THE HON. M. HOLMES AND THE RESERVES BILL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 451, 9 October 1877, Page 2

THE HON. M. HOLMES AND THE RESERVES BILL.

public; meeting. The public meeting held in the Volunteer Hall last evening for the purpose of suppoi ting the Oainaru Reserves liil in the Legisla tive Couue 1, was one of the largest gatherings of the kin i that lias ever been held i i Oainaru. '1 he promoters of tl)e lueeting have every reason to feel saiisiieil at the result of their exertion-', for not only was the attendance exceedingly large, Hilly 7(H) pers< lis being present, but the utmost g tod order | revailed, despite the very strong f eling tilniost everyone present possessed on the suLtject. Miortly after the appointed time his Worship the Mayor took the chair, a..d was grei tt d wii h app'.iiii ■>••.. 'J he C airman, i.i opening the proceedings, s-iiil lie had convened the meeting in conse qiu nee <f liaving received are<m sition to do so signed i»y nearly 400 n sidents in th town. Jwi ryone pr sent knew tlie object of the meeting, and nearly the whole oi tin m knew what the Oainaru Rese.ves bill proposed to do ; but as some few might not be conversant with its provision.*, he would briefly explain. They all ree'g isc 1 toe fact that Thames street, at prehear, pre.sented a very one-side I appearance. When in the: H .use ot Representatives in 1870 lie liad secured to the town that p ece of lan i lying between the Post Oiiiee and Stewardstreet. This had been a valuable aeijuisition to the town, and returned a icveuue of some l.liOJ. It would shorty be occupied by a number of . übstau ial builuAngs. i he neft i iece of ground to this was the present police b.irracks, which was used for grazing a couple of pol.ee horses, instead of being built upon. He then narrated the action which had bcicn taken with a view of securing this piece of ground to the town, and the negotiations wh cli had taken place with the Government on the subje-t. 1 he Committee appointed by the Municipal Council had selected a more tu table site for the gaol, which they had offered to the Government in exchange for the present cite. Not only had they agreed to give this 1 .nd in exchange, but had undertaken t at the town should also put up a suitable county gaol when required, at a cost not exceeding j.5000. 'J he Hon. the Minister for Lands, when in Oainaru, had approved of the site proposed, and it had also been reported upon favourably by Commissioner Weldon, Mr. Parker, 8.M., and the District Engineer. A Bill to effect the exchange had b en int- oduccd into the House of Kepresentatives by Mr. Hislop, and was passed without the slightest opposition. It was then sent to the "Lords," where to the surprise of all it met with the first opposition from the Hon. Math w Holmes, nom whom it should have received support. J.)i ectly it was seen that the Bill was so stienuously opposed by the Hon. Mr. Holmes, information had been sent to the Hon. Mr. Campbell, who at once promised to go up to Wellington by the next steamer in order to assist Mr. Miller in getting the Bill passed. 'I he Hon. Mr. Miller had been aivised to tint effect, and would probably ask for the further adjournment or the debate to allow ot* Mr. Campbell's arrival. As, however, it was possible that the debate would be resumed to-morrow, it would be too late to petition in support of the Bill, and it was therefore desired to pass resolutions at the meeting, which oould be t legraphed to-morrow, and which, though couched in mild terms would sdiow that the Bill was looked upon as a ino.-t important one. and one which had the fullest approval of the citizens. He would call upon M . Gibbs to move the first resolution. (Applause. ) Mr. Gibb.*, who was received with applause, related the circumstauces under which the police paddock had been reserved for the purpose, and kaid this was done in the early s of the town. The present gaol site presented a very unsightly gap in the street, and was by far too valuable a piece of land to be used merely lor grazing purposes. The Mayor was entitled to tile tltaiika- of the town for the manner in \\hioh he had worked to push the jropobed I exchange to its present stage, and the attitude assumed by the Hon. Mr. Holmes I

