CHALLENGE HOLDS GOOD

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 509, 12 November 1928, Page 12

CHALLENGE HOLDS GOOD

CR. MURRAY AGAIN REASONS FOR WITHDRAWAL Nui satisfied with the report or the special committee of the City Council which reported on the allegations and insinuations made by him Cr writes The Sun as follows' The pertunctory manner in which th.* Investigating Committee of the Citv Council has disposed of the evidence on the "Murray. Charges” can well be illustrated by the omission of any reference to the dangerous state of the Upper Nihotupu dam, which was repaired about two weeks I had drawn attention to it (supported by the report of Mr R. F. Moore, engineer} and at a cost of several hundreds of pounds. No credit has been given me for bringing this matter under the notice of the Council. “It must be obvious to all thinking electors that it would be useless to expect the comrnitteee’s report to b« anything but of a ‘whitewashing nature.’ “In fairness to myself the reasons why I withdrew from the inquiry should be emphasised:—(a) The city solicitor wouid be present, whereas it was at the dis- ■ cretiop of the committee as to whether I should be allowed mine. (b ) The first set of official stenographer’s notes, ali ready taken, (varied materially from those taken by my typist and the presence of the latter was likewise at the discretion of the. committee. (c) The acceptance or rejection of any evidence I may have offered .was at the committee’s discretion. (d) It also had the discretion to exclude the Press at any particular period of the inquiry. fe) On the advice of my solicitor, who pointed out the danger of my placing myself in the hands of the committee was very great and under no circumstance would he agree to my attending, (f) I have always maintained that the inquiry should be unrestrictedly open to the public and Press. “I have challenged the Mayor and councillors to meet me on the public platform, and that challenge still holds good. It is very significant that there has been no protest, backed up by details, to the many' statements I have made at the many public meetings which I have addressed. At an early date T intend to reply fully to the latest lame effort to throw dust in the eyes of the long-suffering ratepayers as instanced in the council’s report. T applied to the town clerk for the production of the evidence taken at the council’s later investigation and upon which, in the main, its report has been based, but as with many similar requests T was refused. Tt is very significant that the finding i* based on the renort« of the very ofnoioTs conr-erned. I therefore leave it ♦he intelligence of the electors to place theb- own value unon such a report “The star chainher methods which have been adopted throughout toward me are such that it is more of an insult to electors than mv«elf. In MaY 'next, electors will have the opportunity to resent tt*e treatment whk-b thev hard Lapii nee' 1 to endure by the present