection will be taken up on behalf of the Mission Fund. The I'almers.t',u Xorth " Standard " reports that a party of experienced gold miners are nt present digging for gold in the Mount Bruce district, between Eketahuna and Masterton. Oohl has been found, though whether in payable- quantities is not stated, an acre. Mr Littlejohn, Engineer to the Waimea County Council, has made arrangements with Mr Charles Hill, to carry out the. work in connection with the Pigeon Valley bridge, the work to bo finished within six ■months. Complete arrangements h:U r e been made for the Wakalu Mounted Rifles' military sports to he held on Wednesday at the Richmond Racecourse, and given fine weather there should be a large attendance of the public. Most interest is beimj centred in the horse racing ej^ts, which will be keenly conM^k as several good horses are coni^ting. Most of the visiting I horses have arrived, and y.mie useful work has been done on the sands during the past few days. The Garrison Band will be in at--1 tendance, and bookmakers, spielers, I etc., are notified that they will not le allowed on the course. An additional event has been added trine programme for the Bearer Corps. Many r (.widen ls. of Nelson will reri T i-i to hear of the painful and md-tl.-n death of Mr Walter Abbott, f highly-respected and straightforward'young ward young athlete who has resided in tgis city foi about six months. The deceaset was a young man of splendid physique and a clever acrobat. l.a'si Tuesday evening he gave a realh clever exhibition of acrobat ism h conjunction with his friend. Mi Layton, in connection with the All Saints' Institute, and on the fol- ' lowing evening he complained ol feeling much fatiguedf The next evening he had to go to lied m gradually seemed to get worse, much so that he had to be removed to the Hospital yesterday, where he was delirious, and death came as already stated. It is believed that death was due to strain of the heart, and on r fitiirv at the Hospital to-day r was' learnt from Dr. Bett that in i, 11 probability a post mortem examination would be held this aiternoon. The deceased was 21 year* of age and hailed from Oamaru. His mother is at present livimr JStoke. A. special general inoe ,nc of the All Saints' Institute will held this evening at 8 o clock, .n Vonnect ion with Mr Abbott s death I N'ews has been received in Nel'son to-dav that Mr Felix Lev.cn. now a student at Canterbury 1 niversitv. and formerly of Nclsor '. Coll'ce has won the V'xhih tioi 'pSo of £20 for English, w.tl I honours. He was also dux m tlu • Exhibition Scholarship oi a. 20 to French, but the regulations prevent -i student from holding : iqiv thai one Exhibition. The Kxiiih.'.iO:.? are open to the whole of thr students of Canterbury ! n.vorsi y -,1 Mr Lovieri is to bt congiatulated upon his success, especially as he has been only a comparat.yolv short time at Phristrhurr-h Iho paners for both Fn£ ish j-n-d T •.•cneh wore up to the "MA. standard. Tt uill 1-e noticrd lhat the SoweiV Bend will hold their annual sal^ mi TV« ember Hid. not 3ft; o, ;<<; ■xr.q rdvri t Isofl. Entries for the Nelson Auiateui Swinuuiutr Clul/n spoita closo to niglil at 7 o'clock at Stullard'o room. Complaint roaches U3 that sheepworrying by dogs Is earning considerable loas in Ktctiraond Park, which ia leased for grazing by the. Chiistelmrch Meat Company. Six lambs aud Bcvon sheep were destroyed daring the past night or so. Poison is laid for dog3, aud two dogs have taken the. bait, but it ia though t that these are, not tho real offenders, anil d^sea are awaiting others. The Ilannouic Society intends giving a miscellaneous concert on Thursday, the 17lh iust., aud it should prove very enjoyable. The monthly meeting of the Tvakefield brauch of the Fanners' Union will be held to-mo:row evening. A. public mooting, will be held at the Municipal <-lia:ubois on Taur6doy to con eider wilo question of holding uu Industrial ExLibition lo celebrato the coulen-. ary of Uu* battle ef Tiafalgar. Messrs T. J. I^ynch and Co. announce that owing to the holiday on, Wednesday they will hold their stock sale at the White Hart Yards, Richmond.' on Thursday, the 10th inst., at 2.3<>, when they will sell on account of Mr Ernest Robinson, lf> fat cattle and UK) fat shi*ep. Further entries are invited. VICTORY BUTTER— Be sure and ask your grocer for Victory Butter, 'ure and delicious. — Advt. Ask for Puponga Coal. It makes the brightest fire with the least work in the grate or range. It is first-class for .steaming purposes.* Some people say that the Mayor as no confidence in the City Engineer ; whilst others say they have no confidence in the Mayor in r< gard to his drastic resolution. Mrs Slumbles can't give an opinion ; to the cause of the. Council muddle, ut hopes Councillors' heads won't well so rapidly as the overdraft, nd that they won't all become < ginecrs, consulting or insulting. But amidst this turmoil it is pleasng to know that everyone is iimn tnous that Lock's Oreat Furnishing IVarehouse is the cheapest and l lace, to buy furniture, etc., and .veryone has great confidence in the :jualU. / of the goods he cells. Mr .ooK has furnished over 1400 happy iou.es Large shipments of nev. oods, carpets, linoleums, curtains, tc. The marvellous Atlas Sewing Machines and Miner Ranges. Lock s a complete furnisher, and anyone :an for a few pounds make their omes comfortable and attractive, nd upon easy terms.*