STRATFORD.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 September 1920, Page 6

STRATFORD.

f TARANAKI DAILY NEWS. STRATFORD AGENCY. Advertisements and items of nevrs for publication should be left at the office of the local representative, NY. J. Wilson, next Union Bank. BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING. September 21. The ordinary monthly meeting of the Stratford Borough Council was held last night. Present: The Mayor (Mr. .T. W. McMillan), Crs. R. H Cameron, J. H. Thompson, C. Jackson, T. Lawson, W. J. Nawtori, C B. Walsh, ,S. B. Hunter, and A. Stewart. THE BOROUGH ENGINEER. The Works Committee report dealing with the question of appointing an engineer contained the following recommendations: —That tli2 appointment of an engineer be held over until after a poll is taken on the loan proposals, and that the 'Stratford County Council be asked to allow its engineer (Mr. J. W. Spence) to act as advisory engineer in the meantime; that Mr. E. F. Hollands (electrical engineer) be appointed acting borough engineer until a permanent man is appointed; that Mr. A. C. Russ continue to act as working foreman until the staff is reorganised. The clauses were discussed seriatim. . The Mayor reported, that he had waited on the Stratford County Council, which had agreed to allow Mr. Spence to act aa advisory engineer to the council. Cr. Jackson stated that the council had only itself to blame for its troubles, owing to having tried to get an engineer too cheap. Cr. Stewart said it was only a waste of time to have Mr. Spence's services, seeing that they were only available in the evenings and on Thursday afternoons. The* Mayor defended the action of the committee in arranging for Mr. Spencers services other than during the daytime. Cr. Newton supported the action of the committee. Replying to Cr. Jackson, the Mayor said that in the event of the loan proposals not being carried the question of appointing an engineer would be reconsidered. The loan proposals were being held up onlv owing to the nonarrival of Mr. felack's report on improvements to the domain.

Crs. Thompson and Hunter supported the recommendation oj the committee. The first recommendation was adopted, Cr. Stewart being the only dissentient. Cr. Cawefon moved the adoption of the second recommendation, and pointed out that -Mr. Hollands was an expert with machinery, and had exceptional opportuaities of getting round the streets and seeing what work was required. Civ Hunter seconded the motion. Cr. Lawson opposed the motion. He stated fiiat it was an absolute disgrace to the. town of Stratford that the Borough' Council could not appoint an engineer. Tiie Mayor ruled that the question of appointing an engineer had been dealt with. Cr. Lawson, continuing, said fliat Mr. Hollands had quite enough to do in the electrical department without being mixed up with other works in the borough. He contended that Mr. Rusa was quite capable of carrying on with the help of Mr. Spence, without taking Mr. Hollands from his present work, Cr. Jackson also opposed the adoption of the clause, declaring that the proposal was regarded as a joke by councillors and by the ratepayers. He was satisfied that Mr. Euss was quite competent to carry ;on until an engineer was appoinved. Cr. Newton supported the adoption of the clause on the grounds that Mr. Hollands was the best man to take charge of the men. The Mayor said it was necessary to 1 appoint someone to carry on the work of engineer, and Mr. Hollands was the bent available man for the purpose. Cr. Walsh opposed the clause, contending that it would have the effect of overloading Mr. Hollands. In reply to Cr. Lawson, the Mayor said the question of giving Mr. Hollands remuneration for the extra work had not been discussed. He did not think Mr. Hollands expected any more remuneration for the work. Cr. Thompson supported the clause. He stated that members of the Electric Light Committee, with whom he had discussed the question, had agreed that Mr. Hollands had suflicient time to carry out the work of engineer now that the re- , tail shop had been elosed. The arrange-ment-would also be a considerable saving to the borough. The recommendation was adopted by five votes to four, the voting being as follows: Ayes: The Mayor; Crs. Cameron, Thompson, Newton, and Hunter. Noes: Crs. Stewart, Jrfckson, Lawson, and Walsh. The third recommendation, regarding the appointment of Mr. Russ as working foreman, was adopted. A further recommendation, that the bell towers be given a coating of oxide, was adopted. Cr. Sanson gave notice of his intention to move that the resolution appointing Mr. Hollands as borough engineer be rescinded. ELECTRICAL ENGINEER'S REPORT. The electrical engineer recommended regarding an application by J. H. Goldup for an extension of lines on Flint Road, that the extension should not be granted at the present time, owing to other urgent work on the present lines. The cost o'f the extension would be £63 15s, and would not be a payable proposition, in the opinion of the committee.

