INSTALLATION OF MAYORS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9242, 20 December 1888, Page 6

INSTALLATION OF MAYORS.

0 CITY COUNCIL— MEETING, The annual statutory meeting of the Auck-

land City Council was held yesterday at noon, for tho purpose of installing the Mayor-olect for the ensuing year. There were present: His Worship the Mayor (and Mayor-elect), Mr. A. E. T. Devore, and Messrs. Davies, Warren, Swales, Lennox, Lavers, Cooper, Grey, Holland, Hewson, Farrell, and Colonel Dignan. Tho minutes of the last ordinary meeting of the Council were read and confirmed. STATUTORY DECLARATION. His Wokship then made and signed the statutory declaration on taking ofhee. FINANCIAL POSITION OF THE COUNCIL. His Wokship then addressed the Council. He said: It has been customary at this period for many years past for the incoming Mayor to deal with matters of interest to the Council. There being no public works of any magnitude in hand, I think that the most interesting subject is that of finance. I propose to give you a few words and fewer figures to show the present position of the Council financially, and to give you an estimate of what I be* lievo will bo tho position of tho Council in ISS9, and to do that it will bo necessary to raako some comparisons. Two years ago, when I first took office, our overdraft was £34,000; to-day it lias been reduced to £25,700. The revenue for the city in ISS6 was £61,000; tho revenue this year is the same. The falling otT of rates has been more than compensated for by tho proceeds derived from an increased sale of water. The valuations last year were undoubtedly based on an inflated condition of affairs, which has passed off, and considerable reductions have been made since, giving a valuation which next year must cause rates to be materiallj'less. Again, the Council have been reducing the rents of their lessees, and have consequently to a corresponding degree reduced tho revenue. The revenue from ordinary sources would bo £5000 or £6000 less in ISS9 than for the year now passing away. Out of the revenue, whatever it is, must como the fixed charges. There are fixed charges that fall due every year, and which cannot bo avoided, except in the question of bank interest on overdraft. The fixed charges out of our revenue amount to £31,500. That is made up of interest on liabilities, sinking fund, bank interest on overdraft and bank exchange, and, for tho purposes of this compilation, I have added the amount payable to tho Charitable Aid Board, £"2500, making a total of £31,500. That;, practically, gentlemen, you will see would take all the proceeds derived from a '2s rate, in fact, for the coming year, more ohan that, because I estimate that the "2>: rate will not produce more than between £•29,000 and £30,000 for the coming year. By the end of the year ISSB, we shall have spent in wages, salaries, water rates, and ordinary city expenditure, such as cleaning and improvements, the sum of £'27,000, and the city now is in a better state of repair and sanitary condition than it was at the end of ISS7. Tho estimate for the next year on those same items is £22, 000, and that is based on the recommendation made by the Finance Committee and as modified by the Council. The estimate for next year will therefore be £'22,000, as against" £27,000 this year.

ESTIMATES I'OK THE ENSUING YEAR. The estimate made last year has proved accurate within a sum of £2, notwithstanding the depression that has been experienced during the past two years. There was a period of depression, but I think we are nearly at the end of it, and that better times are coining probablv. Then we have paid fSOOO or £9000 otF the overdraft, and wo have paid £4500 for charitable aid, and there is a large amount now outstanding in the shape of good rates. Remembering all these things, I think you will agree with me presently in saying that the financial position of this Council is sound, and that we are carrying on the municipal business well within our income. The amount of rates now outstanding is £21,500, or £500 less than the amount outstanding in the corresponding period last year. Two years ago the amount of outstanding rates was £25,009. The recent change in the law has made all outstanding rates good, and there need be no uncollected rates in the future. They are now a first charge upon the mortgagee or the property. I have given you, gentlemen, a few figures, which are made up as follows :—First, showing the estimated expenditure for next year, there is the fixed charge, £31,500; estimated expenditure, £22,000; and present liabilities, which include all accounts and wages to be paid (£2OOO in round figures) to the end of the current year, so that the total outlay is estimated at £55,200, which musk be paid without allowing anything for emergency works. Then for revenue we have this :

The next rate will terminate on the 31st May, IS9O, so that we cannot reckon the whole of that rate as proper revenue for ISS9, but we can reckon 7-12ths of it as fair revenue, leaving 5-12ths as proper revenue for IS9O. If you take 7-12ths of the rate in round numbers it will be £17,000, and the other revenue from various sources, as water, licenses, rents, etc., is £25,600. In addition to that, there are £21,500 to-day which, are perfectly good, so that the revenue next year should be £64,100, leaving an apparent surplus, and I should say a certain surplus, for there is no doubt about it now, of £8600 for the next year over and above the actual necessary and ordinary charges of the city. I think that is satisfactory. (Applause.)

