BOROUGH COUNCIL

She ordinary meeting of tho Sydenham Bo3»ugh Council was held laei evening at 7 p.m. > present — Hia Worship the Mayor, Councillors Langdown, White,, Pavilt, drew,-.Forreßtes-, iJicholl, Hall, auo Joyce. COBEBSP'ONDENOB. The '.following letters- were read and diaposed erf as stated :— Froffii'the Court Thistle of the Forert, No. 6494, A.0.F., asking the Council to- patronise their anniversary entwt&iriment in the Oddfellows' Hall, Waltha-n, on Oct. 25 &extr. Referred to his Worship the Mayor, with , power to net. j From tb» Christchurahi DVaiuagn Boardj in- ; forming ths Council that; a rate of lOd in the i £ had been levied on tha-Sydenham suburban (.district, and a rate of 3d in the £ on the iSydenham rural district,, both, payable in' ono sum, on Sept 15, 1881.' The Clerk explained that ho- had received thia- letter on Sept 13, anr>had written to- the Board for infecmation as txy the rate roll. He iad) received a reply, statiag. that • a copy of ; tUe rate roll lor Sydenhmt would be flbr» warded as soon as possible, and asking the Couneil to instruct the CoiWctor to notify she plttoe wht-re all rates are to- be paid that have not 1 been paid oa demand. Subsequently the rolls- had been received, and the Clerk had notified the Board that th3<-rate would be payable at the Borough offices. lif was resolved — " Thai> the two letters from- the Drainage Board be received, and? the Clerk's proceedings in the matter be approved." The extra expenses entailed,, chargeable against the Drainage Board, to bo referred to the Finance Committee. From Mr J. Smith, requesting the Councilto eaplor a water-cart to luy the dust on <oolontbo road, and forwarding tho name* o.f 16 persona who were willing to pay la to 2u per week towards the expoose of watering thte Bt:T!et. Roforred to the Works Committee, with po wer to act. .From Mr J. J. Addison, of iho Dunedin lin ie dopflt, Bouth Belt, asking.the Council to, rec onskier their refusal to allow him to back drttys on to tho footpath, and promising, if joerzoassion were granted, to back the drays inti • his yard and only encroach two feet on the foojtpdth. I teferrod to Works Oommitteo, with power to a ct. TTOBKS COMMITTBB'S. BBPOBT. Ihe Works Committee reported that at thei r suggestion Mr Meares had amended thesalo plan of his property in rural section 235, bo at 3 to -make the new street a chain wide.. The sals- plan of Mr Dixon's property on rura 1 section 196 had also been amended to ! meet t tha Council's wishes. The shingling ' and othe? works on the South Belt had beon ■ completed. Tho Committee recommended that MrJ^Cooksley'sfinefornon-completionof eont ract wifchin the time be reduced to £LO. The agrcament submitted by the solicitors ofthe Ashburton Forks Railway Company with; reference to the land required by the Company : had beea stoftmed unsatisfactory, and referred back to the aolicitors for amendment. Therate] my o?o whose propcrtiw- abut on Aynesley'B paddocks having failed to construct the alley s required, the work had been placod ia the ihanda of the Council's ltvbour gang. The cone truetion of Talfourd street was delayed on account of a difficulty in providing an outlet for drainage, and the matter had baen referred to th* Drainage Board. The joport was received' and adopted. SANITAiY. Tho rapoTt of the Sanitary Committee Btated bhat complaints, had been mad& of rubbisb being deposited in some old clay pita in Ten: w son street, andi that the Committee had reports*} the matter to the Board of Health^ They had alao d/awn the attention of tha Board to tha. necessity of olearing Jackson's week. Legal proceedings would be taken to recover the. value of a lamp-post broken* by a, dray in Colombo street?. The report further stated* that the contractor for aottvougering was willing to undertake the work for another quarter, and recommended that,hiß offer be accepted. The report was rocoived und adopted. COUNOII/&.3AKCTION TO 80A.D9. Councillor Hall moved—" That an advertisement be inserted i-j the papow warning tbe public before purchasing sections of land aad sellers before cutting up blcoks in Sydonbam, to satisfy themselves that> the Council's approval had beon given to the- laying-out of iho roads, oihorwise they would find it imt possible to g»b their titles registered." ■ Councillor Andrews