The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1909. A QUESTION OF DIGNITY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2590, 26 August 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1909. A QUESTION OF DIGNITY.

What a fearful and wonderful thing is tlie dignity of a Borough Council! Last night our local City Fathers, at the instance' of His Worship the Mayor, decided to ask their two representatives on the Hospital Board to resign. In all Gisborne it would be difficult to find two men more capable of filling these important positions and, as a matter of fact, no fault was found with them in regard to their general representation of the Borough’s interests. But they had failed to answer a letter with the celerity which Mr. W. D. Lysnar considered should have been displayed, wherefore our. haughty Mayor urged upon- the Council that there was -no course open if the dignity of the Council was to be maintained but to call upon Messrs Bright and Mann to re-

sign. To state the case more fully, it is necessary-.to go back a month or two to the time when the Council, at the instance of Cr. Collins, —who, as a member of the medical profession takes a keen and personal interest in hospital matters —decided to ask its representatives for certain information. If this information had simply concerned tlie general policy of the Board, with particular reference to their own actions, the request would have been perfectly legitimate, but the questions asked involved the knowledge of facts and statistics, which it was entirely unreasonable to find in the possession of an ordinary member.. They were asked to supply the wording of a certain

minute, a statement of salaries and appointments, and other information. Obviously, the proper individual to approach for these facts was the only person who could supply them, namely, the secretary of the ) Hospital Board, and in a courteous’ note the Trustees intimated that this was the case. They were undoubtedly correct in this attitude, for the fact that a gentleman is prepared to sacrifice a great deal of valuable time to represent one public body on, another doe s not place, upon, him the obligation of being able to furnish off-hand a mass, of statistical and other official information. The Council wanted a copy of a certain minute; surely it, as a contributing body to the Hospital Board, could properly ask, the secretary of that body—but not its own representatives—for a copy of that minute! However, the Council badly wanted some information, lest the interests 1 of the ratepayers might perchance suffer; but its dignity

proving' of greater moment than the interests of the aforesaid ratepayers, it refrained from writing to the onto person who had the facts at ready disposal, and again approached Messrs Bright and, Mann. These gentlemen : had up till last night’s meeting neglec- . ted to answer the letter, although ac- ! cording to the Mayor, over a month : had elapsed in the 'meantime. Un- ; doubtedly their not having done so constituted an act of neglect, but that it was intended either as studied discourtesy, much less deliberate defiance, we refuse to believe. As a matter of fact, both Councillors Pettie oner Clayton stated definitely that they had heard one or- other of the representatives in question refer to a reply that they intended sending, and agreed that its non-receipt was duo to some oversight Cr. Pettie 1 urged that there was nothing to bo- gained by exhibiting haste in such drastic- action,, and moved as an amendment to the Mayor’s motion that the representatives should be again written to. However, His Worship was in no conciliatory mood, and he fervently expressed his hope that the Councillors would never ask a third time for the information they desired to obtain', as to do so would be a sign of weakness. Calmly ignoring the assurances of Crs. Pettie and Clayton, he declared that he had every reason to believe the representatives never intended to reply. Getting a subservient majority to work, His Worship was then able to defeat the conciliatory amendment moved by Cr. Pettie.. It was then that Cr. Kirk, who had already spoken at some length in support of the motion, and had voted against the amendment, suddenly appeared to realise the gravity of the situation, and at the same time gave a remarkable exhibition of the pusillanimity and vacillation which is frequently in evidence at Council meetings. He suggested that the Mayor should allow his motion/ to stand over until another ’meeting, thus giving the representatives a further chance to answer the Council’s letter. In effect, he invited Messrs Bright and Mann to note what really desperate fellows they had to deal with, in full expectancy that their dilatory digits would hasten to pen a document sufficiently amiable to appease a wrathful Council; This would, obviously have been to seek the same 1 result as had been sought by Cr. Pettie, but in a particularly unfortunate manner. It is scarcely necessary to add that by this time the majority of. the Council had gained such clear and definite ideas on the subject of dignity and self-respect that they rejected Cr. Kirk’s suggestion with something approaching scorn. Immediately afterwards the Mayor put his motion, which was carried, and Messrs Bright and Mann, whose high qualifications as Hospital Trustees are, recognised throughout the town, will be.* asked to resign. What wonder that Cr Pettie.exclaimed, in disgust: “This is the first time I’ve been ashamed to be on the Council.” Our own view is that , he is likely to have many other opportunities for humiliation, go long as the* Council is prepared to follow blindly the lead of a Mayor who is devoid either of humor or imagination, and is entirely lacking in any sense of proportion.