THE OVERDRAFT. Some time ago, when Mr. Crowther was speaking to a motion he suggested that £10,000 should be taken from the Wards allocation, and placed to the credit of the overdraft account. He said that if this £10,000 was so taken, and if to that sum was added £10,000 out of rates, the overdraft would be practically wiped out of existence. I agreed with him then. I find that taking the overdraft now, and the outstanding rates, they show that Mr. Crowther was exactly right, as there is a surplus of nearly £9000 out of the rates. We have therefore brought about the result which waa spoken of thab night.

SAN'ITARY MATTERS. After finance comes sanitation and drainage. Last summer a well-grounded fear was felt because of an outbreak of typhoid fever on the western side of the city. The cause was not then discovered, but I believe it has since been ascertained and removed.

Many other improvements in the sanitary coudition of the city have been made, and the health of the inhabitants for the coining summer should show an improvement on tho records of last summer.

The question of the proper disposal of nightsoil is, I am glad to be able to state, in a failway of beinf settled in a satisfactory manner. The proposed depot will be submitted to us to-morrow. It appears to be in a suitable place, and I think we may congratulate ourselves on having overcome a long-pending source of annoyance and danger, in a satisfactory manner. This year has shown a very large number of drainage contracts, no one of them for a very large amount, but the total number of purely drainage contracts let ia 24. There are three other contracts, partially formation, and involving a large amount of drainage, so that there were practically 27 drainage contracts let during the past year at a cost of between £5000 and £0000. There are some moneys, as you are aware, In hand belonging to the various wards, and their drainage contracts will be let as soon as plans and specifications are prepared and approved of by you. LIGHTING THE CITV.

The reports show you that an attempt was made by the Streets Committee to induce the Gas Company to reduce their charges for lighting the street lamps, but they did nofc see their way to do so. The lights were therefore put out at midnight, and a saving of £700 or £800 per annum was in this way effected. It is unfortunate that this should have been done, bub ib was necessary. Apart from that, the price paid by the city for gas is far too high ; ib is prohibitive, and prevents the Council from increasing the number of lamps. Several proposals were made to light the city by electricity, but the committee did not see their way to recommend its adoption. Wellington is to be lighted by the electric light, and wo decided it was best to wait and ascertain their experience as to its success and cost. In the event of the

Council deciding not to light this city by electricity, I conceive ib to be our duty, first, to ascertain if we have power to establish municipal gasworks, and next whether it will pay us to act accordingly.

THK WATKIt SUPPLY. There is another question of interest, gentlemen, and ib is of unusual interest at this time of the year, I refer to our

waterworks. This year haa seen the completion, you will recollect, of the Poneonby No. 2 reservoir, and the reservoir at Mount Eden, and they are both now in use. As I anticipated last year, we find that we can store in these reservoirs sufficient water for twelve days' ordinary domestic consumption for " the city and its customers. The various boroughs and Road Boards adjoining the city are all being supplied with city water, and that fact has induced the Council to look elsewhere for an additional source of supply. It is with reference to that supply tliat the waterworks engineer informs us that on the Western Springs estate there is going to waste, boing stored in cavities, an additional supply for future use. Boring operations have been going on to ascertain the quantity of water ; and if we succeed to the extent anticipated by the engineer thero will be sufficient water thero for the city and its customers for a long time to come, after making duo allowanco for a probable increase in our population. Thero is now, in my own opinion at least, a nocessity for a now sourco of supply, and I think it will be found that the city and their customers, and all these Road Boards to which I have referred, must combine and use their general credit to purchase a new supply for general use. If the supply obtained from the new source is sufficient,then some of the mnchino power of the water can be utilised in cheapening the price of electricity usod for lighting the city. In Wellington they are getting the lighting of the city done at a cheap rate comparatively because there is so much water power there which can be utilised. Thero is one other

