# The Chronicles of Early Melbourne/Volume 1/Chapter 21

CHAPTER XXI.
THE MELBOURNE CORPORATION.
SYNOPSIS:— Ante Corporation Meetings. —Petition to Legislative Council. —Act of Incorporation Assented to. —Qualification of Burgesses. —First Burgess Roll. —Division of Town into Wards. —Preliminary Appointments. —First Municipal Elections. —First Aldermanic Election. —Alderman Condell First Mayor of Melbourne. —The Mayor's State Procession. —Swearing in of the Mayor. —Judge Willis' Address. —A Sumptuous Repast. —Interview with Mr. Superintendent Latrobe. —First Meeting of the Council. —Address to the Queen on Her Escape from Assassination. —Francis, who Fired at the Queen, a Corporator. —The Mayor's Salary fixed at £350. —Mr. J. C. King First Town Clerk. —Mr. Gilbert Beith First Civic Treasurer. —Mr. A. W. Howe First Town Surveyor. —The Corporation Seal. —Origin of the Civic Motto. —The First Resignation. —Charges of Immorality against a Candidate. —Councillor Stephen in Civic Regimentals. —First Town Valuators. —Embezzlement of Town Funds. —Newspaper Triumvirate Quarrels. —Fawkner, a Civic Firebrand. —Council versus Bear-garden. —Cliques and Cliquism. —Dr. Greeves a "Trimmer." —Council Snubbed by the Superintendent. —Impecuniosity ofthe Council. —Proposal to Subscribe for Payment of Salaries. —Judge Willis impugns the Validity of the Corporation Act. —Councillors Imperfectly Qualified. —Financial Crisis. —General Insolvency. —Mr. William Barrett First Town Auctioneer. —Discussions on Town Hall Site. —The First Mayoral Dinner. —Portion of the Clergy Uninvited. —Death of ex-Alderman Mortimer. —Town Surveyor's First Report. —Renewed "Rowing" in the Town Council. —Smith's Casus Belli. —Newspaper "Ding-donging." —Abolition of Police Magistrate Major St.John. —The First Annual Election. —Loss of Revenue First Year. —Reduction of Civic Salaries. —Inefficiency of Town Clerk. —Continued Depression.—Reduction of Civic Rates. —Distress Warrants issued against Officials. —Mr. Moor elected Mayor. —He declines Salary. —Further Reduction of Civic Salaries. —Abolition of Minor Offices. —A "Protection" Movement. —"Johnny" Fawkner in the Insolvent Court. —Petitions against Importations of Convicts. —Unsuccessful Attempts at Civic Finance. —Death of Councillor Pullar. —A "Tailor" in the Council.
EARLY in 1842, on its becoming known in Melbourne, that there was an intention on the part of the Government of New South Wales to introduce into the Legislature a Bill to make provision for the establishment of a Corporation in Melbourne, and in other parts of Port Phillip, a strong desire was manifested that Melbourne should urge the absolute necessity for some such measure, and a requisition was presented to the Deputy-Sheriff to convene a meeting for the expression of public opinion on the subject. This was held on the 29th April, at the Exchange Hotel, in Collins Street, near the (now) auction-mart of Messrs. Gemmell and Tuckett. The Deputy-Sheriff presided, and addresses were delivered by Messrs. J. H. Patterson, George Arden, George Were, A. Andrew, O. Gourlay, William Kerr, A. Cunninghame, T. H. Osborne, the Hon. J. A. Murray, Dr. Greeves and Dr. Kilgour. There was no diversity of opinion as to the issue, and a Petition was adopted praying the Legislative Council of New South Wales to sanction the early extension of Corporate privileges to Melbourne.
