ELECTRIC LIGHT REPORT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 143, 9 August 1911, Page 5

ELECTRIC LIGHT REPORT.

PUBLICITY REFUSED. V' '.'t ■ [ BY A DECISIVE MAJORITY. , A special meeting of the Borough Council was held last night for the purpose of deciding on the publication or not .of resolutions come to by the July 17,th and 25th, the resolutions dealing with the matter of the purchase of the Electric Supply Company’s works. Present: Tnc Mayor, and Councillors Sangster, Boon, Ward, Healy, Morison, Lawson, King, Paget, and McAllister. The Mayor, in opening proceedings, said it was quite proper for certain Councillors to have asked that a meeting bo called, and if he had declined to do so they themselves could have taken steps in'that direction. He reminded Councillors that the subcommittee’s report itself could not be discussed —the only subject open to disciission was whether or not it should, be published. He moved that in view of the pending arbitration between the Borbugh and the Company it would be unwise, unbusinesslike, and detrimental to the best interests of the Borough to make public the report of the sub-committee. When the report was considered in Committee three Councillors refrained from taking part in the proceedings, and one .walked out of the Chamber. He maintained that those Councillors had failed in their duty to their constituent's.,

Cr. : Question. The Mayor said they had, if they allowed to pass through the Council one of -the most important matters ever brought forward without taking part ifi' the deliberations. Cr. Hehly : It would not have altered thq r position. > The, Mayor, said that when those Cpdnclllbi-s got . home they became hshamed of themselves, and ho did ' riot doubt that the ratepayers were ashamed of them. Therefore, apparently, they had decided to bring the question rip again by over-xiding a resolution come to by the whole Counfail unanimously. Everybody knew that m the matter of arbitration betWoen two parties it was desirable to keep things secret—it was a custom, it' a rule. , The ratepayers could not gain anything by the publication of-the report. Wixat they wanted was qi! repoft showing what they would have tb ; pay for the concern, which tyoiild-enable them to say, whether or flbt they/would buy it. Such a report fapuld only be prepared after the afbitriitbfs had done their work. If the subcommittee’s report was published the Council would be the laugh-ing-stock not only of Stratford, but of every pert of New Zealand. If the arbitrators were told the amount of tlje proposed goodwill they would carry on their valuation with one eye on the goodwill and one on the plant. Cr. King: It is human nature. ' The Mayor said it had been stated that all the arbitrators had to do was to valife the material in the company’s' .possession, but actually there was the labour of erection and a thousand and one other things to value. No commonsense man woidd wish to have the report made public. Cr. Paget had been “frothing” ever since, the previous meeting to get on the platform with the report. For what reason? Merely to pull it to..pieces and to mislead the public. A report of the kind would be misleading. .. .... .. , Cr. Paget: I think it would be. The Mayor said he did not in the least object to Cr. Paget going on the platform, but why could lie not wait Until the arbitrators had finished ? If he (the Mayor) was the first to take the platform, and he misled the ratepayers, then Cr, Paget could come after him and put them right. Cr. Boon seconded the motion. It was only natural, he said, for the arbitrators to consider the goodwill when valuing the plant. At the Previous meeting the Council had discussed . the question, and he thought they had passed a resolution to the effect that it should not bo. The Town Clerk said there was no record of such a resolution.

Cr, Boon concluded by stating that if the report was published the ratepayers vvould see only one side of the question. Cr. Morison opposed the motion. He thought it was unwise for Councillors. especially the Mayor, to use such language as the Mayor had—it was liable to cause irritation. Any hood which might come out of the discussion would come from action very different to the Mayor’s. Personally he was not ashamed of himself in regard to tho stand he took at the' previous meeting, and ho did riot ■tlunk his constituents were ashamed of him. It was not right for tho Mayor to say that no commonsense man would desire to see the report published. Ho held himself to be a commonsenso man, and bo certainly desired to see the report published. ,The publication of the report would very soon end the matter. Ho believed that tho rate-pay-ers. far from being ashamed of himself arid those who acted as he did, would support them. He desired that the public should know that he was solidly' against carrying negotiations through in the present fashion. Cr. Healy also opposed the motion. He saw no reason for-keeping back the report. Ho thought the Council would (as the Mayor said) be a laughing-stock as soon as tho public got to know what the Council had adopted. Tho New Plymouth Borough Council had recently got expert advice , on the question of building tramways, and the whole of those expert reports had been published. Cr. King: There was no question of arbitration.

