ADJOURNED MEETING.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVI, Issue 995, 1 December 1883, Page 3

ADJOURNED MEETING.

Shortly after hood on Thursday, the following gentlemen took their seats at the Counciltable — viz., Messra Oudaille (Chairman), Bennet, Herbert, Mervyr, Sheath, Cotton, Fraser, M'Nab, and Buchanan.

The Chairman said there was no necessity for him to recapitulate what transpired at the meeting of the' previous day. Ho had consulted, as directed, the County solicitor, who furnished an opinion bearing upon the legality of that day's meeting in terms as follows :— If, at the annual meeting, a quorum be not present at 12.30 p.m., any Councillors or Couucillor present may adjturn the same for any time not later than seven days, and the clerk has the same power if no one is present. Notice must be given in writing to each Councillor of such adjournment. (See section 74 of "The Counties Act, 1876.") The proviso contained in section 81, requiring seven days 1 notice to be given of a meeting, applies to the first calling of the meeting, not to an adjournment, as provided for in section 74. I think when a quorum is present at the time stated, they might adjourn to any time they liked, the provision limiting the time referring 4konjyto^the oases of the absence of a quorum. to noon to-morrow, I think, is^^flrocly legal. The Chairman added ; Acting upon their solicitor's instructions, ho had the necessary notices served to Councillors of that day's meeting. However, if any of theft number

felt aggrieved or desired to protest against the legality of the proceedings, it was within the power of such a party to set the law in motion and endeavor, if possible, to upset any appointment that might be made. Mr Bennet would take exception to any appointment as Chairman that might be made that day. The terms of clause 81 of the Counties Act was very specific; it po vides "that every notice of meeting shall be in writing under the bund of the Clerk, and shall be sent to each Councillor bcvcii clear days at least before such meeting." The Council had previously obtained the opinions of two of the most eminent counsel in the Colony on tbo Bnme queslion, and these opinions were to the effect that siven cleuv days' notice must be given each Councillor before a meeting could be declared legallyconstituted. Mr Mervyn did not think there was any particular point worthy of notice iv what Mr ißennethad said ; for they mustbeur ill mind fcliufc this was an adjourned meeting. They could proceed wiih the election of Chairman, and if any of 1 he Councillors or ratrpnyers for that matter protested against any decision the Couno'l might arrive at, they were at perfect liberty to set the machinery of the Supreme Court in full ope »>i n

Mr Bennet persisted in his contention that 1 bepveseni, meeting was not legally constituted. He would lodge a protest against any resolution bearing upon the Chairmanship that might be agreed to that day. Mr Mrrvyi said they were fortified in any aclion that might be taken that day by the opinion of the Oounril's legal adviser. It. was absurd to talk about giving seven clear days' notice, when tho Act was so specific in its term 8 that an adjourned meeting must beheld within a period of seveu days of the adjournment.

The Chairman agreed with Mr Mervyn, Mr Bennet remarked that, before going any further, there wjis another matter he would liko to bring under notice. It was thia : Is there any truth in the rumor that has gained so much credence that the member for Teriot had tendered his resignation to the Chairman of this Council ? He (Mr Bennet) would like (his matter cleared up; for there was a good deal of talk about it.

Mr Frnser protested against this matter being brought before tlio Council that day. They were met for n specific purpose, anl the matter brought under notice by Mr Bennet. was not before them for consideration. He would support a full enquiry into th*} matter when the proper time arrived. Mr Mervyn had no objection to answer the question. Mes'rs Herbert and Bennet strongly protested against Mr Mervyn giving a reply to the question which had been addressed to the chairman.

I'be Chairman ruled the question out of order.

Mr Mervyn : I will answer tile question. I dirt 'tot tender my resignation to the proper officer of the Council . - .

Mi Bennet ; Did you not forwVrrl a coniitional resignation to the .Chairman f

Mr Mervyn : That's another question, and 1 decline to answer it, I will tell you again tnat I did not forward my resignation to (he proper officer.

