RATEPAYERS' ASSOCIATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13206, 13 February 1905, Page 4 (Supplement)

RATEPAYERS' ASSOCIATION.

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting.of the Ratepayers and Householders' Association was held on January 2? in the Choral Hall, and was fairly well attended. Mr J. Millies (president), who'occupied tho chair, moved the adoption of the annual report, which has already been published. In doing so ho explained-that the annual meeting should have been held in December, but owing to. the date being near Christmas, and the Drainage Board elections coming off in January, it was thought i better to. defer it. He thought the executive could fairly claim to-have carried out the wishes of thoso who had elected it 12 months ago.—(Applause.) It had been stated in tlv newspapers and circulated pretty widely that it was the wish of the executive, or of the ratepayers, to harass tho engineers—espueiitlly ot tho Drainage Board,—but he could .safely say, so far as tho engineer was concerned, such matter had nover been brought before their meetings. It had never been mooted that they should attempt to oust, or do away with, the engineer of tho Drainage Board. All the executive wished—and all the ratepayers wished —to do was to guard their interests 60 far as an expenditure of, money, not only over Drainago Board matters, but in City Council matters, was concerned. In reading over the report they would find their attention had been almost confined to the Drainage Board, but they. had also taken- an interest in the affairs of tho City Council. Perhaps they had not done all thoy might with the City Council, but it was better to do one thing at a time and do it well. They had now members on the Drainage Board of their own selection, and those members had gone there with a fjco hand. They were not bound in any respect. Tho association expected them to do their duty, but did not expcot them to harass the officers. He was sure that was not the intention of tho members. They could put the utmost confidence in them that they would see fair play not only to the engineer and officers, but to the ratepayers also—that was, in the expenditure of money.—(Applause.) Tho board borrowed money on debentures, and that money was raised upon the ratepayers' property, and though members' of the association might be small property-holders, t.liey had a right to guard their small holdings just, as much as the larger holders. As far as tho City Council was concerned, thero was need to watch its operations.— ("Hear, hear,") Going about the streets of Dunedin they must have been struck with tho way public works were carried on. The streets were first dug up by one lot of men and then put down by another lot, and it seemed as if there might bo two councils controlling the work in them. Tho whole of the money so expended came from tho ratepayers, so it behoved the incoming executive to investigate municipal matters.— (Applause.) Captain Stewart seconded tho adoption of the report, and said he regarded the fact of the comparatively small attendance as an indication that tho ratepayers had tho utmost confidence in the association. Tho report was adopted.

The following office-bearers were elected: President, Mr J. Miles; vice-president, Mr J. Connor; secretary, Mr Hugh Mitchell, at a salary to be fixed by the executive; treasurer, Mr W. A, Newman; and executive— Messrs R. Brinslpy, 11. E. Stephens, A. Meggett, J. Neil, John White, \V. Asher, H. Spiers, B. Greenwood. George Mackie, F. W. Croxford, J. H. Wilkinson, — Harris, J. Benson, H. Mitchell, and Geo. Urecn, with power to add to their number. A r otes of thanks 1 were passed to tho president for .the past year (Mr Millies), Mr J. Small (a member of last '-car's executive), and also to the executive as a whole.