question connected with the waterworks that I think I ought to cull attention to, and that is the pumping machinery. Tho pumping machinery now in use is efficient and in the best ordor, but it is not new. If any accident should happen to it by which tho city supply was cut off or partially cut off, no doubt grave consequences would ensue. Tho remedy that I suggest for your consideration, and which I will next ynar bring before you, is that there should be duplicate pumping machinery. I understatad that the cost will not bo very great. Thero is a considerable sum standing to the credit of water now, and in addition to that we have set apart £3000 in a reserve fund for new machinery and now plant. Tho setting apart of that £3000 has been ratified by the Auditor-General as correct and well within our powers. I simply make tho suggestion now, that as a matter of business we should have duplicate mai chinery to enable us to cope with any emergency that may arise. PUBLIC LIBRARY AN'D ART GALLERY. The next subject to which I shall draw your attention is that of the Public Library and Art Gallery, which have been a source of profit to the public and pride to tho city. Your Committee appointed for that purpose have selected "2000 volumes for tho lending library, the order for which has been sent home, and there are besides 1100 volumes in stock suitable for tho lending library. Printed rules have been distributed amongst you. It has been suggested that books should only be lent to burgesses and their children, and it has been suggested that a guaranteo should bo given to cover the value of books lent. I regret to have to state that the practice of stealing books from the Library still continues, notwithstanding all the vigilance displayed, and the strict scrutiny observed, but wo have found one book in a dealer's possession. It bears the stamp of the Library and Corporation, and the dealer must have seen it. I will show you the book, and if it is found fchat proceedings can be taken they will be instituted. The catalogues have been printed, but not yet bound, but there are about two thousand maps and charts which are not included, as they have not been yet classified. The Art Gallery is handsomely decorated with pictures. As you are aware, the Art Gallery was formally opened by His Excellency tho Governor last February, and Mr. Whitcombe, with the approval of the Council, has prepared u catalogue, which is found to be very useful. MISCELLANEOUS. There are other subjects that I could refer

to, but a? I have nothing to suggest and you have the office reports before you, it is unnecessary for me to detain you, ami I will conclude by thanking you for your attendance here to-day, and for the uniform assistance you have given me in carrying on the business of the Council. (Cheers.) I may add that three of the Councillors absent—Messrs. Crowther, Evans, and Atkin—have sent apologies for their unavoidable absence. Mr. LENNOX said that Mr. Goldie had intended to be present, but no doubt he was detained by urgent business. Mr. Cooper said he was sure all the councillors present would agree with him they should not separate without tendering to His Worship their hearty congratulations, and the gratification which they felt in having him to preside over them for another year. He was quite certain that they never had and never would have one to preside over them with greater courtesy, and what His Worship had referred to as to the courtesy he had received from the Council was a reflex of tho chair, and whatever might be expressed outside as to continuity of office, he felt sure he expressed the feeling of the Council in saying they were delighted to have him to preside over them for another year. Their position, as disclosed by His Worship's address, was highly satisfactory. When he took office he expressed a desire to adjust the finauces of the Council; and, notwithstanding the depression which had existed, but which he believed was now at an end, their position had been greatly improved ; and, ho believed with His Worship's care and attention they would be in a still better position at tho end of his present term of office. On behalf of the Council it afforded him sincere pleasure to tender to His Worship their hearty congratulations. (Applause.) His Worship said he wa3 much gratified .it receiving the Council's expression of esteem, ana trusted that, at the end of next year, they would have the same good opinion of him, and he, for his part, would endeavour to deserve it. The meeting then terminated, and tho Councillors adjourned to the Mayor's room, where the health of His Worship waa drunk in bumpera of champagne.

PARNELL. The annual meeting of the Parnell Borough Council, for the installation of the new Mayor, waa held yesterday, at noon, at the Borough Council offices, Manukau Road, when there were present: Tho Mayor-elect (Mr. H. B. Sealy), and Messrs. Savage, Gilmore, Auger, Mackenzie, Gay, and MoCabe. Captain McKenzie was elected chairman. Mr. Scaly then read and signed the usual declaration, and was duly installed in tho chair.

