“NOT A CZAR.”

Otago Witness, Issue 3806, 22 February 1927, Page 9

“NOT A CZAR.”

A LOCAL BODY CYCLONTi < MEETING ENDS IN TURMOIL. JJf AUCKLAND, February 15. ’ Heated arguments at a meeting of thd J" Glen Eden Town Board this evening culminated in uproar, the chairman (Mr W« ■ H. Shepherd) calling in Constable Smith' to eject Mr J. H. Hayes, a member. There was a fair attendance of ratepayers. The trouble commenced when Mr Hayes and Mr J. M. West made formal objec- - tions to the minutes of the previous meet* ing when they walked out owing to an’ argument as to whether the meeting had lapsed for want of a quorum or not, ' They maintained that there was not at quorum present at 8 o’clock, the timo limit, and the chairman held that there was a quorum present before 8 o’clock, and everything was in order in continuing the meeting. The main objection of the two mem> bers was that the episode when they left the meeting <-was not correctly reported Several members joined in the argument The chairman finally stood up, and thump ing heavily on the table demanded a hearing. Mr Hayes: We all know you are chairman of the meeting, but you arc not czar of it. The Chairman : I demand an apology from the man who put that report in tho papers. I say the report was not true. Mr Hayes (shouting) : It was true. The Chairman: I move that Mr Hayes be suspended. Mr West: Such a motion is ridiculous. Mr Hayes.,: I wrote the report, and say it is true. What more do you want? Mr Shepherd: To imt an unsigned article of that description in the paper is a serious matter. I will stand insults from no one. ‘ I order you out of the room. Mr Hayes: You cannot. Mr West: You cannot make him go. Mr Shepherd (to Mr H. Croucher, the clerk) : Ring up Constable Smith to come along. In the meantime business will cease. The meeting waited for half an hour before the constable arrived, Mr West in the meantime quoting the law on the subject to show the chairman could not take such a step. When the constable arrived the chairman said he had suspended Mr Hayes, but he had refused to go. Mr Hayes: He did not suspend me. He ordered me out. He has been suspending people all night. Mr West: The law on the subject states that such a step is illegal. The Chairman: We are not arguing law now. At this stage Mr West retired from the meeting, stating as he went out of the door that he would not sit under such, a chairman. Constable Smith then perused the Town Board Act, and stated he could not find provision for the ejectment of a member. • The Chairman : It dees not say a mem- > ber cannot be ejected. The Constable (to Mr Hayes): Why not use a little sense, Mr. Hayes, and go out. You have the proper course for any redress. You will not lose any prestiga by leaving the meeting. The Chairman : If a man obstructs tlia business of the board he can be ejected. The Constable: I am in this position. 1 am not going to leave myself open for a technical assault. I will bo quite candid about the matter. After further discussion it was unanimously decided to adjourn the meeting until to-morrow evening. During tha evening Mr Hayes handed a notice of motion to the clerk: “That the board protests against the action of the chairman in withholding from the knowledge of the board certain correspondence from the Auditor-General, and demands that, the correspondence be produced.”