THE HAMILTON BOROUGH LOAN. Statutory Meeting of Ratepayers

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2133, 11 March 1886, Page 2

THE HAMILTON BOROUGH LOAN. Statutory Meeting of Ratepayers

In accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act. a public meeting of the ratepayers of the Borough of Hamilton was held at the Council Chamber" on Tuesday evening to consider the proposal to raise a loan of t'fiOOO, to bo expended in public buildings and the improvement nf the domain lands. An it was understood that the meeting would be of a merely formal character, the attendance was not large. About thirty ratepayers were present, and the chair was taken by His Worship the Mayor. The Chairman stated the object of th<* meeting. He said the matter hud been fully discussed at a recent meeting and a resolution favourable t« the scheme had been unanimously agreed to. He would not, therefore, take up their time by going int*) details again, but would be prepared to answer any questions that might be put to him. Mr Keep asked whether the site of the public buildings had been fixed. The Mayor said nothing definite had been done, but he could safely say that the buildings would be erected near the bridge, so as to be convenient for residents on both aides of the river. The main object of the present meeting was to fix the day for taking the poll, as no matter what decision the meeting might come to the vote would have to be taken. The Act provided that the day must be not less than seven days nor more than 21 days after the holding of the present meeting. He would suggest that Wednesday be fixed upon, as it wai market day and ratepayers living in other parts of the province could come lo Hamilton by train and return the same day for the Saturday return fare. Capt. McPherson thought the object of the meeting wa? to discuss the proposals. He would say at the outset that he was strongly in favour of the loan, provided only that it was properly administered. He was equally in favour of Sir Juliux Vogel's ten million loan with the same proviso attached. He h&d been told that the scheme would be a good thing, and he was quite prepared to believe it, but he lamented the absence of any definite plai^ &c. to guide them. His only doubt was as to the ability of the council. Concerning the site of the buildings, that was a matter they might safely leave to the mayor and councillors, and he for one did not care whether they were erected on the west or the east side. It was high time that the petty jealousies existing between the two sides was buried. (Applause.) But in respect of the other expenditure, he thought the council had not taken the ratepayers sufficiently into their confidence. The proposals were not explicit enough. What was to prevent the council changing their minds? As they had seen by the report of the previous night's meeting of the council, the mayor had changed his mind in regard to the matter of contributing to the Hosnital Board. The mayor had agreed to act in concert with the counties. [Cries of 11 Order."] The Mayor said Capt. McPherson was scarcely in order in introducing the hospital and charitable aid question. Capt. McPherson said no reliance was to be placed on the mayor and council. Cr. Scott : Not all the council. Capt. McPherson : I shall come to that presently. I intend to do you justice, Mr Scott. Mr Trewheellar said the feeling in his mind when he moved the resolution at the previous public meeting was, that they could trust the mayor and council to carry the scheme into effect. If the members of the council did not possess the confidence of the ratepayers they would not be where they were. Mr C. J. W. Barton, as the seconder of the motion referred to, quite coincided with Mr Trewheellar. Capt. MoPherson said he would not be " shut-up " by a packed party. Mr Knov deprecated the tone adopted by Capt. McPherson. He believed the council might be trusted to act honestly and fairly by the ratepayers. Much, as councillors differed from one another in many other questions, they were perfectly unanimous upon the subject of the loan, and surely that meant something. He sincerely believed that they could not get a better council. The body was truly representa tive and might safely be trusted. Capt. McPherson moved that the meeting be dissolved and no further action be taken, for the reason that a burgess who attempted to speak had been hooted down. The Mayor said Captain McPherson must remember that he was speaking to men quite as respectable as himself, and must not indulge in such language. Captain McPherson declined to allow the mayor to lecture him. The Mayor said he had no desire to lecture him, but he strongly objected to the words "hooted down." Captain McPherson said he had used the words in the heat of argument, and would withdraw them (Hear, hear). Mr L. O'Neill moved " That this meeting again confirms the desirableness of raiding a loan of £0000 for the purpose of erecting public buildingfe and improving the domain lands, and leaves the matter in the hands of the council." This was seconded by Mr R. F. Sander. Captain McPherson wished to add to the resolution a statement to the effect that he had not been .ill' > wed to apeak, but the mover objected, and some desultoiy conversation then followed, several speakers maintaining that Captain McPherson had been dealt with fairly, and that he was out of order in introducing the Hospitals and Chaiitable Aid Act question. Capt. McPherson denied that he had brought forward that subject. He merely used it as an illustration to make his argument clear. Mr Trewheellar said the want of Lands and Survey Offices in Hamilton had been forcibly brought under his notice while at Oxford on the previous day. He overheard some visitors, apparently Australian gentlemen, remarking that they could get no information concerning lands in the district without going back to Auckland. Had there been an office at Hamilton they said they would certainly have stopped there to examine the maps, <fee. If there was a need for such things at the present time, what might they not expect in a few year-. ? The Mayor was about to put the resolution, when Capt. McPherson asked the Town Clerk to make a note of the fact that he had been stopped in speaking. Mr T. G. Sandes said he was surprised to hear it repeated so often that the council had not taken the ratepayers into their confidence. He believed he spoke for his brother councillors when he said nothing had been kept back. The burgesses knew just as much as the councillors. It was impossible to be more explicit, as many things would hare to be considered. For instance, if the Government were going to contribute towards the erection of public buildings they would have something to say about their site and design, and it was impossible to say just exactly what improvements were to be effected in the domain lands, though they all had a pretty good idea about it. Regarding the £2,000 which was proposed to withhold at present, the council had given a promise that it should not be applied to any purpone until a vote of the ratepayers had been taken. After some further discussion, the resolution was put and carried unanimously. After consulting the meeting, the Mayor announced that the poll would bo taken on Wednesday, the 24th inst. The meeting then closed with the usual compliment to the chair.

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