seconded the motion, which was sarriod. PIHAJKHt Tho Fin>ii:o'» Committoo'a report showed that £223 Is 3d had been received during tho past fast-night, and £557 2s lOd expended. Thu credit bakneoat too l>ar,k was £66083 7d. The report was approved. Councillor Langdown mentioned that he had received promisos of £65 towards tho railway bridge at tbo Madras street crossing. DEPUTATION. A deputation from the men on strike at the Addington workshops, consisting of four ratepayers of bydonham, were introduced by Councillor Joyce. In answer to His Worship :— • The spokesman of tho deputation stated that no doubt the Council waa aware of the fact that the men in the railway workshops had , struok j their reason for doing so was because ! they oould not got redross to their grievances 'in any other wny. They had endeavoured to obtain redress through the usual forms, but

lnsuccessfully. Ever since the 10 per cent j ■eduction was made they had laboured under i jreato* disadvantages than eomo of the other iepartments. It was not the case that they lad been reduced only 5 per cent as had been itated,*and they had felt fully justified ia iskiag for an increase of 10 per cent now that ;hat atnouut was restored to otker departments. They had been unable to obtain any redress from Mr Alison Smith, and would be »lad of advice from the Council on the matter. His Worship : How can we help you ? The deputation said that the men on atrike did uofc wish to leave the country. They desired the Council to give them advice as to the best course for them to pursue. All the other departments under the Government had had the 10 per cent returned. Why were they an exception ? They had sent in a petition three mouths ago, but no notice had been taken of it. What they wished was for the Council to make some representations on the matter to the Government. If they obtained no redrees the men would be obliged to leave tbe Colony and go elsewhere. While they deplored the strike, ifc had been forced on them by the tfftilway Department. Mr Joyce : Has Mr Alison Smith had an increase of salary ? A Spokesman : Yes ; Mr Smith had an advance of salary of £100 per year. Mr Joyce proposed — " That this Counoil is of opinion that the Addington men on strike have a grievance unknown to the head of the railway department at Wellineton. and whilst; tWs C»Z nd \ ? annofc upnold tEe action df7bi men ' a oom i n g ou^ on strike, it believes that there' are sucu «xtWH»tiiig circumstances in relation thereto which, if Properly represented to headquarters, would lead \ae Government to redress the wrong and reinstate tne men*. That a deputation, consisting of Councillors White and Joyce, of Sydonham, a Ohriatchurch Councillor, and "one representative from the men on strike, interview the head of the department, and, if necessary, the Minister for Public Works, to obtain such relief as the justice of the case demand." He sympathised very muoh with the men, and though he disagreed with their striking, yet from what he had beard of the way they had been treated, perhaps it was the only course open to them. If such proceedings went on, we should loSfc hundreds of our population. He thought tn I ** if these matters were represented to the Gover»meflt, it might lead to the whele affair being sMfced,- nnd the blame put on the right shoulders.- fle did not believe in strikes, as a rule, bß<£ in this cose he thought there were extenuating circumstance. * Councillor Pavitt seconded the motion. Councillor Forrester thought the Counus was quite justified in taking the step proposed, as most of the men were ratepayers of the Sydenham Borough. One of the delegates said that there had been "a regular reign of terror" a; the Addington workshops. A month or so ago there was a case in point, in which six or seven men vrere suspended for tiro days. If they had applied for ao enquiry they might 'have got one, but would in ail probability , have been ciseharged at its close. Bis Worship said that from what he had heard, he believed all that was stated by the . deputation was correct. r .the men certainly j had hia sympathy. ' Councillor Joyce's motion was then put, | and carried unanimously. : The deputation thanked tbe Council for j their kind consideration nnd withdrew. The Council then went into Committee, »nd,. on resuming, adjourned.