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WREXHAM TOWN COUNCIL. : —————1

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WREXHAM TOWN COUNCIL. ————— 1 A monthly meeting of the Wrexham Town Council was held on Tuesday last. Present: The Mayor (Mr. Isaac Shone), Aldermen J. C. Owen and E. Smith, Councillor- S. T. Baugh, George Bradley, J. Oswell Bury, J. F. Edisbury, Walter Jon<?s, Uichard Jones, J. Roberts, W. Sherratt, W. E. Samuel, and J. Williams. MOUK OPPOSITION TO THE PROPOSED PAVING. On the reading of the minutes with regard to the borrowing of S4,000 for new paving, &e., Mr. RICHARD JONES asked the following question: Am I to understand that the ratepayers of Wrexham, uniformly, are to be equalised in the benefit of this The CLEXK Do you mean, are the footpaths to be extended throughout the town ? Mr. ]!. JONES That is not my question. Here IS money borrowed on the rates. 2sow, my question is, are all the ratepayers of Wrexham to be equally benefited by this improvement? The CLEHK: I should say so. because all the rate- payers TOSS over these streets. Mr. R. JONES That does not meet my question, and I am very sony that I cannot make myself plain. Mr. SHERRATT I think Mr. Jones means Mr. BRADLEY I rise to order. Every man should interpret his own meaning Mr. SHERRATT Well, he could not explain himself, and I only thought I would assist him. Mr. R. JONES If I understand right I am entitled to receive the benefit from this £-1,000. I go on the point that we have no right to borrow this £4,000 unless I personally receive a benefit. If the money was taken at once out of the rate it would be quite a different thing but here you are going to mortgage my rate against my wish. The CLERK: You mean that under the clause in the Local Government Act the rate ought to be confined to tLdè parts where the improvement will be made ? Mr. R JONES Exactly. The CLEKK It is quite competent for the Council to rate the whole town for these improvements, and it would be unfair to make a special rate, as all will benefit. Mr. BRADLEY Of course. Mr. R. JONES If the whole town was to be rated for this money it would be quite right, but here you are going to make me pay for what I receive no benefit from. The CLKRI; You are not quite right- Mr. IL JONES I know this is not right, and I know you cannot force ma to pay a farthing if you are going to barrow the money. The CLEEX The matter is on the agenda. Argue it when we c'me to it. R.?.c?ossD LA:IP FOR WATERY LANE. Mr. WALTER JONES brought forward the question of a lamp for Watery Lane. He said he forgot to mention the question at the last lighting meeting, and, as the dark evenings were now upon them, he thought he would mention it. at once and not wait for the next committee meeting. After a little discussion, it was suggested to Mr. Walter Jones that he bring the matter before a special meeting of the committee. EMBRYO LITIGATION. A letter was received from Mr. John Lewis, solicitor, in reference to the caso of Wilson v. the Council," in which Mr. Wilson alleged that the Council had tres- passed on his property. After discussion, it was resolved that the Clerk see ■ Mr. Lewis in regard to the matter. ssnrou.s CHARGE THE COUNCIL EY THE LOCAL GOVETitfilENT BOARD. The following letter was received :— Local Government Board, \Vhitdl, S. 1V., 23r i September, 1S79. Il:I am directed by the Local Government Board to acknowledge the receipt of your letter <,1 the :;oth ult. res- peering diphtheria in the town of Wrexham and the proce-s of disinfection allopted by the Urban Sacitarv Authority, a -d I am to state that the long continuance of diphtheria in the town had in itself caused the Board to doubt the sufficiency of the action taken by the Sanitary Authority, but a state- ment received by the Board from their inspector, Mr. Murray Browne, that on a recent visit to Wrexham, he found that the disinfecting apparatus ha-1 not lately been used, taken in conjullction with th0 state-meat wade to thc Town Conncil by their medical offic T of health, on the 3nd ultimo, that articles of infected clothiiig which were not capable of dis- infection had not been burnt, appeal's to the Board to show conclusively that the action of the Sanitary Authority had been wholly imuSlcieat and that by their neglect in regard to a serious outbretLk of disease requiring the most vigorous measure, of repression, they have incurred a very grave res- ponsibility. At the same time I am to advert to the report of the medical officer of health enclo-ed with your letter of the 12th June last, in which report the medical officer of health states that many cases of diptheria have cxitcd of which he has had no intimation, alld to enquire whether arrangements are now made by the Urban Sauitary Authority to furnish the medical officer of health regularly with particulars of aU cases of pauper sickness in the tow", anù if not, the Board request that such arrangements may be made as early as possible. < £ I am also directed to request that the Urban Sanitary Authority will calle tile Board to be furnished with a report by the medical officer of health on any c-'ises of diphtheria which may have occurred since the date of the above men- tioned report of the medic.il officers of health. To I am, sir, John James, Esq., Your obedient servant, Town Clerk, J. F. KOTTOX, Wrexham. Hon. Sec. The CLERK said that when he received