TIMARU BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Timaru Herald, Volume LX, Issue 2356, 30 March 1897, Page 3

TIMARU BOROUGH COUNCIL.

A special meeting of the Timaru Borough Council was held last evening, the Mayor and all the Councillors being present. The meeting was held m pursuance of a resolution moved by Councillor Mac* Intpsh, "tp consider the readjustment of the staff." The question was asked whether the Council should go into committee, m order, to give greater freedom of discus^ sion, and it was decided not to do so. Councillor Macintosh said he had a scheme which he thought would tend to the advantage of the working of the Council, and effect a saving of something over £200 a year. At present fcbeir expenditure was unduly high, and as they had lost about £750 m the rent of the RaincHff reserve they were, involved jn. a good deal of thought and scheming to enable.' ttiem to live within their income. He proposed to deal m order with the office, the waterworks, and the works department. The first proposal dealt with the office staff. At present they had Mr Lough at £300 and Mr Dennehy at £162. He had two alternatives, to propose : that the town clerk dp all the work at £375, or that the town clerk be paid as at present and be assisted by/ a cadet at £65 or £75 a year to d 6 the routine work. They had now two men qualified to act as town clerk, and he did not think that there was work for both of them at their present salaries. It was hard lines for a qualified man to be retrenched, but when their income was falling it was necessary to deal: wtih the matter. They might be told that a cadet could not get through the work. There was a great deal of detail 1 'work done unnecessarily, especially m the way of collecting accounts. The system adopted by other local bodies of sending out accounts and requiring ratepayers to call and pay, or have the law put m motion against them, with, the penalty of 10 per cent to make up for losses on overdraft incurred while waiting for the i rates to come m, instead of sending a collector round at the' town 'clerk's salary. He considered .that a cadet to do the routine work, and the town clerk to do his present wor,k, would answer admirably, and it would Sfive about £90 a year. As the first part of the programme he would move "That it be a recommendation to the Finance Committee m preparing the estimates that they consider the advisability of dispensing with the assistant clerk, and provide for employing a cadet at £75 per annum." Councillor Storrier said he would second it if the cadet's salary were struck out, and Councillor Macintosh agreed to strike it out. After a pause, Councillor Hole said he had been waiting for some councillor to say something m favour of the motion, for Councillor Macintosh had not done so. They ought to have some explanution of how it would work. It sometimes, and even often, happened that the town clerk was away, and at present the office was left under efficient management ; the ratepayers would not care to see them employ boys who could not be depended on. A proposal to reduce 'salaries might meet the views of some councillors, but doing away with the assistant clerk would not. Cduncillor Macintosh complained of the officers going round the town collecting. This was not for the councillors but for the ratepayers to object to. If the ratepayers chose to pay people to call upon them ! that was their affair, and it was not conjtrary to the practice of other boroughs. The resolution w«s made worse by striking out the amount, because there was no saving shown now ; the resolution would not prevent the reappointment of Mr Dennehy as cadet at his present salary. It had not been shown that the work could be efficiently done for less money. There were many arguments against it; none had been brought Up m its favour. He denied that they had lost £750 on Raincliff; they did not intend to lose as many pence. He objected to the motion, as it contained no promise of reduction. Councillor Storrier said that if they wanted such a good accountant as assistant they should pay him ; he did not think they did want two competent accountants. He did not think they needed a cadet at £75 and he refused to second it at that. He believed they could get one at much less, but he would reserve the right of moving to omit the cadet altogether when the estimates came up, as he did not believe that they required two men m the office. Ly ttelton had a rate roll equal to that of limaru, and one man did the office work at £263. Sydenham was a larger municipality with smaller office expenses. Councillor Storrier mentioned also Mackenzie and Levels County Councils as bodies dealing with large rate values and large districts with much smaller staffs and salaries. He expected that m the future the Scotch system would be adopted, having a solicitor as town clerk, employing a clerk fpr routine work, but this reform would not be adopted yet. Most of the local bodies were now overmanned, because they did not like to retrench the staffs they took on when they: had plenty of money to spend. .Necessity, however, was a hard taskmasker to them as individuals, and as trustees for the ratepayers they must not let 8 entiment ctand m the way of their duty. Councillor Stumbles pointed out that the Borough Council had a number of different rates to get m which County Councils have not.— (Councillor Storrier : Lyttelton has.) — Councillor Stumbles spoke of the number of scavenging notices to be sent out, and proceeded to condemn cheeseparing, which, as a large employer, he had never found to pay. They had never any complaints against the office as they had elsewhere, and where would be the saving ? They would put on a boy, and m a few years his salary would be raised to. what the assistant's was now. The only purpose of the resolution was tp make the ratepayers believe that wonderful things were going to be done for them, whilst it wou'd be a disgrace to the Council, or any public body to go m for any such cheeseparing.— (Councillor Storrier protested against motives being imputed, and Councillor Stumbles withdrew his imputation ) -Heshowed that at Oamaru office salaries are £38 more than at Timaru. " Councillor Keith aaid it was always Unpleasant to cut down salaries, but they, must do their duty. JNo doubt Mr Dennehy was a good servant, worth all he got ; but it was not a question of Mr Dennehy, but whether they could get the work dono cheaper. There was nothing m the remark of Councillor Hole that the town clerk might be away. Most of them had to leave their business for a short time m charge of a boy, and they had found everything all right when they got back, and there was the mayor to see that things went on properly. He referred to the Harbour Board as a body with many accounts to keep, who had only one man and a cadet; and that at Oamaru there are four officials to be paid with £38 more. He agreed that the town clerk should not deliver notices but post them, nor collect the rates which ratepayers should call and pay, as some do. It would not be wise to take a boy new from school ; they would want one with spme experience of office work, and they could get hundreds of them at £1 a week. He proposed that £52 a year be inserted m the resolution. Councillor Macintosh would prefer to make it £,60, and this was agreed to. Councillors Hole and Owers moved as an amendment -''That the question of town olerk's and assistant's clerk's salaries be held over until considering the estimates, with a view of seeing whether any reduction can be made." In the course of a discussion on this pVo^e'al Couuoiltot Keith eaid the;

