ROSLYN BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7777, 22 January 1887, Page 3

ROSLYN BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting'of this council was held last evening. There were present: Mr A. C. Begg (mayor), Crs Duncan, Farley, Jackson, Lindsay, Scott, Blanchard, Ferry, Fraser, and Dalziel.

A COHBECTION,

. The Mayor explained that the last meeting of coundil had been incorrectly reported m the newspapers. It was Stated that the motion for levying a special poor rate had been carried on the casting vote of the mayor. That; however* was not the base; The amendment rejected by the casting vote of the mayor was the amendment to, refuse payment of the contribution altogether. When the motion for levyitig a special poor rate came before the meeting it was carried unanimously.

Eight of the counciUors corroborated the mayor's statement.

Cr Jackson denied it, and said he had voted against the whole thing.

The Mayob said he was quite prepared to take the statements of the eight other councillors against Cr Jackson's word.

THE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY.

In reply to a letter from the mayor, the Premier wrote stating that when the-borough settled with the Charitable Aid Board the subsidy due to the borough would be paid, but not before. He added that the Roslyn borough almost stood alone in refusing to aid in the carrying out of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Acts, and that whether the borough chose unanimously to levy what it termed a poor rate or o^t^was of no interest to the Government.

The following is a copy of Mr Begg's letter to the Premier:—

A. H. Ross informs me that you said td hiW that the amount of subsidy to which the Roslyn Borough Council is entitled would be paid as toon as the council.arranged with the Charitable Aid Board as to its demands. As the settlement of thia demand depends yery much on the payment of tbis subsidy, will you kindly state' in writing for the information of the council that the subsidy in question will be paid as soon as the council arranges with the Charitable Aid Board. I may say that the matter of confirming th-; special poor rate unanimously resolved on at last meeting of the council will come up for confirmation at next, meeting, and I think the council's decision in the matter will very much depend on the certainty or otherwise of the subsidy being immediately available. REPORTS. The Works Committee reported recommending that no further action be at present taken with respect to the'turnstile removed from the Town Belt footpath by thegCity Council. The inspector had been instructed to intimate to the Dunedin and Suburban Gas Company that unless the lamp at the foot of Ross street is moved to the opposite side by a specified day the work will be done by the council. The inspector had been instructed to report on the alleged nuisance in Frederick street, and to have the nuisance in that street suppressed. — The report was adopted, and it was resolved to give notice to the owners and occupiers of land in Frederick street who were causing a nuisance by allowing their drainage to flow into the street to have the same abated. The Finance Committee recommended that no new works be undertaken during the next twelve months. They also reported that the bank overdraft was £1202. They recommended that the Hon. the Premier, having given an assurance_ that the subsidy is to be paid to this borough immediately upon a settlement being come to with the Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards, the council do now pay the' amount of contribution demacisd.—The reportwas adopted. DISTRIBUTION OF CHARITABLE AID. The Mayor said he Wished to move in a matter that had been brought uuder his notice by several ratepayers. At present the funds for charitable aid were expended by a committee in Dunedin, some of whom had the confidence of the public and others possibly had not. However, it was generally felt desirable that there should be some means of finding out how this money was spent, seeing that it was contributed by the public. This was a feeling that was shared by other local bodies, and it was only that day he was talking with a county counciUor who told him that the daughter of a gentleman who owned 1000 acres of the best land in Otago was receiving relief through this committee. He was told that cases of that kind were not uncommon. He would move— "That as the ratepayers of this borough are required to pay contributions towards the amount distributed throughout the whole of Otago by the Charitable Aid Board, the borough council request the board to furnish at regular intervals of, say, three months a list of those receiving chantable aid, giving their names and addresses, the amount paid to each applicant, and the grounds on which relief is sought." The motion waß carried, only two councillors voting against it.