On the 12th August, 1842, the 6th Vict., No. 7, "An Act to Incorporate the Inhabitants of the Town of Melbourne," was assented to. At this distance of time it may not be amiss to recapitulate the substance of some of the leading provisions of our original Municipal Statute. The Qualification of Burgesses was—Every male person, twenty-one years of age, the occupier of houses, warehouses, counting-houses, or shops (if resident within seven miles) of the annual value of £25, clear of all charges, for one whole year: Persons receiving eleem osynary relief in or from any Benevolent Asylum, or other Charitable Institution, within a year, or who may have any child admitted to any school or other establishment for orphan or destitute children within the preceding three years, to be incapable of enrolment: Councillors to be elected for three years; the Councillor of the lowest number of votes to retire the next year. Voting at elections to commence at 9 a.m., and close at 4 p.m. of same day, by means of papers setting forth the names of candidates and voters. The names of the persons elected were to be published not later than 2 p.m. of the day next but one following the election day. On the 9th November following their election, the Council had to elect, "with doors closed against all other persons," out of their own body, or from persons ​qualified to be Councillors, four Aldermen, two to remain in office for six years, and two for three years. N o Councillor could vote for himself. Every Councillor, elected as Alderman, continued a Councillor until the ist of November next after he ceased to be an Alderman. T h e Mayoral election yvasfixedfor the same day, and in the same manner, but to take place after the Aldermanic one; no candidate's vote for himself to be alloyved ; the Mayor to be chosen from amongst the Council, his tenure of office to be for one year, and to remain a Councillor till the ist of November next after ceasing to be Mayor. T h e qualification for Councillors, Aldermen, Auditors, and Assessors excluded " Holy Orders" and ministers of religion. If a Councillor or an Alderman should be possessed of real or personal estate, or both, amounting to ,£1000, either in his oyvn or his wife's right, or be rated on the annual value of not less than .£50. N o person in the Council, or an Auditor, or Assessor, could be, by himself or partner, directly or indirectly interested in Corporation contracts or employment (except as a shareholder in a company), contracting for lighting, the supply of water, or insurance, nor hold any office of profit under the Council, except as M a y o r ; and neither Auditor nor Assessor could be elected to the Council, nor any Judge, Chairman, Officer or Clerk of any Court of Justice, or Ministerial L a w Officer of the Crown. T h e offices of T o w n Clerk and Treasurer could not be held by the same person, and " no mace-bearers or other officers, merely for parade or show, could be appointed." It was optional to vote as salary or allowance to the Mayor, such sum "as shall seem reasonable and proper;" but it should be fixed (if any) within ten days after acceptance of office. T h e town rate was not to exceed is. in the £ per year. T h e Council was empoyvered to m a k e a rate for police purposes half-yearly, not exceeding 6d. in the £ for a whole year; both funds to be kept separate and distinct. A lighting rate was also leviable, but not to exceed 4d. in the £ per a n n u m ; property situated in any unlit part of the toyvn to be exempt. At the first election three Councillors were chosen for each of the four Wards, one of which retired annually by rotation. Sewerage, yvater-works, and various sanitary and municipal poyvers yvere conferred, and insolvency was specified as disqualifying a m e m b e r of the Council. Between the passing of the Act and its coming into operation, there yvas m u c h agitation over the selection of candidates ; turbulent W a r d meetings were held, frothy, insincere speeches made, and m u c h bad blood stirred up. T h e newspapers rushed like furies into the fray, with an indiscriminate zeal, and one of them (the Gazette) was brought over the coals by a libel action and an adverse judgment. Until the machinery provided-by the Act could be regularly set going, the Executive was authorised to appoint an interim Mayor, Aldermen, Assessors, and Collectors to compile and revise the first Burgess Roll, and hold the maiden election under it. T h e town yvas subdivided into Wards, of the same number and dimensions as those under the Markets Act, and the following appointments were m a d e : MAYOR.—Captain William Lonsdale (Sub-Treasurer). T O W N C L E R K . — M r . H . F. Gurner (Crown Solicitor). LONSDALE WARD.
ALDERMAN.—Major F. B. St. John. ASSESSORS.—Messrs. A. Cunninghame, and J. S. Griffin. R O L L COLLECTOR.—Mr. W. R. Belcher. LATROBE WARD.
ALDERMAN.—Mr. J. D. Pinnock. ASSESSORS.—Messrs. G. S. Airey, and W. B. Wilmot. ROLL COLLECTOR.—Mr. D. F. Lang. GIPPS WARD.
ALDERMAN.—Mr. Samuel Raymond. ASSESSORS.—Dr. P. Cussen, and Mr. R. S. Webb.
Bourke Ward.
ALDERMAN.—Mr Robert Hoddle. ASSESSORS.—Mr. R. Barry, and Captain R. H. Bunbury. ROLL COLLECTOR.—Mr.