ve&a quite incomprehensible to hitn; OftWm possible that the Hon. Mr. Holmel'rtdght possess utfieient influence in the Legislative Councl to have the Bill thrown outt and it was therefore hoped that the resolutions passed at that meeting might havo the effect of placing the matter before the Council in a proper light, and fo prevent his being able to thwart the wishes of the townspeople. This was n> t the fbst time that the Hon. Mr. Holmes hid opposed the wit-hes of tho townspeople. It was that gentleman who caused tho Giswocks to be erected on their present site, instead of the one origindly propose 1. (A Voice: That was a good j >b.) He did not think so, as that very piece of ground had since bi'en taken, away by tho Government for railway sidings, and ho didn't think that would have been done had the Gasworks been placed there, an originally i iten Id. (Applause) The Hon. Mr. liomics evidently w shed to sit upon ihem, but tli y were met for the purpose of showing tlia. gentleman tli it they did not intend to lie sat upon by him ( Vpplaime ) The police paddock, if handed t • tiie town, would become a very great acquisition to tho town. The revenue derived from it was propo»od to be devoted to paying a portion of the interest and sinking fund on the cost of tho Waterworks, and would thus prove a boon to the town. He again Bpoko highly of tho action of the Mayor in regard to the exchange, and concluded by moving the following resolution:—"That, in the opinion of this meeting, the existence, in the centro of Thames-street, of a break in tho building line of over 400 feet, caused by tho largo vacant space adjoining the Lock-up, is greatly detrimental to the appearance of tho town, while alao it is a direct loss to the Municipality, as the ground would let readily for building sites at a good annual rental { and the meeting is further of oniuion that it is absurd that ground ho valuable should bo used merely as a police patldock, inaßmuoh as practically for the sake of gia/ing ono or two troop hones, a possible rovuuuo of several hundreds a year h sacrificed. Mr. Richards seconded the motion, which was cariied unanimously. Mr. Procter said ho was sorry ho could not make a sieech on the question, but ho would refer the niect'ng to an article in tho Kvexinu Mail of Saturday on the subjeot (applause). 'I hat article expressed his views upon the matter better lh:ui ho could do hiinse f. He would therefore content himself by merely moving the following rosnlu.ion :

" That this meeting cons'dcrs (1) that tho laii'l in question nhou d fairly bo the proparty of tno Municipality, provided that A site is .seemed to tho tiovernnient for public buildings, .and for .a (J'Uiity gaol in tin «H' gilde situation ('2 ) That it is donirablo i hat when a County gaol is erected, itnhonld n<>t 1)-j ]> aced in ho prominent a position as the s te of the present lock-up ; and (.'{) that the site proposed by tlu '«Jannru It mui'VOß Mill,' now i nder consider .tion of tlio Honourable Iho L"gi>l itive Council, in admirably adapted for the purpose, being of ample are i, convenient access, and near to the Co poraiioii qnarrieo, which would pro- . sent tholiicans of proliiablo employment'.' of liard-lab'Uir prisoners.'' Mr. (J. T. I euwck seconded the resolo,. tion, which was put to the meeting and ried unanimously.