The Chairman : I have to call you to order, gentlemen. We cannot consider a matter that is foreign to the business of this meeting. After some fur: her discussion,

The Chairman proceeded to give an accoi-n' of his stewardship for the past year. When he assumed the reigns of office, the Council hnd an overdraft at the Bank of £4,742 7s Bd, with liabilities on contracts (some of which bad just been entered upon, while, in other cases, the tenders had only been accepted) to the tvrao of £8,\02 14* 91, making a total of £10,845 2s sd. A policy of retrenchment had, therefore, to be pursued. He made it his business, in the first place, to reduce the number of surfacemen, and for the first six months did not call for tenders for any fresh works. The total number of contracts let during his term of offi.-e was eighteen, at a cost of £13,439 6* 2d ; and of these, three works had been completed — viz.. Footpath towards Tuapeka Flat (cost £57 15s), road to Remarkable Bush, Beautno it (cost £300, two thirds being contributed by Government), and culvert over creek near Brydie's, Clarks Fat (£30.) The remaining works undertaken during his term were — CnntracM7o, piers and abu* merits, Beaumont bridge (cost £5,575 15s - tb<a Grovernmont contributing £3000 by special role and £1931 16s 3d under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, the Council being liable for ihe balance, £643 16s 3d) j contract 173, abutments and piers Roxburgh bridge (cost £3826— Government contributing £3000 by special vote, and the Council being responsible for the balance out of ordinary revenue) ; , contracca zf*, lfo, and ITS, formation and j gravelling of Bungtowj road (cost £942 7a 10d--£235 11s Hid, or one-fourlh of the amount, being contributed by the Council, | the remaining three-fourths being granted under the provisions of the Roads and I Bridges Construction Act) ; contract 177, bridge over Wethersfones creek (£163 6s 8d) ; contract 178, gravelling road Waitnhuna to Waipori (cost £149 13s 41, towards which Government, granted by special vote £100) ; contract 180, road through Dickson'9 pro perly, Ranklebun (cost £590 6s 4i— a special grant oF £500 being received from Government for this work, the balance (exclusive of £100, compens ition for land) being found by the Council ; contract 181, for motion and bridge, block XI., Crookston {cost £568 163 Bd, three - fourths of 1 which was provided under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act) ; con- | tract 181, formation of Flume Hi 1 ! road, W.aitahuna Gully (£lll 13* 4d) ; contract 183, gravelling Tunpeka Flat road (£IBO 2< 10d) ; contract 184, bridge over Dochertv's crossing (cost |£521 12s Id- £391 4s o~£d being obtained under the Bonds and Bridges Construction Act) ; contract 185, formation in Munros Gully (£B9 7s Id) ; contract 186, road formation through Havelock commonage (£100) ; contract 165, road Beaumont to Millers Flat via east bank of Clutha River (cost £230— amount granted by Government ) As previously stated, the value of tbest; works was put down at £13,439 6s 21, towards which amount by special vote, Government contributed £7,030 and under the provisions o£ the Koads and Bridges Construction Act £3,454 18s B*d, leaving the Council to provide out of ordinary revenue £2866 12s sjr ), the greater portion of which would not become due for a period of six month. 3 . So far the Council had rendered itself liable to the extent of £1300 (equivalent to one-fourth) for works commenced under the provisions of the Roads and Bridges Construction Act. Chairman next read a statement showing that, tfep following Ridings will benefit to the extent named by the expenditure to which reference has already been made —namely, Browns, £302 17s lOd ; Waitahuna, £160 16s 8d ; Clarks, £130 ; Gabriels, £558 9s 8£; Beaumont, £743 16s 3d; Teviot, £826; Tapanui, £332 0s 6d. The Chairman anticipated that the probable revenue of the Council for the ensuing halfyear would be £5,200, which would be derived from rates, licenses and golflfielda revenue. Their overdralt at the Bank at the present time stood at £1073 8s lOcl, and their liabilities on works lately undertaken would amount to £1566 12? sfd, the payments towards which would extend over six months. The works completed during the past twelve months (according to a return forwarded by the Engineer) were as follows : — Gravelling and metalling, 2 miles : construction of new roads, 14 miles j Iraffio bridges, 3 j maßOury culverts (over 6ft span), 3 ; contract* prepared, 40; coniracts let, 18. The works in progress were— Construction of new roads, 7 miles 5 gravelling and metalling, 5 miles ; traffic bridges, 5. In addition to the foregoing, the Engineer reported that, a great deal of surfacing and repairing of rojds had been undertaken and a large number of culTerts and abort pieces of road had been constructed during the past year. One or two sharp encounters took 'place between Mr M'Nab and. the Chairman during 1 the delivery of the above statement, the former gentleman saying that the latter apparently took credit or works now undertaken, but towards which no payments had yet been made, as if the sama had been completed.

Mr Buchanan enquired if any deferred' payment monies due by Government had yet come to hand ?

