TOWN COUNCIL.

Southland Times, Issue 3467, 1 August 1879, Page 2

TOWN COUNCIL.

. ■ : ** ..;;,, ,-..■ 1 An ordinary meeting' of the Municipa Council was held yesterday evening. Present—His Worship the Mayor (in the chair), and Councillors Johnson, J aggers, Kings' land, Frbggatt, Gooilwillie, Dunlop, and Roche. A. communication was read from the National -Bnnk : relative' to the Waterworks debentures. It was pointed out by the manager that the Bank was desirous of: giving the 'jna't'ter the fullest consideration, and that there was apparently a serious discrepancy Uetween the receipts and expenditure. "The matter., would require -the very fullest consideration. A second communication from the manager of the National Bank was being read, when Councillor- Jaggers! rose, and moved that the Council go into Committee. This was seconded. ' ■" :: f ;; Couucillor Ivingsland 'opposed' the mbtiOn. ; He did'not; know 'the~cdnterits of the communication that the Town Clerk held in his hand, but there must be soine i motive ' ■ f or< ■ treating tliel letter»iexceptionally. He totally objected to the iinprecedent6d r mannis'r; 'iQ which the letter . was treated, and 1 stigmatised. the conduct of the" Maypr, iji. ; Avithho|d.ingit?frbm the ■ view of members' ! a^s wrong. ■ , After some; .remarks from the. Mayor, the motion was amended to ailpV'of the major part of',the;busines3;.of i the evening " being transacted before the Council went into committee. ; It was eventually carried oh 'the casting, votb of ;the Mayor, and the reading of the letter was postponed. Councillor l?iug'slahd requested to be allowed to peruse the communication for his own information; . but : the Mayor refused permission, and retained possession of , the document. ' ■-, .. ,: / „ : Councillor Kingsland then moved — " That the letter bs laid;6n the table in order that' members may peruse it." • Councillor Johnson seconded. The Mayor ruled the motion out of order. ' ■-•._'..;■-. Councillor Kingshmd'' a nimarl verted strongly upon the action of His Worship. -The letter, he said, had been in the Council Chamber for spins days, and in accordance with an established rule it shouldhave been at the disposal of members." .The Muyqr had no right whatever to withhold the letter. ' The" Mayor rilled Councillor Kingsland out of order. ' L Councillor Kingsland, before resuming, -his-seat, said that, it was not the Mayor's f business to carry the correspondence of the Council about with him in his pocket, and characterised his action as unjustifi-. able. On sitting down, the speaker remarked — "Thank God, this is the last we shall -have of this, at" any rate." The matter then dropped, jOn the recommendation of the Fjnance Committee, accounts ;to the amount of £601 4s 9d wfere passed for payment The report of the Gas Committee was read and adopted. A tender for cartage from John Dewe was accepted, on the motion of Councillor GooEwillie. * ' ' The Inspector" of Nuisances reported that ths amount collected for dog taxes since the Ist April was £166, acd he had no doubt that', before the end of the year, this sum would be increased to £200. As there had been a great amount of labor attached to collecting the taxes, he asked the Council to give him some small remuneration for this extra work. He also reported -that' many of the planks in the street crossings would require renewing in South Ward, and some of the drains cleaning. Councillor Froggalt moved that the In- , spector be allowed 5 per cent, upon the amount of dog taxes collected. ■ Councillor 'Kingsland seconded. Councillors Jaggers and Goodwillie opposed, the motion on the ground that the . Inspector was already well paid. ' 'Councillor Jolinson moved 'as an amendment — that t consideration of the report* be<, postponed "until tlie first meeting of the new Coqncil. < I - ' V.l\ ' O , , This. was ,not seconded > -_^1 .j , , il> T.ho-:inotipn'+ was lo^t, -the.- mover ..and seconder only voting for it. The Cpuneil then went into committee , upon the letter J of 'the' Manager 'ofi the National Bank, and ultimately it was reBolved to postpone further^ consideration of it until next meeting. x , r . ( r.