HIS HONOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 74, 26 September 1874, Page 6

HIS HONOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL.

It is a matter for regret that the praiseworthy efforts of .His Honor the Superintendent to mitigate the crying want of house accommodation, has met with so little sympathy at the hands of the City Fathers. Indeed, the tone of the <liscussion evoked by the receipt of Mr Macutdhew's xetter, asking for their co-operation in meeting the difficulty, while being scarcely courteous in its hearing towards His Honor, was far from creditable to either the liberality or good sense of those engaged. Setting aside the object sought to be effected, for which the temporary use of the land had been asked, and viewing the matter irom purely a commercial point of view, we should he inclined to imagine, judging from the selfishness which was apparent throughout the debate, that the very liberal offer ot the Government would be accepted by the Council without hesitation. The terms upon which the land has been applied for are so clearly advantageous to the Corporation, that it is almost impossible to believe that its members were totally uninfluenced by private motives, and were acting purely as the guardians of the interests of the citizens. The argument advanced by Councillor Fish that neither the Government nor the Corporation were lustified m entering into competition with private enterprise would, no doubt, under ordinary circuinstan -es entitle it to support ; but that gentleman seems to mve totally ignored the fact that private enterprise had & iown no disposition whatever to meet the difficulty ; and that the Government had not stepped in until matters had reached such a stage as to make aiiy further inaction on their part highly culpable. Had Mr Fish carried his argument somewhat further, and maintained that the Government had no right whatever to enter into competition with those colonists who had paid their passage, by importing opposition labor, he might not find many to endorse his views but his reasoning would at least have the merit of consistency. To urge, however, that while the fuuds of the Colony should be freely expended in the introduction of labor but that because capitalists would not, the authorities should not take such means as were necessary to permanently settle those for whose introduction they had paid is a hue of policy worthy of Mr Fisir, hut not at all crel ditable to him as a politician. Though we are far from endorsing the opinions expressed during the discussion, were we satisfied of their sincerity, we would be most happy to accord them our respect; but inasmuch as the City Council have hitherto entered rather extensively into competition with citizens— and not always on the advantageous terms now offered— we are at a loss to account for its newly-awakened scrupulousness. Notwithstanding the law which gives to the owner of land any structure Wt thereon, we know of instances of property built on Corporation ground which does not revert to the ground landlord at expiry of lease without adequate remuneration, lhe land, the temporary use of which has been applied for ll e ,^ over f meut ' j» afc Present lying vacant, returning no rental, and were the request acceded to— besides obviating the present serious evil— when the outlay of erection

was returned, together with the cottages, would become the property of the Council. We regret to say the action of the municipal body on this, as on another occasion, has had the tendency to impede rather thau to assist the Provincial Government in their efforts to meet the necessities and make provision for our immigrants. "With all respect for the dicta of Councillors Fish and Isaacs, we maintain that the Provincial Government are simply performing their duty in seeking to make provision for the permaueafc stay of those they have been the means of introducing ; and weimagine that Councillor Meeceb wilL fiud but few to endorse his statement that in erecting these necessary cottages, the Government were taking the'bread out of the citizens' mouths. It must not be lost sight off that the cottages which are sought to be provided will be only obtainable by the payment of a very high weekly rental ; and it certainly eeems to us that the conduct of the Councillors, so far from being in the interests of the citizens, is in reality of a detrimental character ; and instead of the mass being effected otherwise than beneficially, the only persons who will have cause to complain are those who are at present profiting by the exorbitant demands made. The Provincial Government do not undertake the task with a view of making profit by it, and the keepers of the city purse have the option of either assistiug the authorities in the manner proposed, or by taking the matter into their own hands, to take advantage of the present high rents ruling, and receive a good profit on their outlay. Wo are quite sure their acquiescence iii either modes would meet with the geueral approval of the ratepayers, and be far more acceptable than the dog-in-the-manger policy advocated.