THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

West Coast Times, Issue 636, 8 October 1867, Page 2

THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

♦ MR PROSSER'S MEETING. A public meeting of the citizens, convened by advertisement, was held last evenlngjlt,tne Sawyer's Arms, Gibson's Quay, when*" Mr 3 ■•Pfiosser and other candidates addressed the' citizens. Mr Saukey was called to the chaii. Th\CiUlKirAN briefly 'introduced Mr Prosser tQ the meeting-. * Mr PRossek said that his reason in coming forward as a candidate was in consequence of a certain resolution which had been passed at a public meeting held at the Prince of Wales Opera House, and which was as follows: — " That this meeting views tho conduct of the present Municipal Council, as reprehensible and deserving of severe censure for persistingly retaining their seats in Council in opposition to tho long expressed wishes of the ratepayers." Ho considered that motion as a vote of want of confidence* and although he had never been asked to resign, the meeting did not deem it advisable to exclude him from that voto of want of confidence, and he might state, that had it not been for that vote he should not have appeared to tho citizens. It had been stated against the late Municipal Council by Mr Browne, and he (Mr Prosser) was sorry that gentleman was not present that "Ho wanted to draw tho attention of the Corporation to the accounts of the Corporation, which at the last moment had been placed before tho public. He found that the salaries were set down at L9SO for the year, whilst the actual payments made out of the pockets of the ratepayers were L2OOO j never was thero a more garbled statement put forward than the auditors had put forward. It was an assertion by a great statesman — " that figures might be made to conceal facts," and this was true with regard to tho statement brought forward by the Council j under a host of figures altogether wrong, they had concealed what wero the true facts. With regard to the question of salaries, he felt satisfied that having a good Town Clerk, they might do away with the rest of the officers. He considered that they had no right to employ either a town surveyor, or a town solicitor ; a town surveyor was not needed, and if they wanted legal advice they had only to go to a solicitor and pay t him for his opinion. He wished to state, that despite the statements that had been put forward by tho Council, that those who went into the Council would bo startled ; that instead of having assets they would havo a large debt of LI4OO to pay ; for the assets put forward 'by the Council, wero just such assets as were put forward by a bankrupt in his schedule — assets which looked very well upon paper, but which never realised anything. If he were returned ho should retrench, not so much in salaries as in the abolition of offices, and in employing only such assistance as was really wanted." He (Mr Prosser) was suro that they would all agree with him, in saying that after reading the balance-sheet, which had been published with every item detailed, that such- a statement was not warranted. Such a statemont as that ought to bo at once put down, for it was an injustice to those who had acted honestly for the public, and such base insinuations should not havo been made by a gentleman, who, from his position, ought to have been better informed befdro he made such an assertion. Mr Browne had stated that L2OOO a year had been paid in salaries. Now, the whole oxpences for working tho Corporation for ten months would ' not exceed L 2194, wliilst the receipts were L 7717, and tho balance would be left for expending on public works. Mr Prosser then reiterated a statement, showing t\)4tb tho working oxpences of the Corporatoon^bf Hokitika were less than those of Dunedin. Then as to the character of the assets wliich Mr Browne had characterized as so much * waste paper, ho (Mr Prosser) would say, that if it was true the rates wero valueless, such a slatemont might be correct, and the Corporation would then have no money to spend. Ho considered it to be the duty of tho ratepayers to incveaso confidence in tho Oownoil,