DEVONPORT. The Dcvonporb Borough Council met at noon on the 19th instant. Present: His Worship the Mayor (Mr. M. Niccol), and Messrs. E. \V. Alison, E. W. Burgess, VV. H. Brown, T. J. Duder, and R. 11. Duder. Mr. M. Niccol made and signed the usual statutory declaration, and was installed Mayor of Devonport. Mr. W. H. Brown congratulated His Worship on the advent of his fourth term of office, and on his merited popularity as Mayor of the Borough of Devonport, in which he was warmly supported by those present. The Mayor suitably responded, and in doing so gave a general resum6 of works during the year as follows :—The past year has been a very quiet and uneventful one in the history of the borough, if I except the rejection of the proposed scheme of waterworks and drainage. We began the year with an overdraft of £700, which increased to upwards of £800 in consequence of expenses attendant upon the loan proposals. Our efforts have since been mainly directed to the reduction of this debt, and I am happy to say that we have succeeded in getting it down to £400, ab the same time that we have kept our roads in an excellent state of repair, and have considerably extended several of the main drains. The importance of drainage cannot be overestimated if we desire to maintain the character which Devon port has hitherto enjoyed for healthfulness. We have postponed our waterworks and drainage scheme indefinitely, but I trust the Council will meantime devote as large a portion of the ordinary rates as possible to the improvement of the existing system of drainage. The question of providing a new cemetery is still undecided. A Bill has been prepared for introduction during the next session of Parliament, giving us authority to use the newcemeterynotwithstandingitis within the borough. I am still of opinion that it would be better to get authority to use this as an endowment, and go outside the borough for another site, and before Parliament) |

meets I shall take an opportunity of laying my views upon the subject before the ratepayers. Among other matters of interest or importance disposed of during the past year I may mention the satisfactory settlement of our claim upon the Government for damage to roads leading to the defence works ; and the adjustment of the matter of roads laid out by the Harbour Board over Shoal Bay swamp, on terms eminently favourable to the borough, by means of 1 which we have secured an endowment that in a few years will be of very considerable value. The gorse nuisance has been taken j in hand, and is now being vigorously ■ treated. The borough has boon provided I with appliances for the extinction of fires, and an efficient volunteer fire brigade has been established. A resolution has been adopted by the Coun- ; cil affirming the- necessity for placing the I very meagre reserves in the district on j a proper footing, and also proposing to I initiate steps in the direction of obtaining lan endowment for the borough. I trust I this will not be allowed to slumber until substantial results have been secured. I ! have to express my continued satisfaction with the hearty and thorough manner in which our very limited staff of officers have discharged their duties during the year, and I am sure you will agree with me that considering the very small sum expended, the condition of the borough reflects credit on them, and speaks volumos for their ability and zeal. The town clerk lias prepared returns of various kinds, which are on the table for the information of councillors and burgesses. ONEHUNGA.

The annual statutory meeting of the Onehutiga Borough Council was held in the Council Chamber at noon yosterday. There wero present:—His Worship the Mayor (Mr. C. C. Fleming), Mossra. Koehan, Burden, Hastie, Tapp, Jackson, W. Shaldrick, Dunwoodio, and J. J. Shaldrick. After confirming the minutes of the past meeting, the Mayor said they had met that day for the purpose of installing the Mayor-elect in accordance with the Municipal Corporations Act, but before doing so, he would take the opportunity of thanking the Council for the courteous manner with which he had at all times been treated by them. Thoy had differed on many points, but he thought they had the one object in view, namely, to do for the town the best they could. Ho regretted that many things were still left undone, but he had no doubt that the Mayor-elect would givo hia undivided attention to matters connected with the borough, and accomplish the end they all had in view.

Tho Mayor elect (Mr. M. Yatos) thon ! made the usual declaration, and took his seat. He said he would again thank the 150 electors who had placed him in the highest position the borough offered, and expressed a hope that at the end of his term they would be as well pleased with his services as they wore a few weeks ago when they roturned him at tho head of the poll. Ho was well aware there were difficulties before the Council, though not any imtnediato financial dilliculty ; still their engagements were in excess of thoir funds, but with economy and retrenchment they would overcome that. Before concluding he would move that a hearty vote of thanks be accorded to the ex-mayor for the manner in which ho had conducted tho business of the town during , his term of otlice. Although he had not acted at all times ;is he would have wished, still he was of opinion that all his actions were honest of purpose, and for the benefit, of the town. Mr. W. SnAi.muctc seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. The Mayor intimated that as the next ordinary meeting would fall on Monday (Christmas Eve), he would like to hear an expression of opinion as to postponing till later in tho week. A motion to adjourn till Thursday, the 27th inst., proposed by Mr. J. J. Shaldkick, and seconded by Mr. Buudkn, was negatived, and tho Council adjourned, to meet again on Monday, the '24th inst., ut the usual hour.