CITY ORGANIST.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20906, 21 December 1929, Page 11

CITY ORGANIST.

APPOINTMENT OF MR GALE. NOTICE OF MOTION TO RESCIND. CO-OPTED MEMBERS IGNORED,

The following statement has been made by the Mayor (Mr R. S. Black) regarding the appointment by the council on Wednesday night of Mr Paget Gale as city organist:— “ It is a matter for regret that these should have been any cause for resentment on the part of the non-members of the City Council who were associated with the Finance Committee in the selection of a, city organist The gentlemen in question were, as -is pointed out by them, invited by the late Mayor, Mr W. B. Taverner, to be associated with the Finance Committee of the City Council. They have been of very great assistance to us, not only in the preparation of the duties and conditions of the appoint* ment, but also by their very exhaustive inquiries in other centres where town halls and organs have been established. The procedure outlined in the letter from those gentlemen correctly sets out the facts. At the meeting of the sub-com-mittee at which the original recommendation of the non-members of the City Council was considered there were* present eight persons, four members of tbe council and the four other gentlemen to whom I have referred [Messrs G. M. Thomson, P. R. Sargood, Alf. Fels, and A. S. Paterson]. I think I can say with assurance that of those eight persons seven were quite prepared to abide by the recommendation for the appointment of Dr Galway. I think I can go further and say that in that willingness they were concerned less as to a critical examination of tbe merits or demerits of the applicants than with a desire to agree with the wishes of the donor of the organ. I had myself perused tbe applications, and was quite satisfied that so far as ability to perform tbe duties of the office was concerned there was quite a number of perfectly eligible men on the list of applicants. For my part, any one of such eligible persons who met with the approval of the donor of the organ would have my support I think it a matter of very great regret that more members of the council did not take that view, for we surely cannot show our appreciation of such a wonderful gift to the city in a more tangible way than by giving full weight to any recommendation from such a source. The council is to have an opportunity of reconsidering the position, as tills morning I liave received a notice of motion to rescind the resolution arrived at.” THE NOTICE OF MOTION. Tbe notice of motion handed in by Gr Mitchell reads thus: — " I hereby give notice that at the meeting of the council to he held on a date to be fixed I will move that, in view of the facte (1) that.the council was not •* fully represented- when considering the question of city organist, and (2) that in all the circumstances greater consideration should have been extended to the strongly expressed wishes of the donor of the organ in making a permanent appointment, the resolution of the 17th Inst, appointing a city organist be and is hereby rescinded, and the council be given an opportunity to reconsider the decision therein contained.” CR CLARK'S COMMENTS.

Cr J. J. Clark makes the following remarks on the manner in which the deeiiion of tha council wa« reached:—" The position was made quite clear to the City Council that the fourth name was added by the Finance Committee, and was not in the original three submitted by the Advisory Committee. Furthermore, the letter of the Advisory Committee was read in full to the council, also the Advisory Committee's supplementary report, The council was fully conversant with the whole position before the vote was taken.” CO-OPTED MEMBERS’ VIEW.

The co-opted members—Messrs Thomson, Sargood,- Fels, and Paterson—in their original memorandum giving their opinion of the merits of the applications submitted to them, reported, inter alia: —“ Our view is that Dr Galway is the most suitable applicant to fill the position in a permanent way, and we recommend that he should be so appointed.”

TWO CITY COUNCILLORS ABSENT.

At the meeting of the council at which it was decided to appoint Mr Gale 11 councillors were present, the absentees being Mr J. W. Munro, M.P., and Mr H. C. Campbell (who has been granted leave of absence on account of ill-health). The selection of Mr Gale was carried by six votes to five. The council had the names of Mr Gale, Dr Galway, and Messrs Curnow and Davis I both of Melbourne) before it.