MOUNT EDEN DISPUTE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18494, 3 September 1923, Page 8

MOUNT EDEN DISPUTE.

, MAYOR AND ENGINEER. STATEMENT BY MR. KAYLL. RESOLUTION: OF APPROVAL. There were few unoccupied: seats in the; Capitol : picture J house, Dominion Road, on Saturday evening, when, prior to the 'evening's programme, Mr. J. VL. 'A. kayll,' ex-Mayor of Mount Eden, dealt with the causes which had led up to his resigning from the Mayoralty. As Mr. \Kayll entered the building he received a hearty, welcome, and throughout the' half hour that he occupied the platform the audience gave evidence, from time to time, that they fully appreciated his point of view. , , '

Referring to the No. 13 loan, Mr, Kayll said that the engineer was , instructed' to/appear before the Finance Committee on June 23, arid - give information regarding the way the money had been spent. It was' shown that where £75 had been . alloted for tarring a footway, over £80 had been spent. .In another instance the same amount had been allocated, but double the work had.been done for £50, and in another case the work had been done for £23. The ' engineer, continued Mr. Kayll, promised to have everything ready for tho Finance Committee 13 days later. He was instructed by the council to attend, but he did not appear, nor did he send an explanation. The engineer : was instructed to appear before the next Finance Committee meeting and he., did so. The executive committee was instructed to prepare a report, arid the speaker gave definite instructions that it ; was in rio way to criticise the engineer. The report was approved by the council. -:

'• Destructor Controversy. Concerning the destructor', the matter was going on properly and smoothly, when the engineer "hutted in" with a recommendation as to the manner in which they should carry out the work. It was no business of his to define the policy of. the council; that was the council's business. (Hear, hear.) .' The engineer asked to have matter which ho (Mr. Kayll) had deleted published, and the question got into the papers, When lie taxed the engineer, the latter said he had not-seen the papers, and was in no way responsible for the publication. Tha engineer also'' had instructions, and promised that his. reports were to bo presented to the.;speaker, before they went to the council, but at the next meeting he circulated a report and a memorandum in which, he .criticised the Mayor executive, and it was given to the press before the. speaker saw it. The engineer, when txaed with the .matter, said, he had a perfect right to circularise the council for any matter which he thought called for-attention.'" At a meeting held the same night the speaker determined to do his best to shelter the engineer from the consequences of his action, and refused to tak.3 notice of the . paper in an official sense, considering that to be the best way to save the engineer from the hole ho was digging for himself. . But the matter came before the whole council. Had the' council followed his guidance and had they decided to; retire the encineor, ho would have asked the latter, to send in his resignation, and would have given him three months' leave *'**•, fence. < That would have been all the publicity the matter would have received.

Moral Courage Needed. The suggestion had; been made .him that ho should not resign, but he told the council frankly that if ho had accepted that position ho would go out as, 1 " 0 weakest-kneed fellow they had ever had. They needed to have, as their representatives, men. who possessed, enough roorii courage to act according to their convictions and to stick to them, no matter what the newspapers might say. # _ erring -to the ; balance-sheet, Mr. Kayle real the statement, in which the Auditor-General took exception to £ } amounts paid for extras on contracts, which could not. be propery verified owns to the contractors' statement not being® obtainable in support' of engineers vouchers; and (2) the method of recordinjr charges in connection with the execution of work, particularly in. .regard to the installation of water service. Had he, asked Mr. Kayll, ever said anything half as severe -as that? In one instance the amount of the contract was £5700. but they had to pay -£1200 in extras. Explaining that, the engineer said ho had sunk several shafts to determine th» amount of rock. Was ho to pass an- account for £1200 on that explanation? The engineer said, "Yes, there, is my certtficate." The- statement by the Auditor"General had fully justified tbo step the speaker had taken. <' " Criticism ol Resignations.

Mr. Kayll then read a letter, dated September 1, which he had received from Mr. W. G. Lange, in which regret was expressed that a public meeting of ratepayers and residents had not been called Air. Langa expressed the opinion that th* Mayor had shown a great weakness in deciding to resign, and that .the. other councillors were wrong in following his attitude. No governing body could possibly conduct business' if resignations were to follow every adverse vote . At this juncture someone called lor three cheers for VRogers." ; On the motion of Mr. Alsopp, the fol lowing resolution was carried, with some dissentients "That this meeting approves the action taken by Mr. Kayll and the members of the .council who. resigned{ and demands that the remaining councillors take the constitutional and only manly, course open to them, namely, to resign their seats and allow the ratepayers to decide the issue." Mr. -i Holdsworth paid a tribute to. the work the ex-Mayor had performed, during the four months he was in office. .-