the letter he furnished a copy of it to the Medical Olficer and for- warded a letter to the Medical Officers of the town in regard to the matter. Mr. LL. WILLIAMS said they had no power to compel the medical men to report cases. He had been waiting, to see if they could not conjointly use the disinfecting machine which the Rural Authority were contemplating purchasing. In regard to burning the clothing, he thought such was a very serious matter. They could not burn a'small amount of clothing, because if they burnt any they would have to burn the whole. Besides, when Dr. Airey was here he said nothing about burning clothes, and he was informed in other districts they did not do so. Mr. BRADLEY Do you know of any case where the neglect of it caused a spread nf the disease ? The DOCTOR replied that he had not. He had had the mntter, before his eyes, and in most cases the whole family was infected before he knew anything of the matter. Moreover, if he had burnt all their clothes they would have had none to put on. He would strongly advise the Council to have a disinfecting machine. After further discussion, it was resolved to write to the Board above to the effect that all the medical men had been communicated with, and that the Urban and Rural Authorities were endeavouring to unite to pro- cure an effective disinfecting apparatus, and they would be glad to receive any suggestions in regard to such from the Board. A QUESTIONED AWARD. A letter was received from Mr. E. M. Jones respecting the recent award of Mr. Tench's in regard to compen- sation to him by the Council. The letter was to the effect that the revised award, JE180, was still consider- ably below the valuation made by Mr. E. M. Jones and his surveyor, and, therefore, asking the Council to appoint Mr. Shone or a.ny other gentleman they thought fit to revise the award, and he would be content to abide by their decision. The Council considered the matter at length, and finally resolved that they could not entertain Mr. E. M. Jones' application. A NEW RATE. A letter was read from the Library Committee ask- ing the Council to make them the grant of Id. in the pound. The CLERK said the rate which they had made for the borough was only sufficient to meet their wants, and, therefore, they would have to levy a rate. The Act limited the rate to a Id. in the pound, and he had calcu- lated that such would realise the sum of about JE150. The rate was ordered. THE PRICE OF GAS. A letter was received from the Gas Company, in re- ply to the deputation of the Council which waited upon the company a short time ago with a view, by means of a special contract, to a reduction in the price of gas supplied to the Council. The letter was to the effect that having heard the deputation on the subject, the directors, whilst wishing to meet the Corporation fairly, considered that if any reduction was made in the price charged for the supply of gas to the public lamps, the Company, under the provisions of their Act, might be called upon to supply other consumers at a similar rate, and having made two reductions recently, they were not prepared to make any further reductions at present, and, therefore, most respectfully declined to make any alterations. The MAYOR We can go in for the electric light, and beat them way. (Laughter). Mr. SHERRATT Not at present, I think. The Cor- poration ought to have the gas and water companies, and the Market Hall too. RESIGNATION OF THE TOWN CLERK. The following was put into the hands of the Council To the Mayor, Aldermen, and Durgesses of the Borough of Wrexham, in Council assembled. GEHTLEMKN,—I b to announce that it is my intention, with your permission, to retire from my present office of Town Clerk of the Borough of Wrexham, Clerk of the Urban Sanitary Authority, Cleik of the Borough of Wrexham Burial Board, and any other offices I may hold under you, on the 1'th day of November next, immediately after the election of the Mayor of this Borough for the ensuing year, ftnd I respect fully ask you to accept this letter as my formal tesignation of the above mentioned offices at that time.—I remain, gentlemen, your obedient servant, Town Clerk's Office, JOHN JAKES, Wrexham, 30th Sept., 1879. Town Clerk. Mr. BRADLEY moved, "That the resignation of Mr. Jihnes, the Town Clerk, be accepted, to take effect on the 10th day of November next, and that the recom- mendation of the General Purposes Committee, 'That a Town Clerk be advertised for at the same salary, and on the same terms and conditions as the office is held at the present time,' be adopted, and that an advertise- ment be drawn up by the Town Clerk in accordance with those conditions, and inserted in the two local newspapers; and that the election take place at the Council meeting to be held on the 28th October." In f regard to the first part of this resolution he thought ] ;hey would all be of one opinion, and regret that their lerk saw it necessary to place his resignation definitely JI their hands. Some of the older members of that I'ouncil, who had sat there for a long period, would have the greatest regret at the resignation, and in this feeling those who had only sat there a shorter period would participate. Personally, having known the Clerk for many years, he felt the greatest regret at. his leaving that chamber, and he trusted that he would shortly come back again in the capacity of an alderman, in