H. Richardson.
With the exception of the Roll Collectors all the above were gentlemen filling Government offices, and they gave effecttothe initiatory provisions of the Act with m u c h expedition. T h e inhabited portion of Melbourne was then very limited ; there being hardly a house beyond Lonsdale Street to the North, and Eastward of Russell Street was only built on in an irregularly scattered way. A s for " N e w t o w n " it yvas the oddest combination of cribs and cabins imaginable, and East Melbourne yvas quietly reposing in the w o m b of futurity. T h e Burgess List Collectors, therefore were able to m a k e light work of what they had to do, so the compilation, publication, and revision of the names were effected in sufficient time to render the Burgess Roll available for
The First Municipal Elections
Which took place on the ist December, 1842. It was a great day in Melbourne, the precursor of many an election Saturnalia which infused life into the town, and by the simultaneous opening of purses and public-houses, sent the tap-room eloquence and the tap-room beer (one as frothy as the other) flying about in a manner that amused, if it did not edify. There used to be great fun in those days, especially when spirit merchants, well-to-do publicans, or brewers, showed their noses amongst the candidates, for they were obliged to " bleed" if not to their hearts' content, unmistakably to the contentment of their supporters, voters, and non-voters, w h o attended the W a r d meetings in shoals, always taking care to score large " innings " yvherever they were. A s to open and direct bribery such a thing was rarely heard of. Such an interference with the freedom of election yvould have a grossness and materiality in it, from which the moral sense of a contingent of electioneering supporters would possibly recoil; but apply the consideration in a spiritual prescription, and it (the spirit) was swallowed in a manner which proved that it was not unacceptable. " Refreshments " were therefore the standing, or rather the staggering order, for days and nights before a nomination, the liquoring-up " refreshers " yvere in continual requisition. It is not to be understood that everyone used to get " tight" on such occasions. A s has happened at m a n y modern elections the really useful m e n , the soldiers w h o actually vrin the battle, are the sober, steady, persevering workers—the canvassers and voters w h o would scorn to take meat or drink from a candidate, and it was so then. But there was then a host of cadgers, idle, dissolute, drunken fellows, camp-folloyvers of an election campaign, w h o did more injury than service, by shouting, quarrelling and drinking; and even in our present supposed Puritanical times, seldom does an election contest come off without a repetition of history in this respect. It was a peculiarity with the old Melbourne elections, especially the Civic ones, that the community was wont to divide itself into tyvo queer combinations—for the North of Ireland and the Scotch would coalesce against the English and the South Irish—and so it would happen that the Cockney and the Corkonian would be arrayed against the Derry-boy and the Auld Reekiean. This yvas brought about by the introduction of a degraded and sordid species of partyism, engendered by selfishness, and fomented by newspapers that had personal and pecuniary purposes to serve. This discreditable cliquism was originated by two or three individuals, w h o had their o w n especial interests in view, and cleverly contrived, by an adroit mixing up of national and religious prejudices, to so operate upon the fatuity^of others, as to use them as instruments in a yvarfare from which m u c h good was expected, but never came. T h e conse quence was (as will be shown in the course of this narrative) that the City Council became an arena of the most contemptible scenes, personal squabbling, and ludicrous bickerings. The insane factionism spread from the Council C h a m b e r to the elections, where often through a rabid zealotism, the best candidates were defeated by comparative nonentities, and the commonwealth yvas the sufferer. T o m e the conclusion was irresistible that the personnel of the Newspaper Press was a fruitful cause of such a state of things. S o m e half-dozen proprietors, editors and assistants took an active part in public affairs. Cavenagh owned the Herald, and Fawkner the Patriot, whilst George Arden was a partner in the Gazette, ​and T. H. Osborne conducted the Times. Thomas M'Combie subsequently got hold of the Gazette and William Kerr yvas editor and afterwards lessee of the Fawknerian organ, which, passing into the hands of G. D. Boursiquot, had its name changed to the Daily News. Kerr next started and killed tyvo papers—the Melbourne Courier and Melbourne Argus, whilst Doctor Greeves, and Mr. John Stephen, were literary free-lances, writing for any of the papers that would pay them in cash or in kind, by subserving their views in any wished-for way. Fawkner, Kerr, Stephen, Greeves and M'Combie "ambitioned" seats in the Council, the others begrudged their doing so ; and the result yvas a loyv, internecine, journalistic yvarfare, not only unworthy of a respectable Press, but utterly discreditable to the malcontents. T h e n there were outside influences warring on both sides, yvhich intensified the strife, and unprincipled coteries were not wanting, whose guiding spirits had their oyvn little games to play, some dirty yvork to do, and in the doing of which they employed other hands that did not scruple m u c h over the soiling. A n d so it continued during the early years of the Corporation, when Mayor, Aldermen, and Councillors danced, whilst Melbourne paid the piper. But to return to thefirstelections. Considering the quantity of tall talk previously indulged in, and the number of would-be seekers of Civic honours, w h o talked and blustered and " shouted " in more ways than one, there yvere few actual nominations; but this did not abate the excitement of the polling-day, nor the delirium in which otherwise cool-headed m e n spun round to yvork up the very circumscribed Ward-motes on behalf of their favourites.