The Chairman f^Yes ; £1300 was received yesterday. Mr Buchanan : Then that materially assists in reducing the overdraft. •

Some remarks were then made as to the ■illoealion of the deferred payment monies,, after which,

Mr M'Nab said the statement just delivered by the Chairman, purporting to deal with the finances of the County, was far from satisfactory. It merely gave" an estimate of the expenditure for the past twelve months on contracts let by the

Council, but did not touch on an expenditure of far greater importance to the ratepayers of the Coun'y — viz., the expenditure on day* labor, ihe day labor system was a most iniquitous system ; a great deal of money was expended on day-labor, and he would have preferred if the Chairman had d.»alfc with the matter in the s' atement he had just delivered.

! The Chairman said when he came into office last November, the Council had com 1 mitf ed itself to an expenditure of some £6000 on contracts, By giving the matter the fullest consideration, he had succeeded ' in getting these contracts completed during his term ; some of them had not been undertaken until within the last month or two, and in other cases the payments had been withheld for a length of time. Mr M Nab repeated that the Chairman's financial statement was defective in so far as it did not show the expenditure on day labor for the past year. He would say that the expenditure on day labor far exceeded the expenditure on contracts. He spoke advisedly ; and would go so far as to say that the expenditure on day-labor alone in Waitahuna Riding far exceeded the expenditure on works let by contract. It was only fair, therefore, that this expenditure on the daylabor system should receive far greater prominence then it did in the Chairman's utterances. Without some reference to the matter, the statement just delivered coul i only be stigmatised as detective.

The rihairman called Mr M % Nub to order, and insisted that tliafc gentleman take his seat or hn (the Chairman) would be compelled to make him do so.

Mr M'Nab defended his conduct, and insisted that the inform ition he sought should be supplied to the Council.

The Chairman said that when be entered office, he bad the number of surfacemen re. duced to thirteen ; but as he had been obH^ed to keep down expenditure and studjeconomy to sueb an exkenb, only two or three contracts were let during his term. Certain work, however, had to be undertaken, and as delays as far as possible had to be avoided, a greater amount hud been expended on daylabor than he approved of. So far as tbe re. turns, detailing the expenditure on the day* labor system, were concerned, Councillors were put in possession of all neccasary information by the reports submitted by the Engineer at each monthly meeting. Mr M'Nab took exception to these latter remarks of the Chairman's ; the Engineer's monthly returns did not supply tbe requisite informal ion.

The Chairman reiterafecl (hat the Engineer's reports, laid ou the table monthly, contained the fullest information on the subject.

A sharp pnssage-at.arms then, ensued be. Lwien Mr M'Nab and the Chairman in regard to this matter, the latter insisting (with considerable •warmth) that the Engineer's reports, with one exception, were laid on the tablo monthly, and contained the information desired by the member for Gabrieli«.

The Chairman next proceeded to say that during his term of office he had striven to do his level best to givo satisfaction to the Councillors as a body. Oft.tiraes they had differed, and hard Torda had been given utterance to. Personally, he did not b?ar animus to any of the members, and had striven to give as mv h satisfaction to one as to the other. To the officers of the Council, his best thanks were due; for they bad rendered him all possible assistance in carrying on the affairs of the Council.

Mr Buchanan wanted permission to say a WOrd Or two. A great nolae had been made about the extent of theov-rdraft when he left offi -c, the amount being set down at £4,720 ffe would ask the Council to bear in mind t'mfc very shortly after he left the chair, a sum of £1200 came to hind from Government, which, had it been received a little earlier, would hare considerably reduced the amount of the tlien overdraft.

Some further discussion then toak place, Mr Marvyn asking the Council to proceed with the business, as nothing was gained by this wrangling, it being a self evident fact that all the Chairmen when leaving office were anxious to put their best foot forward.--(Laughter)

Mr Herbert (to the Chairman) • Before you go any further, I wish to direct your attention to part of c)nwe 66 of the Counties Acf. It is provided therein that "any Councillor may resign his office by writing under his hand to the Chairman or Clerk." Did you or did you not receive a letter from Mr Mervyn tendering his resignation as member for Teviot Riding ?

Mr Bennet : The member for Teviot does not deny that he wrote to yourself personally, Mr Chairman.

The Chairman : You are ont of order in bringing forward this matter. We are met here for a special purpose, and anything relating to the presumed resignation of Mr Mervyn cannot be entertained.

Mr Cotton: I move— "That Mr Francis Oudaille be Chairman of the Tuapeka County Council for the ensuing year." Mr Sheath : Fll second the motion.

Mr Bennefc (to the Chairman) : I insist that if Mr Mervjn tendered his resignation to you some weeks ago, in the ordinary course of events he has no right to be here to-day. His seat should have been filled by some other gentleman.