The report was received and the recommendation adopted. BAND INSTRUMENTS. The Mayor said he wished to refer to several matters regarding which resolutions had been carried by the council and not put into effect. The first matter was in regard to band instruments. The council had decided to lend the Salvation Army two instruments, but he had ascertained that they now had five instruments instead of two. He had 110 objection to the Army having the use of the ins'truments," but he thought the extra ones should not. have been loaned without the consent of the council being obtained. What he did object to was tit e* council deciding one thing and doing something different. When a resolution was carried he wanted it put into effect at once according the expressed wishes of the council. The town cleric explained that the instruments were lent on the understanding that the Mayor Himself had given the necessary authority. The Mayor said he had never given tttch autfcerity if its had l : >S> \ V <i V v' ;E v

done so, it would only Have been witli the approval of the council. , The matter then dropped. CONTINUOUS TELEPHONE EXCHANGE. The matter of a continuous telephone exchange service was also brought up by the Mayor. He said that a resolution had been carried over twelve months ago in favor of a continuous exchange, and the matter was not fixed up yet. It should have been attended to promptly. The town clerk said that tFe petition for a continuous Telephone service had taken up a good deal of his time, and, after much battling, he thought he had sufficient signatures and presented the petition to the postmaster. Upon being checked it was found that the number of signatures was insufficient, and the petition was returned. He again got to work and added a few more signatures, and the Daily News reporter had also obtained a fair number. But it was hard work, because the business people were not unanimous on the matter, and signatures were sometimes hard to get. They had the full number of signatures of private subscribers, but he was not sure whether there were sufficient business signatures yet. The Mayor said that if the petition was not favorably received, the matter should have been reported to the council earlier. The council was being made to look ridiculous by the way mattere were being held up. In reply to a yuestion the town clerk said that the signatures of two-thirds of the business subscribers were necessary before the petition could come into effect. After further discussion on the advisability of making the exchange continuous, the council appointed Crs. Jackson and Thompson a sub-committee to assist the town clerk in completing the petition and presenting it to the postmaster.

DOMAINS BOARD. The council then sat as a Domains Board, the same members being present. The following report was received and adopted:—The fence at the croquet ground lias been repaired, and also the fence around the football ground. Notice boards have been altered as instructed. Plans to enable Mr. Black, of Palmerston North, to prepare his report have been forwarded to him. Mr. Masters, M.P., is endeavoring to have a clause inserted in the "Washing Up" Bill authorising the council to borrow money for proposed improvements. ft was decided that the matter of making temporary repairs to the of Victoria Park, opposite the school be left to the Works Committee of the Borough Council, with power to act.

general. ■■ The committee set up to make arrangements for circulating the petition to tlie Government praying that the freehold of the railway leases fronting Broadway central be granted, met last night and decided to at once proceed with tlie matter. Tlie borough was mapped off into blocks, and canvassers were appointed to take charge of each of tiiese. A public meeting in connection with the petition will be held next week. Some surprise has been expressed in certain quarters at the non-arrival of any official word from the AuditorGeneral regarding the difficulty in which the Mayor is placed owing to his firm having sold the Borough Council goods of a greater value than the amount allowed by the law. In the absence of official information the majority of ratepayers have ceased to worry about the ultimate position, and the Mayor is proceeding to complete his loan proposals for submission to the ratepayers. Ihe new by-laws for the borough are now being printed, but it will be some weeks before they are availah?e« for sale to the ratepayers. The by-laws contain some provisions which may be considered rather drastic for a town the size of Stratford, and if they are put into effect, the police and the borough officials will, no doubt, enjoy a busy time. At the present time,persons interested may inspect a copy at the council office. The Auckland City Council has asked the Stratford Borough Council to endorse a, resolution protesting against the new Land and Income Tax Bill in so far as it imposes an extra tax on local body debentures.

The Ngaere W.C.T.D. ptfebrated Franchise Day'' oil Saturday last bv holding an American Tea. The members met at Mrs. L. K. Tarant's, where a pleasant hcvi' or two was spent. A short riieeting was held, after which, afternoon tea was served. Miss M. Saunders kindly gave some musical items. A collection was taken up in aid of the Dominion W.O.T.U