Cr. Sahgster said the chief thing which caused him to sign the requisition for the meeting was to oblige the ininority, who, in a sense, were out df colirt after last meeting. Tlpit evening they met to make the best they could out of it, and the opinions of Councillors, whether in the majority or the minority, should be respected. The best course was to call a meeting and have done with it. He thought it would be impossible for the ■ valuators to agree without the services of an arbitrator. If the report were published without explanation it would do harm to the negotiations, though he did not know tliat it could alter the position, as the .Council had already entered into an agreement with the Company. Cr. Paget: How? Cr. Sangster: 'i be Town Ch-rk has notified the Company that the Council has accepted the terms of its offer. Cr. Paget said that before going into the question of publishing the report he would like to know wny ft was not desired to publish the resolutions, come to in committee. One resolution had been passed, and at the next meeting it had been ignored in the interests of the faction which had decided to make the Borough take oyer the undertaking at a ridiculous figure. For reasons given ho had retired from the second meeting, and in similar circumstances he would do so again. There was a minute on the books showing that the report had been adopted in open Council, which

brought' it legitimately before tiie ratepayers. Tx.o Mayor denied that the report bad been adopted in the manner suggested. Cr. Paget said ho was relying c;; the minute-book itself, and could not bo held responsible for any mistakes in it. At the sitting in open Council a momentous conclusion had been come to—a decision entailing on ratcpayers an expense of at least £SOO for arbitrators. No doubt other Councillors would dispute the amount mentioned, but even if it were only £l5O, the ratepayers should bo given an opportunity of saying whether or net they wore prepared to incur the expense. There was nothing which could damage the movement so much as the Star Chamber methods employed up to the present. He was not objecting to the Star Chamber methods, but he did object to the ratepayers being let into a big expense; and lie believed that if negotiations failed the Council would have to bear the whole of the expense. The Mayor said the report was misleading. The Mayor: I did not say so. I said that to publish tiie report, would be misleading. Cr. Paget said the report would bo misleading to nobody but child-ren-—it was so transparently simple. He could see nothing in tiie report which could influence the arbitrators. An important resolution iiad been passed regarding the Company’s ofrer, and he wanted to know why it had not been made public, together with the action taken by the Company as a result of it. The offer for goodwill had boon accepted so far as the Council sitting in committee could accept it, but tne report dealt only with the goodwill, and could not influence the arbitrators. Tiie report had been adopted in open Council, and so far as he was concerned ho .would discuss it with any person he 'chose. Further, ho would read it from the platform and would do so on the authority of the Council’s minute-book. Ho did not desire to do so, but would take such action if compelled to. Ho had nothing to gain and nothing to lose, except the good opinion of the ratepayers, as, indeed, all Councillors Jiad. Ho hoped all Councillors would have enough confidence in the report and in the sense of the ratepayers to have the report openly discussed. Ho would take steps to prevent himself being made a dummy at the Council table. He saw no reason for withholding publication, and would be willing to near reasons, quite apart from the personalities introduced by the Mayor. Cr. Ward thought the sub-commit-tee brought down its report on the understanding that it would not be, made public. The only way to make the report publishable was to eliminate all figures. Cr. Paget always spoke of the necessity of appealing to tlio ratepayers when the matter did not deal with himself, but when the matter affected himself he was careful to let the ratepayers know as little about it as possible. He could toll-Councillors a lot of things in this connection which the ratepayers would like to know.

Cr. Paget rose to a point of order, objecting to the innuendo used. One of the Council’s by-laws expressly made it disorderly for a Councillor to impute had motives tp ahothcr. The remark made was undignified. Innuendos were stabs in the back which a gentleman made no use of. He asked that the expressions used, be withdrawn.

The Mayor . aid he nl :i it see a point of order in the matter. Cr. Ward continued that to publish the report would make the Council pay through the nose for the undertaking. Cr. Lawson also supported the motion.

Cr. McAllister said he had presumed they would hear reasons why the report' should be discussed in open Council, but these reasons had not boon given, and the Councillors signing tlie requisition owed tho Council an’ apology for bringing Councillors out to waste a night. The Mayor, in reply, said Cr. Paget could not use the report on the platform. EVeu if it had not been taken in committee, a member could not use anything which the Council by resolution had decided should not be published.. After the arbitrators had finished their work—(Cr. Paget: At a cost of £soo)—the ratepayers would have ample time to consider the question. In any case, the Council would have to take the risk of losing tho arbitration expenses. On a division the motion was lost, only Crs. Paget, Healy, and Morison voting in favour of it. Cr. Paget then went on to deal with a committee resolution, whicn, for convenience was c.-siguate 1 Rtsolution A. This motion, moved by nimself and seconded by Cr. Morison, bad been supported ly a Inge majority, and it was not fair to those who supported it tnat it was not reported in open Council. He had his responsibilities to tho ratepayers no less tnan the Mayor and other Councillors. and ho had moved the resolution in the interests of the ratepayers. Ho uul nor rninK it would prejuuice anybody. Cr. Sangster seconded. He did not see that the motion would do any harm or any good. The Mayor: Wo have to watch Cr. Paget—we never know what his next move will be.

Cr. Paget said ho differed, and that heartily, from a number of other Councillors, but ho did not impute bad motives to them; and he hoped they would not. do so to him. The resolution was defeated, the Ayes being Crs. Paget, Sangster, Healy, and Morison. Cr. King did not speak or vote on either of tho motions submitted.

The meeting then terminated