THE WARDS REQUISITION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 47, 24 January 1884, Page 3

THE WARDS REQUISITION.

The, jpint letter from .Messrs Abrahams ai\d MUyecton, which we published iv our issue last evening, doe< not place matters m liny more satisfactory light •with regard' I 'to the action. taken by them with reference to the wards requisition which they forwarded to Gorernment. We are charged with not having given a full report of the pro oefidingsiof the Boi'oiijgl* Council meeting of December 5 last; Because 1 Ore presume; we (did .not give a; vefyatim transcript of the lettei* notifying ; lhe | face that a petition was m coursp.of signature, and giving a further' iverba-, < iira. report of the discussion that took pUce^ajid Ant which- M r Mil vertoh took a prominent part* Had we done so our readi>i& 'would 1 have thought our report rather too "full." Mr Mllverton is one of those who believes m the efficacy of importunity, though at times he carries Ins theory too far, and defeats the object he has m view. On several occasions Mr Milvertori's letters addled to the. Borough Council have been very, intprdper and. disrespectful m their wiie^ and such as should not have been. . se n£ to a. governing body. We tfere disposed to consider that they ■were probably' written 1 in' an : unguarded moment &f 4 rotation, and therefore did not reproduce them; for . which Mr M ilveftoa m his Calmer intervals,sti6uid feel gratful. r The r tone c of :,hjj^. remarks also, o^^^seyei^'jOccaMouSj.^has noVi bee^-as respebtful as :: t)i'ey , migh'fi or •hould have been; 'and' 'we' think the Council haa treated him very .leniently, more than' once, m. not refusing altogether to hear him. Other Councils, would have been much mdve stringent m their dealings with him that has the Palnierston Borough Council.,. Our report, was as full as., was Becessary, statingthat the letter had been sent m, and t|ie course tljat had been adopted m reference to it. The . letter stated : — *'Tho>^id petition, wiU 0 be given to the town^lerkVas soon, as a few- more si^iatures are obtained as promised, £0 that it can be forwarded through the Borough 'Council' to His Excellency ths ; Governor ' for his sanction." Now* on : the face of this, no^rea! or: imaginary opposition on the parti of the Council could justify the; surreptitious forwarding oE the document, to the^Gavernment through any hands except through tho Borough* Counpil; and to do so was a distinct breach of fpith:on the part of those m charge of ; the document. The^Councii had no occasion to formally acknowledge leceipt .of the letter, as a resolution was entered on the minutes that when the petition was actually before the. Council it should be considered' and dealt with. Because the letter was not acknowledged, is assigned as the reason for the very improper course adopted I.'1 .' Many will smile when they read that Mr Russell J.P. would only " consent" to .. forward the petition, " after a deal of persuasion." .> How eloquently arid pathetically must.^those earnest and patriotic men, Messrs Milverton and Abrahams,, have pleaded, Before the stern, J^P.. would «£ consent !" Bufchbw was it that the affair was kept so mysteriously secret? Why was this- * secrecy necessary ? Was it not an ele- 1 ment of suspicion 1 We deny having criticised- '-Mr Huseell's J.P. action m the matiter^dn personal grounds, but on the broadest public grounds only. We have pointed out how indecorously he acted, and how his action was tantamount to offering a deliberate insult to the, ratepayers as a body. Also how his explanation m his paper was not m comformjty with facts, and how one of hi 1 * statements was characterized by the Mayor as "an outrageousjialsehood." And why did no^ Messrs Milverton and Abrahams take those who. signed the memorial into their confidence,, instead of acting on their own responsibility as thej, did ?■.. . On: more than one occasion the ratepayers have affirmed their lack of confidence m them as candidates for a seaVihthfr Council, and for-themHo take it upon,; themselves to act o^ their behalf, Without first asking their concurrence was gross presumption almost amounting "to impertinence; If they oannot see , that an unwan'an table liberty" has beeii taken with those who signed the memorial, and a deliberate 1 insult offered to the Council, we can/ only say we are sorry for their mental ao# moral obliquity of vision. We give Mrjfalverton credit for haying .admittecT and, bejng i} sorry for his fll-ativisecl action—or rather the part he' to6k m die matter, for we look upon hire only as the victim used by others '^piay^ a deepec s game. We aw sorry He denies , his repentance, and trust he "y ill. yet admit his conviction orwron^doing. Mr , Milverton is not the' 1 chief offender by a long way. ' We believe be is honest' and consistent, but w& tliink he is wrong-headed, and is liable to take erroneous vjews, and to fancy he is being/treated, with, hardship and injustice when really he has no suulj. cause of complaint. He is too credulous, and therefore too otten the victim of crafty, cunning people who ju^e him as a tool for their own purposes. Why did not the J.P., when forwarding the requisition, ask the Government to communicate with the Council, as to the division into wards. That would have been more honest and straightforward. But it\ appears lie desired to work the oracle m a different fashion, with the result that all the little scheme is likely to come to grief, and the confidence of the ratepayers is materially shaken, so much so that all

future action will be looked upon with suspicion. The Council has been openly aiid grossly insulted, the subsequent explanations have beeu fcund entirely false and unreli Vable, I. and -the published defence Jof the promoters has placed them if anything m a worse position than before, m showing how defiantly, and without cause or reason, they departed from the spirit of the first letter sent to th 6 Borough Council. They were m the frying-pan before, but they are now hopelessly m the fire, and cannot escape a very severe scorching. The rei«ult vrill be that the whole question vfill bo found surrounded wi»h embarassing complications, where before it was plain sailing, had those ostensibly acting for a section ofthe community only exercised a. wiser discretion, and had their conduct been less open to the charge of underhand tactics, and f of. a oesirc^td ignore, defy, and insult" che ratepayers as well as the Borough Council.