MR. JORDAN’S STATEMENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 13 May 1932, Page 5

MR. JORDAN’S STATEMENT.

(To tlie Editor). 'Sir, —-Mr Armstrong states that his Council was not asked to contribute to the Cemetery until 1930. He is correct to this extent that it was the tiist time that an official request for a contribution was made by our Council to his. But 1 thought it should not have been necessary td resort to formalities. I had for a long while prior to August, 192.), spoken privately to their chairman, Mr Balloon, to Mr Armstrong and other councillors pointing out that they ought to accept some responsibility for the Cemetery, but all to no purpose. The first occasion that it was mentioned in public was at a conference of local bodies held on 23rd August, 1929, to discuss the division of the auctioneers’ licenses upon which a raid had been made by the Masterton County Council. At that meeting I offered to hand over our stock auctioneers licenses to the Hospital Board if the Masterton County would make an annua. contribution to the Cemetery. Mr Falloon (their chairman) said he could not speak for his Council. Your report (of 21th August, 1929) of the meeting proceeds: — Mr D. McGregor: “Our County contributes regularly to the Cemetery” (at Carterton). Mr C. T. .Richardson (Ekctaliuna County): ‘' That seems a fair proposal.” The report credits me with saying: “Apparently the County wants to take all and give nothing.” At any rate they gave nothing and in that year we were compelled To pay £IOO from our rates in order to put the account in credit. In his letter of to-day Mr Armstrong states that in April of this year his Council made a grant of £3O ‘ ‘ without any request from us. Will he say that.he or his Council were not spurred to make this grant by a Government authority? One word more: Mr Armstrong states that in May, 1931, his Council declined our request for a grant ‘ ‘on the ground that it was necessary to reduce expenditure during that year.” Is it a fact that at 31st March, .1931, his Council had a credit balance of £7600 which had swollen by 31st March, 1932, to £9330, and is it a fact that at, or after, the latter date a bonus was paid to all or some of the office staff?—l am, etc., TITOS. JORDAN. Masterton, 13th May.