THE WARDS PETITION.

Manawatu Times, Volume X, Issue 1157, 24 January 1884, Page 2

THE WARDS PETITION.

To the Editor. Sib, — Everyone m the town who at all understood the matter — ratepayers as well as the general public — were heartily laughing at the frothy productions of your local contemporary on Monday evening. Surely no councillor, or anyone who had ever seen even the index of the Municipal Corporations Act, prompted the articles m question, as they display such an utter ignorance of the Act. The writer does not ap« pear to know that exactly one-quar-ter of the ratepayers have the power | to set the wheels m motion m this matter, and that the Council is utterly powerless to prevent their desires being attained, unless it has means of tampering with the very fountain headnf justice m the colony. He appears to be ignorant of the fact that the councillors themselves signed this petition, and therefore must have known its contents, so that the excuse put forward for their action at the meeting when a letter was sent by Mr Milverton has no foundation m fact. Besides, if the Councillors knew the Act at all, they must have known that all the petitioners could possibly do waß to pray the Governor to divide the Borough into wards- They could not suggest boundaries — that is a matter which the Act leaves for the Governor— not the " collective wisdom " of the Council — to decide. And wisely so too, for is not tho very fact of petitioning for division a protest against the past action of theOouncil ? And again, division into wards means that all the Councillors now m office go straight out at the very next annual election and it is on the cards, you know, that some of them will not go m again. You could scarcely expect them to assist a petition which meant political suicide. The fussy manner m which Borne members of the Council have acted 3ince they fancied their dignity outraged, shows that they do not really know much about the Act under which they hold ofiice. I be«« lieve 1 can safely say that if they refer to the Town Cierk he will inform them that so far the pio« motors of the petition have acted quite within their powers, and moreover, that the Councillors are acting outside theirs m endeavouring to frustrate the wish of a large number of ratepayers. He may tell them that the promoters made one mistake, but that was on the side of courtesy, viz., m sending a letter to the council at all. When this letter was sent the Council not only showed a hostile spirit, and actually imagined that they — the concentrated essence of the wisdom of Palmerston — had the power to say that they would not allow the borough to be divided, but they also •hewed ' a discourteous spirit, as they have not even yet vouchsafed to acknowledge receipt of that letter. It will be observed, how* ver, that it matters very little whether the Council is hostile to the proposal or not. Even the majority of the latepayers have no say m it,and if a counter petition were signed by three-fourths, the thing would still be carried by the minority m the pursuance of the rights conferred upon them by the Act. And moreover, the Council is defunct at the next election so that its hostility cannot greatly affect the future If it is true, as stated, that the Council has sent down to the Governor for the petition to be returned, I fear that said Council will receive a rather severe snub before it gives up the ghost. They could not have aided the petitioners better, if they have . really sent, though I cannot believe the Council has been guitty of such gross stupidity. One Who Signed It. I am &c,