some other way, and give them the advantage of his experience. (Hear, hear). In regard to the second part of the resolution there may be some difference of opinion. Such was expressed in the General Purposes Committee on Friday. He had thought the matter over again, and he was still of opinion that the resolu- | tion adopted at that meeting was a wise one. They were said to go in for radical changes sometimes, and at other times they were said to be conservative. He did feel a little conservative in that matter, and was not disposed to run ahead of their neighbours. At Oswestry they found the office of Town Clerk was filled by a townsman, at Shrewsbury it was the same, at Chester the same, at Mold the same, and if they went to Ruthin or Denbigh the result was similar. He was of opinion that they would be travelling out of their way to leave that principle, and advertise for a Clerk who should give his entire time to the office. Suppose they acted on that principle they would probably have to more than double, a.nd perhaps treble the salary, in order to secure an equally efficient man. If they did this the question was whether they, as guardians of the public purse, were justified in making this additional expenditure. Then suppose they did this and brought in a new Town Clerk at a salary three times what. they paid at present, and he was not allowed to practise in the town, he would be constantly looking out for a situation in a larger place where he could get more salary, and he would be justi- tied in doing so. These were the arguments which had induced him to come to the conclusion to have the salary and terms the same as at present. Then they came to the question as to when the Town Clerk should be elected. He was firmly of opinion that they ought to place the new Town Clerk into harness ready to officiate as soon as the Itew Council was elected, and be ready to take his seat on the 10th November when Mr. James retired. For these reasons he begged to move the resolution.. The MAYOR said he would take the liberty to second the motion. He did nut know that he couid explain his views in a better way than they had been explained by Mr. Bradley. The reasons he had given for the course he had taken were so we 1 expressed and were so entirely his own that he did not think it necessary for him to add one v/ord. He had great pleasure in seconding the motion. Mr. SHERKATT said that as he contended this in the General Purposes Committee, perhaps it would be well if he offered a few suggestions now. There were others who voted in favour of the resolution as now put. (Mr. BRADLEY Seven). There were seven for and four against. It was quite true, as Mr. Bradley had said, that observations were at that meeting. He made some himself, and he quite believed that in the first place they should have a statement prepared by the Town Clerk showing what had been the emoluments of the office, say for a term of seven or ten years, and let them really know what had been paid to the Town Clerk during that period, not only for salary but also for professional business. They would then be enabled to approximate what they could afford to give a man to secure the whole of his services, and after that they may, if they liked fall back to the old principle. In favour of a man devoting the whole of his time to the Council his experience was that where they bad a man who devoted tne whole of his time to the work of the Corporation that that Corporation had been most sue- cessiui and had its work carried out in a most efficient manner. He made no reference to the past because they had had in Mr. James a most worthy Town Clerk, and no douofc his labours had been very arduous and most faithfully carried out. But now there were a great may things which they should have done and which tiiey should make an effort to do. Their's was a comparatively young Corporation, and they were greatly in need of an Improvement Act. (Hear, hear). This was one reason why he suggested that tney should have a man who could devote the whole of his time to the work. If they had the least opposition to an Improvement Bill it would cost them ;fcl,000, and if they had a young man who had gone through work in connection with these matters he might save them at least 41,000. At Oswestry they had Acts of Parliament very uilferent from themselves. When they had spoken of Acts of Parliament it had been said, See how much money it will cost, and where is it to come from ?" Now this was one reason why < he suggested two things—first that they should have an estimate of what they had paid for professional services, and secondly that they should understand about the Improvement Bill. There were a great many other things which may suggest themselves. Mr. Bradley said they would have to pay three or four times the present salary, but he did not-think such would be so. He did not honestly think that they would have to pay one penny more than at present. He was not in favour of going out of the town'if they could get a man in it, but he questioned whether taey could. Besides they would have a greater hold upon a man who gave his whole time, and if he did not suit them they could say so. But if he happened to be a fellow townsman they would not care to express their views so freely. Another thing—they had several arrears to get up, and they would have a difficult business to do so. Therefore