were met there that night specially to lessen the work when they were on the estimates, and the amendment left the workjae it was. Councillor Shepherd spoke against the original motion. The assistant vras a very good man ; the books were splendidly kept; the Government auditor said so, and the town clerk came op from Oamaru to look at them. Why get rid of a man who could keep their books so perfectly P ; .-•'; c\ f/> ■■. Councillor Macintosh m commencing his reply said he did not believe m cheeseparing If they retained their present staff, by all means give them their present salaries, and if they had to retrench let them do it thoroughly. Salaries m mercantile offices had fallen 35 to 40 per cent., and he thought they should get a reduction m the Council's office, not by cheeseparing, but by em- 1 ploying a qualified cadet, not a mere boy. It was said the town clerk was often away unwell. Should they pay £95 a year for that contingency, and als6 pay the Mayor £100 a year to supervise everything? Oamaru had been mentioned as paying more m office salaries. Oamaru had a population of 5000, Timaru only 3000. He objected to the collecting system as unfair to prompt ratepayers that they should have to pay a collector to get m the rates from others. He had laid his ideas as to the office before the Council, and if they were not carried," of course the finance committee would riot effect anythiug. The amendment was then put and carried, there voting for it Councillors Sole, Owers, Stumbles, Sherratt, Mair, Bennett, and Shepherd; against it, Councillors Keith, McQueen, Storrier, Macintosh, and Hawkey. The Mayor had intimated that he favoured the amendment.; \ .:: '"' The foregoing discussion occupied about an hour and three-quarters. Councillor Macintosh next moved and Councillor Storrier seconded—" That it be a recommendation to the finance committee that they take into consideration the advisability of letting the work now done by the contractors and the reservoir-keeper m one contract, on the expiry of the present term." Themover lost his right; to speak by signing and giving his motion to the Mayor before speaking. The Mayor suggested that the inspector ought to be consulted about such a proposal, arid Councillor Storrier said the committee would as a matter of course consult him. „ :i Councillor Owers eulogised the work, of the present contractors, and deprecated doing anything that would endanger the continuance of a steady supply of: water, and Councillor Stumbles spoke to the same effect. Councillor Keith pointed out that while the contractors have 14± miles of race to keep m order, two men at £100 a year each, and one house between them, the caretaker has only 3 miles, and the reservoir, at £104 a year, with a house and 9 acres of land. If the. work was let m one contract the remuneration could be equalised. The matter should be referred to the Waterworks Committee as w6ll as the Finance Committee. Councillor McQueen mentioned that the contractors have extra work and extra pay m repairing jobs. , .;, Councillor. Hole spoke at some length m condemnation of the proposal ; there was no saving promised by it, and that was what was professed to be gained. ■ Councillpr Mair supported the motion. The Mayor pointed put thut it would not answer to let the reservoir end by contract because the reservoir caretaker has to keep a check upon the contractors reporting if the water supply Is not kept up. The Council must have an independent man there, under the orders of the inspector. v Councillor Hole moved as an amendment- ♦♦ That the Waterworks Inspector be asked if he can recommend any saving m bringing the water into Timaru by letting the work from the headworks to the siphon on this side of the reservoir m one contract, the same to be laid before the waterworks committee for them to report to the conncil before the estimates are considered," Councillor Owers seconded this. Councillor Keith contended that the two motions were the same m effect, with different committees named to report. Councillor Hole amended his proposal, to include the finance committee, and on this Councillor Macintosh withdrew his motion m favour of the amendment, which was carried unanimously. Councillor Macintosh then said that he would so no further with his proposals. The Council seemed to think t absolutely impossible to make any improvements m the management of their affairs, and it was no use going any further. He would leave the matter as it was to the next election. The ratepayers could see from the attitude the Councillors took up that they were against any amendments m the system. Councillor uoie objected to such remarks as these. The Council rose at 10.30 p.m. There are now about fifty-four lady commercial travellers "on the road" representing London firms. The acme of politeness was reached by a mining superintendent, who posted a placard reading :—" Please do hot tumble down the shaft."