DUNEDIN CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXII, Issue 10, 5 July 1895, Page 20

DUNEDIN CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

MaC.E. lIATJGHTON presided at the last meeting of the Dunedin Catholic Literary Sjciety held in St Joseph's schoolroom. Notwithstanding the inclement weather the attendance was good. An important motion, proposed by Mr P. Hally and seconded by Mr T. M'Oormnck— " That this Society, understanding that it is in contemplation to initiate at once a movement fur erecting a monument to the Li c Bishop, desite to assure the Administrators of the diocese of the willingness to actively co-operate in the mittei " — was carried unanimously. The debate on the " Municipal Franchise" was then resumed, Mr O. B Haughton taking the Speaker's eh iir. MrOrffli said : Mr Speaker, the subject of debits this evening is one of the most importance and one which calls forth the utmoßt attention at tne hands of thia Hous ■. It is particularly impjrtant at the present time when we consider that the various municipal bodies are heavily plunged in debt, and find the grea'eat difficulty iv making revenues met expenliture. Th" Pri-noier stated that every resident of the Co) my is a ra'epayer. Well, that may be, but they must be classed under two heuis, viz tha direct and indirect. Now I claim that it is not logical for indirect ratepayers to have the right of voting up;m municipal matters. An bon member Btated men of intelligence were debarred from vo iDg under the present system. Well let them enter Parliament. Even as the law went now a three month's tenure entitled a householder to vote by going to a very little trouble. The incidents of taxation was an important item, and could not be overlooked on a qaestiou like that before the Hjus4. la endeavouring to carry the.r measure through that housa the Govprnment Bhould have provided machinery for the proper collecting of the rates which they had failed to doand he (the speaker) believed the House would show its good sense by its rejection of the impracticable measure sought to be thrust upon it. Mr J. A. »cott complimented the Opposition leader on his able though amusing speech, but said humour was a bad substitute for logic. As a matter of fact Parliament had endowed municipal bodies with larger power thao (bey bad once eDJoyed. Municipal bodies were local parliaments and »s such bad powers to deal with the liberties of the people to a great extent, Bye law No 2, the

passing of which by the City Council called forth such strong opposition from a large class of people, was instanced as a oase in point. It was a fallacy to say that people who bad no property had no stake in the country. Everyone who got his living in the country bad an Interest in it, and oftentimes people were obliged to stay in the country for want of the whertwithal to leave it, while those who have property could always realise and leave when they chose. The functions of the municipal body were not confined to propery. It might have been so in the early days bat it was not so noir. It had to deal with the health and well being of the community. Sorely those who bad to conform to the laws and regulations of a municipal body should have somt voice io the making of these laws. Mr Soott conclnded an eloquent and foroible spetoh by calling on the members of that House to pass the measure by aa overwhelming majority. Mr Bagar combated many of the arguments brought forward by the last speaker and expressed himself as being opposed to the measure brought forward by the Government. Mr Eagar complimented the laßt speaker (Mr Soott) on his forcible and impressive speech. Mr J. A. Hally said it was ridiculous to think that about 2000 voters could control the city which contained about 30,000 inhabitants. Sorely these 2000 voters did not represent the brains intelligence, energy, and capacity of the city. Not one member of the Opposition benches could honestly refute those facts. With regar i to the fallacies put forward about indirect ratepayers, what about the Government reserves with which the city was endowed and from which large revenues were derived 1 Did not the so-called indirect ratepayer contribute in this manner — one might fairly claim to Bay io this instance — directly ? Mr Hally] could see no legitimate reason for withholding the Franchise in municipal matters, which was only juet and right. Mr Miles spoke in Btrong opposition to the Bill which, he said, would not tend to produce good results in the Colony, and which would be fraught with disaster to the community. Mr 1 Coßtelloe in a brilliant and forcible speech went over a good deal of ground not touched on by previous speakers, and as a member of the pirty in power he trusted that this ruly liberal measure would succeed in passing: through the House. Mr Heaford was a strong opponent of the measure— the agitation for whici he said was not genuine and was nit desired by the people but was brought to the surface by cer am bodies of no importance, blessed with a desire for no'oriety and nothing more. The Premier (Mr M-trlow) said he had a light tusk to perform in replying. None of the speakers ou the Opposition side had advanced any argument of any va'ue against the motion. His Government claimed to be doing what was due to the country in passing ibis most desirable measure. The Premier explained how all contributed to the profits made by the gaswork 0 , waterworks, and other monopolies held by the municipal councils. The well being of humanity were involved, and surely sach a cause was far above the paltry consideration of mere property. The Premier, in a splendid peroration, again appealed to the H.mse to pass his measure. Oa the Speaker putting the motijn to the Housp, the Govern, ment carried their policy measure by a majority of one vote. It must be conceded, howeve-, that, during the debate, able speeches were made on both sides of the House.