WALLACE COUNTY COUNCIL.

Western Star, Issue 2118, 29 May 1897, Page 2

WALLACE COUNTY COUNCIL.

SPECIAL MEETING. A speoial meeting was held on Wednesday. Present—The obairman (H. Hirst, Esq.)i and Crs Hare, Fraser, Ryan, Walker, Forde, Newton, and Carmiohael. The Chairman said the meeting had been called on a requisition signed by Crs Carmiohael, Walker and Ryan to consider a notice of injunction which had been served on the Council to restrain them from erecting offices at Otantau, and before discussing the matter he would read a letter from Cr Chewings, who could not be present at the meeting. The writer said :—" I cannot understand why this action has been taken by three members. It is putting the ridings to unnecessary expense, and the business could have been held over until the usual date of meeting. In any oaae, I hope no extreme measures will be taken without placing the matter before the whole council." Cr Carmiohael said as one who signed the requisition for tha meeting he did so because Cr Walker had been informed on very gool authority, that notioe of an injunction had been given, and that the clerk had therefore not carried out the express desire of the Council in the matter of writing to the arohiteot about the acceptance of a tender for the offioes. As no intimation had been sent to them by theohaitman, they were anxious to hear the truth in order that the oouncil might bo defended against any steps that were to be taken in opposition to their will. He was astonished at the express desire of the oounoil being ignored by the clerk— The Chairman: It was not ignored by the clerk. He noted under my instructions. Cr Carmiohael said ho would take it at that, but what they wanted now was for tha chairman to justify himself for not calling the meeting, and explain the nature of the injunction, its object, and by whom issued. The Chairman said if councillors were conversant with section 119 of the Counties Act they would know why action had been taken. That section said " The Council may from time to time provide and maintain public offices within the county, or, if convenient, beyr-nd the county, for holding meetings and for the use of its officers and fer transaoting publio business relating to the county and may purchase or rent land or buildings for such purpose, or m*y cause new buildings to be erected on any land belonging to or hired by the council." He called their attention especially to the last eight words. They would recollect when the resolution aco pting the tender was passed, there was no mention made of the laiid either hired or owned by the counoil on which the offioes were to be erected. Hence thfl notice of injunction. Cr Carmiohael asked that it be put on the table. The injunction was then read by the clerk. Three ratepayers were the plaintiffs, and it asked the Supreme Court to intervene to prevent the expenditure of money on buildings on land which did not belong to the council. The document had been duly registeied. Cr Newton asked if the Chairman was aware that the injunction had been lodged since the last meeting. The chairman said notification of the faot that an injunotion was to be lodged bad been served upon him on the Tuesday after the ] last meeting. Cr Newton : And you took no aotion with respect to it —you did not inform the councillors? 1 The Chairman said no. What he bad done was to instruot the olerk not to oarry ■ out the instructions received at the previous meeting. Anything further was unnecessary. At the last meeting he had informed Cr Carmiohael that their action was illegal. Cr Newton expressed surprise at the Chairman saying it was not Decessary to oall the counoil together. Cr Hare said he was of opinion that the Chairman had acted quite right. A motion had been passed authorising a certain thing, and when the ohaiiman found that the proposal of the motion was to do an illegal aot, he was quite wishin his rights in preventing the motion from being put into exeoution. Or Carmiohael moved that the injunotion be forwarded to the county solicitor in order to ascertain its value. In doing so he said if he thought that the chairman were not trying to assist afaotious opposition he_ would agree with Cr Hare, but he was of opinion that he was trying to burke the wish of the majority of the majority of the oounoil by delaying matters as muoh as possible. Had he called councillors together it might have shown that he had the interests of the majority of the counoil at heart. The chairman had found the clerk a ready confederate. The Chairman: I oannot allow that. You have no right to 'assume that. The olerk acted under my speoifio instructions. Cr Carmiohael: I simply say you found the clerk willing to do it. The Chairman: He could do nothing else, and he obeyed your instructions when you were chairman evpry time. Cr Carmiohael: Well, I withdraw the remark if it is objectionable. In conclusion he would simply say that there would no doubt be some laughter over the delay they had been occasioned, but there was -an old saying" He laughs best who laughs last," and they would soon learn the truth of it. Cr Watker seconded the motion. He

thought the chairman should have called them together in order that unnecessary delay might be avoided. When the time came he thought they would be quite prepared for too inj unci; on. Now they had it before them it was not the bugbear some thought it would be. Crs Ryan and Newton supported the motion, and condemned the chairman's action. Or Hare said he was pleased to support Cr Carmichael when he was in the right, but he would remind him that at last meeting he

(the speaker) had distinctly stated that the Council were premature in their action seeing they, did not own land. All the right they had to the land on which it was proposed to build offices was a promise from the Otautau Town Board to vest the section in the Council, and that promise was contained in an undated letter. That the injunction should go to their solicitor was all that could be done under the circumstances, and now that it had been issued they would have to wait until it came before the Supreme Court. Cr Forde said the chairman had as muoh right to call the Council together as he had to write to Mr Sharp stopping the work. The Chairman said reflections had been cast upon him for the aotiou he had taken. They were unwarranted The fact was that the Council knew at last meeting the/ were not in possession of any land, and had the contractor gone on with the erection of the oflßoes, he would have been stopped in the middle of his work. In his action he acted in the beat interests of the ratepayers, who would, he was sure, endorse the course he had taken. The Council hid acted irregulaily from the beginning. In instructing the clerk not to carry out the resolution he had clone so to protect the council from further consequences, and in what he had done he was borne out by their solicitor's opinion. There was no reason why the ratepayers should be put to the expense of a special meeting, when any councillor could have obtained full information from the clerk.

In replying Or Carmichacl said he had asked to see the notice of intention to lodge an injunction, and instead the injunction itself had been laid on the table.

.The Chairman said he had only got the injunction that morning, and he would state further that he was not in any way connected with it. As it showed, it was issued by ratepayers.

Cr L'armichael said if the injunction were only served that morning then the Chairman had had plenty of time to have called the council together to consider the notice. Regarding the legal aspect of the injunction they had yet to learn what lease meant in section 119 of the Act. They had a letter from the Otautau Town Board, an incorporate body, giving the land, and in order to expedite matters they had agreed to go on with the building pending the formal vesting of the land in the council by the Government 1 . Now the Council were forced into the expense of a lease pending the notice in the Gazette, and that was all the victory achieved by the action of the opposition.

The motion wag then put and onrriecL Cr Newton moved that the oonnoil disapprove of the notion of the chairman in connection with the injunction in so far as he did not take the earliest opportunity of calling the connoil together for the purpose of considering the situation. Seconded by Gr Carmiohael and carried. Cr Carmiohael moved that Crs Newton and the mover be autborUed to confer with the solicitor on the matter of the injunction, and that they be empowered to make arrangements through the architect with the tenderer to hold the tender available for the Council until next meeting. The Chairman slid that was outside the j business of the special meeting, but after some disoussion it was carried.