Lonsdale Ward.
The election was held at the Royal Hotel, in Collins Street, where the Union Bank now stands, the Acting-Alderman being Major St. John (Police Magistrate), and the Assessors, A. Cunninghame and J. S. Griffin (the former an Official Assignee in Insolvency, and the other the Registrar of the Court of Requests). T h e candidates were John Pascoe Fawkner (the well-knovvn "Johnny"), John Orr, a merchant of the first respectability, Henry William Mortimer, the owner of a large butchering establishment at the north-east corner of William and Collins Streets, and T h o m a s Clarke, an enthusiastic, good-humoured, full-faced Irishman, yvho kept an hotel in Little Flinders Street. Though the Act m a d e no provision for it, the Alderman's Court was opened at 8 a.m., for the nomination of candidates, which was by viva voce proposers, and seconders; and in the event of a contest the polling began at 9 a.m. and closed at 4 p.m. This custom prevailed at every Ward-election, until the passing of the n t h Vic, N o . 17, by a section of which one day was fixed for the polling and another for the nomination. T h e voting was by the presentation of a paper inscribed with the names of the candidates voted for, and the name and qualification of the Burgess, when the Returning Officer read aloud hoyv the vote yvas given, and after being verified by the Burgess Roll, if found correct, it was dropped into what was called "the ballot box." It was "open voting" of the most pronounced kind, for it was customary at all the early elections (Municipal and Legislative) up to the introduction of the close ballot, for the Assessors to unlock the ballot-box, count the votes recorded every hour, and issue slips noted with the result, which used to be posted at the door of the polling-room. B y such means the excitement prevailing, instead of being abated, yvould be intermittently stimulated, and coercion and illtreatment of voters coming to poll as the afternoon advanced resorted to. A crowd of half-drunken loafers hung about the door, cheering and hissing, applauding and abusing, the favourable or unfavourable Burgess as his n a m e and h o w he voted yvere sang out by the Alderman ; and the rudeness often passed beyond the bounds of a fair or foul speech, for hugging, shoving, a covert kick in the shins or punch on the head yvere not unfrequently the physical accompaniments. T h e candidates behaved remarkably well to the " free and independent" electors, and also to non-electors disposed to a skinful of eating and drinking. Clarke spent most money, for he held open house at the Exchange Hotel, on the opposite side of the street; and Fayvkner and Mortimer adopted the co-operative system by securing, a little further east a slop-store recently vacated by a Mr. Lazarus, which yvasfilledwith " slops" of a more appetising kind than " old clos." Orr, yvho was something of a syvell, had a sort of select restaurant on duty at " T h e Royal." ​At the close of the poll, the first three of the following were elected:— Orr, 136; Mortimer, 96; Fawkner, 95; Clarke, 34.
The result was received with expressions of mingled applause and disappointment, for Clarke was much liked and would have polled better but that he was late in the field. Orr was forcibly thrust into a chair, hoisted on relays of unsteady shoulders, and at imminent risk carried in triumph up Collins Street to his home.
Latrobe Ward.
Where the "Bull" with a "Mouth" now bellows a cordial welcome to its numerous customers, there stood in the olden times a smart-looking, cottage-like, tavern known as The Eagle Inn, and here Alderman J. D. Pinnock, assisted by Assessors W. B. Wilmot, and G. S. Airey, invited the burgesses of this sub-division of the town, to exercise their newly-acquired privilege. Pinnock was the Deputy-Registrar of the Supreme Court, Wilmot, the Coroner, and Airey, a Commissioner of Crown Lands. The candidates were Andrew Russell, George James, D. S. Campbell, and Benjamin Heape (all merchants), J. C u m m i n g (brewer), and J. J. Peers (master-builder). Here also there was a universal upturning of glasses and quart-pots, for the candidates opened their pockets freely. Russell, James, and Campbell "clubbed," and to an untenanted house, next door to the Albion opposite, large supplies of grog were sent from their own stores. Heape and Peers entertained their supporters in a house adjoining The Eagle, and Cumming was in no way behindhand in one of the Eagle's wings. Campbell, James, and Russell, were the favourites, and it was generally believed Heape was out of the running, as he entered too late for training at the Ward-meetings, otherwise, as he was a partner in the then well-established and trusted firm of Heape and Grice, he would have fared much better than he did. The result of the voting was:— Elected, Messrs. Russell, 99, Campbell, 87, and James, 76; Rejected:— Messrs. Cumming, 71; Peers, 47; Heape, 40. Russell obtained a higher place than was expected. He was a plausible mediocrity, neither over nor under-liked; he benefited by splitting and cross-voting, and so jumped to the head of the poll. When the return was declared the winners retired with their friends to another Collins Street hostelry—the Commercial Inn.