but instead of doing that, that gentleman (Mr Browne) camo forward and ran down tho whole aB illegal, and yet he asked to be elected as a member of an illegal body. With -regard to the employment of officers, he (Mr Prosser) must say, that considering tho level of the town had been taken he did not see the necessity of keeping a Town SurVeyoi', and it might also be desirable to do away with the office of Town Solicitor. He (Mr Prosser) had formerly proposed that the Town Surveyor should be allowed private practise, but it was carried against him, as it was stated private practice had interfered with the discharge of the public duties of former Town Surveyors He thought, however, that if his motion had been carried it would have saved a considerable sum in the expenditure. With those exceptions he did not see how they could reduce tho salaries much. There 1 was one item to which Mr Browne had referred; viz., the dhargc for printing and advertisements, and ho (Mr FYossor) had understood that Mr Browne had said that of that sum . only about LSO had been received by the " Evening Star ;" but Mr Browne did not tell {.lie l'eagon why that was the case, and it was this : that the tenders from the West Coast TniES were lower than those of the " Evening Star." Mr Prosser then read a report of tho various works which had been done by the Council, aud contended that, although in some thing 3 the late Council might have erred, yet, on the whole, they had done then 1 duty td tlie, ratepayers. He would- remind them that hi wovEing the first Council tbera were certain eXpences Which would never occur again, and this being the case the rates would necssarily be lower. In an address to the citizens on Saturday. Mr Swauston had said that,-" He wduld" refer to tho upi^r end 'of Kevell-Btreefc) and would ask lidVv it wa§ that important poi'bidn of the tortn had been solong neglected. » It was trite that fair promises had now been iridde respecting it, but why had it riot b"een. done, before. . He could refer them to anothpr fine piece of, management—they all k>ey/ thp protective workstbat had been elected opposite tho Empire right-of-way. Well, in the specification for that work, it was stated that the piles were ,to be driven eight feet by a monkey; well tho party who took the work was allowed to dig hole 3 aud put piles into- them. Ts T ow, if ihab had been known when the tenders were called for, he considered that a ele.tr aayiug of from LSO to LBO would have been eileeted, but, as it was the contract was [ given by the members of the Council out of pure favoritism." Kow, when it was found that the monkey could not be procured, the contractor was told that he would be required to do extra Work) a«d in consequence llle piles wore put closer together, and the works were protected with sand bags. The total cost of these v/orks amounted 10L147, and he (Mr Grosser) had been iriformea that tho materials for that work cost LBO, and if that wore the oasoj. when ;thci labor, was paid for, ho , could , seKrhow from ,LSO to LBO could have been fitted in that contract;, as stated by MrSwauson. That gentleman had accused the Council of favoritism in accepting the tender for that work, bub the fact was that the examination and acceptance of the tenders had been left to his Worship the Mayor, who had very properly accepted tho lowest* Having stated thus much with regard to these matters he might say that with reference to the old Municipal Council that if he had been asked by a majority of ,tn,e. ratepayers to. resign, he should havo dono so. They must recollect also that when he wa3 elected he was chosen over two other candidates, and he thought therefore that in consequence of not having been counted with the first Councillors, and not having been asked to resign, he should have been exempted from the vote of want of confidence passed at the public meeting at the theatre. If he had been in the Council when the rates were made, he should have objected 1 not only to the rates but ''to tho excessive nature of tlio assessment, and if he' had the honor to represent tliem again he should endeavor td get j/lie^assessment reduced. He was not in favor of^getting large grants in favor of Hokitika or any other municipality, because he thought that the money at tho control of the local government should bo spent in developiag the resources of the country rather than in improY4 51 o 2e towns. But he was in favor of establishing wards, and he would therefore, as muon*as possible, support the spending of the money in the various localities where it was raised. He thought that there was nothing olsejtp notice except tlie river, jlrdtection, and with' regard to that lie had always advocated obtaining the opinion of a competent engineer, in order to erect proper works before proceeding to lay out money on works which would- probably turn out to be of no use. In conclusion lie; would state that if he was elected he would do his utmost to promote the welfare of the town. (Cheers). After Mr Prosser had answered several questions, a vote of confidence iv him as a candidate was passed unanimously on the motion of Mr Jack, seconded by Mr Marsh. Other candidates, viz. : — Messrs Higghy M'Beth, and Cross, also addressed the meeting, and votes of confidence in them as candidates were also passed. Tho Meeting terminated with a voto of thanks to the Chairman.