the Town Clerk should know no man. Besides, several gentlemen in rexham were attached to companies, and had shares in them, and it was impossible that any such could guide them well if he was tied up to other bodies, either directly or through his friends. Other things might suggest themselves, and under all the cir- cumstances he would move as an amendment that the Town Clerk be requested to furnish them with an ac- count showing the monies whicii had been paid to him for salaries and professional work during the last ten years. He submitted that to advertise was premature. It would also be an unseemly thing for them to- appoint a Clerk just before the new Council were elected," and they, might turn around and say, "We won't have this man because he is not of our choosing' Mr. ROBERTS There can only be an alteration of four. Mr. SHERRATT Well, it would be unfair to appoint a man who should come into office with the new Council. The MAYOR If we are competent to receive the resignation of the present Clerk, surely we can elect another. Mr. BRADLEY asked if Mr. Sherratt would have the election adjourned until the information was prepared. Mr. SHERRATT said he thought it would be unseemly to elect a man on the same conditions and terms as at present, when they did not know personally what those terms and conditions were. He endorsed all Mr. Bradley had said about the Town Clerk, and nobody regretted parting with him more than he did. The TOWN CLEHK said he felt extremely grateful for the kind expressions, and he really.believed that were sincere, and came from their hearts. Mr. RICHARD JONES said he did not understand the matter, and asked whether £120 included all the Clerk received. The MAYOR replied that there were professionally fees also. Mr. RICHARD JoNES I don't agree with this. I want the Town Clerk to be on the premises of the Corpora- tion. VOICES We must have a Town Hall. Mr. OSWELL Yes, a Mayor's room. Mr. RICHARD JONES I don't like to go to the Town Clerk's office, to ascertain any information, although he has been very courteous at all times. The MAYOR Well, I can say this, Mr. Jones, that if you had gone to him he would have received you as courteously as if he was in the Town Hall. Mr. RICHARD JONES I quite agree with that, but I don't like to go to him. Mr. WILLIAMS Afraid of the 6s. 8d. ? (Laughter). Mr. Sherratt's amendment found no seconder, and on the motion being put, Mr. Sherratt and Mr. R. Jones only voted against it. A discussion then ensued as to the papers in which the advertisements should appear. Mr. SHERRATT It is a perfect farce to put it in the local papers. A perfect farce. Mr. WILLIAMS Put it in the Lam Journal. Mr. SHERRATT Very good suggestion. Mr. EDISBURY Put it in the New York Herald. (Laughter). Mr. SHERRATT Well, you may as well put it in the New York Herald as in the local papers. Mr. EDISBURY I propose that it be advertised in the New York Herald. (Laughter). Mr. WALTER JONES I second it. (Laughter). A STREET ROLLER. The question of purchasing a steam roller for the streets of Wrexham was next considered. The MAYOR said he believed that they would find a steam roller to be a white elephant'"—(laughter)—as it would stop traffic and be an obstruction. He would rather that they should have a horse roller. Mr. OSWEU: BURY advocated the acquirement of a roller, saying that they would save money by such. Mr. WALTER JONES also advocated a steam roller. Mr. OSWELL BURY moved that a six ton steam roller be purchased for the use of the borough, the money for which to be borrowed in accordance with the consent of the Local Government Board. This was seconded, and on the motion being put. it was opposed by the Mayor, Mr. Richard Jones, Mr. Edisbury, and Mr. Williams. Six voted for it. THE LOAN OF £4,000. Tenders were opened for the loan to the Council of £4,000 for purposes of paving. A number of tenders were received, the majority of which were for 4 per cent., with commission and law charges. The Prudential Life Assurance Company offered the sum for per cent., but said nothing about commission. The Council resolved to accept this offer conditionally that the costs and commission did not exceed 1 per cent of the total sum. THE QUESTION OF THE NEW STREETS. The MAYOR said the motion he had given notice of would revive the whole question of the streets. He wished the Clerk to give the necessary notice to enable them to make one or any of those streets if they should see it wise to do so. So much had been said about the subject that he would now simply move "That the Town Clerk advertise three successive times in a local newspaper, or local newspapers in the district, in the ensuing month of November, notice or notices of an in- tended application to the Local Government Board for a orovisional order, or provisional orders, for carrying out the said works, and that he be instructed and authorised to take such other proceedings as may be necessary for the compulsory acquirement of land, and oower to borrow money." Mr. EDISBURY seconded, and the motion was carried. This concluded the business.

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rHE REVISION OF THE BOROUGH…

FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF WALES.

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--rHE RE-ARRANGEMENT OF JESUS…

MOLD.

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DENBIGH.