A sharp encounter between the last speaker and the Chairman then ensued in regard to the question of Mr Merryn'a resignation. Mr- JBennet said the Liter conveying Mr Merryn's resignation hid been forwarded to the Chairman, and the latter denied point blank receiving the same. Mr Mervyn, on being appealed to, said h<? declined to answer whether he tendered his resignation to the Chairman or not. The duel between Mr Bennet and the Chairnm having at length terminated,

Mr Mervyn said he intended Toting for the motion before the chair lor a I wo- fold reason, which he would shortly slate : Last yenr, the members for James and Tapanui Ridings Blip* ported the candidature of a gentleman seeking election to the chair because that gentleman resided near to the Council Chamber. That was a most intelligent reason. In the next place, admitting that the Chairman required to lire near at hand to the County offices, th< question arose : Who is the most eligible of the lower Riding members for the position of Chairman ? Unhesitatingly, from bis o*wn particular standpoint, he (the speaker) would answer— Mr Oudaille ; and for the good and sufficient reason (h it he had always found him a man of bis word. He gave him (the speaker) whatever he promised, and that was more than he could say of some of his other colleagues. For no other reason than to mark his sense of appreciation of Mr Oudaille's ability and straightforward and reliable character as a public man, he (the speaker) would support that gentleman's candidature.

Mr Herbert : Verj good, indeed.

Mr M'Nab would say a few words before the motion was put to the vote. Some time ago, he remarked, the Councillors, to note the disapproval of the way in which the present Chairman conducted his duty as chief executive officer of the Council, passed a resolution that a Works Committee be ap pointed, and agreed that no contracts be called for or undertaken without the consent and full knowledge of the Committee. The Chairman completely ignored that Commit tee % he looked upon it with displeasure, because ha thought it was an attempt to curtail his power. He (the Chairman) would not attend the Committee's mcc ing, although invited to do so ; be took no notice of their resolutions or any suggestions the members, might wish to offer., In the speaker's opinion, the Chairman had exceeded his duties in allocating the £9000 granted to the Council under the provisions of " The

Roads and Bridgon Construction Act." The Council, as they were aware, applied for £12,000, which amount they resolved to expend on certain road* and works, but as the amount had subsequently lo be reduced to £9,000, the Ohairman look it upon himself to nllocuto the money. Why did not the Chairman call a special meeting of the Council and submit the matter to them as a body ?■ This showed^ what piwer he assumed and how arbitrarily he u-ted in carrying out the affiii'S of tho Council as its chief executive officer. He (the speaker) gave this as a sufficient reason why he should not support, Mr Oudaille's candidature for re-election to the ofßcßof Chairman.

There being no amendment, the motion was then put and declared carried on a division, the voting being as follows :— Ayes (5) : Messrs Buchanan, AJervjn, Sheath, Cotton, and Fraser. Noes (3) : Messrs Bennet, Herbert, and Sl'Nab.

Mr Oudaille returned his sincere thanks to the members of the Council for re-electing him to office. He would endeavor, as in the past, to give satisfaction to the Council and ratepayers alike, in the discharge of his duties. Re the charges brought against him by Mr M'Nab, which were deliberately fAlse —or, perhaps, to use a Parliamentary phrase, " untrue "

Mr M'Nab : There's not a member here to-day but what'll back up what I have said as being true.

The Chairman : You show very bad breeding, Mr M'Nab, in interrupting me so frequently. I can't say where you have been schooled, but really you're no credit to anyone.

, After 4 further slight exchange of civilities between* the Ohairman and the member for Gabriels,

- The Chairman resumed : The majority of votes in favor of his election to the chair was sufficient evidence that the greater number of OouneJ!fo'-s hod confidence in him, thus giving the lie direct to the statements made oy Mr M'Nab. He (the Chairman) had no objection whatever to the Work* Committee, but if that Committee passed senseless resolutions, he would, in the excercise of his discretionary powers, ignore such resolutions altogether. As to the allocation of the £9000 „ granted under "The Roads and Bridges Construction Act," he could not c-ill a special meeting of the Council, for the reason that he had only tvo days to prepare and forward the amended list of woks to headquarters. He knew full well that if the Council did not approve of the list prepared by himself, it was an easy matter to make amendments at the following ordinary meeting.

Mr Bennet intimated his intention of lodging a protest in due courie against the legality of Mr Oudaille's election to the chnir. After the rough minutes had been read, the meeting adjourned.