Air. ramiltmi, in proposing tho next rntolution, said h'.' regretted that the member of the i egislature, whose conduct they had mot to consider, was not an e'cetivo iiioin* Iter, so tli it th'V could have called upon him to resign. He moved " That the li 11 referred to providfß for all the requirements in the preceding resolutions set out; that it grants ;i .arger area to tln> Crown for p'thlie purposes than that nuked to Ixi granted for Municijial purposes; mid also provides for a large money cautudcrAtion in I'eturii for the benefit to tlio revenue of the Municipality which it will nccuro ; while at 'he same time the revenue derived iroin leasing the frontages to '1 hamon and Severn streets will ho a material assist utoo to the Alun cipali y towards dairying out the large works in hau 1, of which an extensive system of water supply (absolutely necessary to its health and cleanliness) is the most important, and the cost of which will at lirnt fall somewhat heavily < » the inhabitant*." The resolution wan seconded by Mr. Greenfield, and carried unanimously. Air Headland, in rising to move the next resolution, slid he noticed that from the report of the Hon. Mr. H 'hues' spoo. hj, that that gcntlcnui had said that the town wuh already largely endowed, and that the laud sought to lie obtained was worth LIOOO. (human was not asking for any additional endowment, for besides giving ni return for the police paddock a pieco ot land of equal value, they had agreed to build a gaol at a cost of IjfiODi), It) thought the town wan paying the full value of the land. Tlio change would be bonelluial not only to tint town but to the (-iovcrnuiout as well. It was undesirable that the gaol should ho -tiro most conspicuous building in the town, and be the first to meet the gazo of anyono coming into it. Besides this, within a very short time tlio present gaol would become surrounded by build ng<, and this would not bo very desirable, because greater facilities would thus bo offered lor the escape of |>ii« ooiiera. All parties weie agreed an to the desnability of the exchange, except the Hon. AJathcw Holmes, and for the life of him he could not understand why that gntleman opposed it. He hoped that his opposition would not bo continued, or if it was that the Legislative Council would not bj swayed by the opinion of one man. Ho concluded by moving the following resolution :

"That the arrangement proposed by tlio Bill has been arrived at attvr ciimultatiou with the Depan incuts of. Public Worko, Justic, and Police, ami ban Ik-mi rcvommended by the ltesidcnt Engineer, »ho Hosident A ttgiiatnUe, and Mr. <.'<urmiiHßiouor Weldon, and thai it has the approval of the Government and the House ui Itepi-caonta-tives, and seeing that it is in nil ro*poots colculated to result ti> tho hom-ik of all purlieu concerned, this meoting cxpressm its earnest hope that the Honorable the i.wgislativa Council will assent to the mime, the more especially that by tho hill in question the town is uot asking any additional endow nient, I ut is tsimply seeking an exchange for the mutual benefit of all parties." Mr. J. Hcid seconded thu resolution, wlitolh Mas carried unanimously. Mi-. M'lutosh brielly waved the foljawiiig; resolution; —"That the Chairman «f) tb»». nieeuug be requested to telegraph, feb«. fprqgoiug resolutions to tho Hon. liunjy. Jtuhn. Miller and tbe Hon. Mathew Holmes"

" rpjj C motion was seconded by Mr. Hossack, said that it had been mentioned l>y the Mayor, in opening tl e meet- ■, j that the H=>n. Mr. llobinsou had, by his j.'-ificly action, prevented tbe Bill being thrown out at once when sent up to the Council, and as that gentleman des< rved the thanks of the Oamaru public, he \v..u!d m& ve:—"'lhat the thanks of the meeting are hereby tendered to the Hon. W. ltobiuaon for his action in reference to the Bill, and that the same be telegraphed lo that gentleman." Mr. O'Meagher said he had great pleasure in seconding the motion. Mr. K<>binson, although almost an ent.re stranger, had done the town great service. His conduct stood out in bold relief when compared «ith that of the Hon. Mathew Holmes, \\ ho, as a resident, should have been fr.etid, and not their enemy (Wice: He has done so before). That was quite tiue ; but he (Mr. c<uld i:<t ui.dernt.nd sn.h conduct. They coul I only h -pe that the hn. gentleman's upper storey was in perfect order (laughter). It was difficult to imagine the cause of the Hon. Mr. Holmes' conduct. Possibly he wished to have the reserve thrown into the market, and .so acquire it for himself. He hoped such was not his motive: and even if it was he would not succeed (applause). The resolution was then put and carried, and, at the suggestion of Mr. O'Meagher, three hearty cheers were given respectively for the Hons. Messrs. Robinson aud Millar. 'J hree nnmistakeable groans were given for the Hon. Mathew Holmes. A vote of thanks to the Chairman was carried by acclamation, and the Mayor having acknowledged the compliment, and thanked the meeting for the very great order which had prevailed, despite the strong feeling on the subject, the meeting terminated.