Gipps Ward.
The election was held at the Caledonian Hotel, on the South side of Lonsdale (a few yards from its intersection with Swanston) Street. The Alderman was Samuel Raymond (the Deputy-Sheriff), with R. S. Webb (Collector of Customs), and Dr. Cussen (Assistant Colonial Surgeon) as Assessors. The candidates were Henry Condell (brewer), John Dickson (doctor of medicine), George Beaver (building contractor), and James Dobson (licensed victualler). In front of the polling place was a space of tolerably timbered bush; and the four candidates held a sort of picnic off the road in front, where a large tent was pitched. This was well stocked with creature-comforts, solid and liquid, which were attacked as unstintingly as would have become any conclave of champion-eaters and drinkers in the Southern Hemisphere. This was a "Liberty-Hall" and no mistake, for what with "free grub and free grog, free fist and free gab," this popular idea of a "Paradise for the working man," was several times on the verge of being transformed into a "Pandemonium of devils." Condell was the proprietor of a brewery in Little Bourke Street, and the beer must have been turned on with high pressure from his vats (only 200 yards off) for a newspaper of the following morning declared that "About noon Condell's ale grew too strong, and caused much confusion at the polling; but the confusion was caused principally by those who were not voters, as all were invited to partake and make welcome." About three o'clock the place was in a state of general row, and the poll closed "amidst riot and confusion." The result of the proceedings was:— Elected, Messrs. Condell 69, Dickson 65, Beaver 64; Rejected, Dobson 39.
The defeated candidate was terribly wrath at his discomfiture, and issued the following indignant address:—
"The Worthy Burgesses of Gipps Ward:— "To those voters who were enabled by personal strength to proceed to the table, and record their votes in my favour, I return my most sincere thanks. ​"To those who were prevented and brutally kept back by a faction, the existence of which I was was ignorant of as I now despise it, I offer my deepest regret that they should have suffered injury or inconvenience on my behalf."
This Mr. Dobson is the individual referred to as a Market Commissioner in the previous chapter.
Bourke Ward.
Though there was an absolute "walk-over" here, considerable interest prevailed. There were four candidates, and, although one of them withdrew on the morning of the election, the others, having prepared for a contest, were determined for fun's sake "to fight it out." The proceedings were held at the Crown Hotel, still "nobblerizing" at the south-east corner of Queen and Lonsdale Streets, and the only scene of all those early contests which still remains. The Alderman was Robert Hoddle (the Chief of the Survey Department), and the Assessors, Redmond Barry (Court of Requests Commissioner), and Captain R. H. Bunbury (Harbor Master). The candidates were — William Kerr (editor of the Patriot), J. T. Smith (licensed victualler), H. N. Carrington (solicitor), and Dr. John Patterson (Immigration agent). The Scotch influence was very strong in this quarter, and up to the polling-day great efforts were made to defeat Kerr, its champion, and even after it was known there would be no contest, his opponents tried every means to keep him low on the poll. Just as the Alderman was about to open the ball, Carrington appeared and announced his withdrawal, "as he had just received notice of the dishonour of bills amounting to £10,000; and such unexpected reverses would necessarily deprive him of the opportunity of performing his duty to his constituents." There could be no doubt of this, as such a handicap was quite sufficient "to scratch" a gamer animal than Carrington. As Carrington's resignation was not in time, he having been duly nominated, the polling went on, and one of the candidates, who had made most elaborate preparations for carrying on the war, yvas resolved to see it out "regardless of expense." This generous individual was Mr. Smith, who, owning the St. John's Tavern at the corner of Queen and Little Bourke Streets, threw it open for gratuitous potations during the day, and the consumption of fluids there was "a caution." In front of the hotel was erected a tent, occupied by a band, in whose music noise preponderated over harmony; yet, according to a chronicler, "it played heart-stirring and enlivening tunes to the assembled multitude." Smith was a good judge of human nature, and a clever electioneerer; and his tactical skill had the effect upon this occasion of giving him the highest score, for the four o'clock returns notified the order of precedence thus:— Smith, 97; Patterson, 63; Kerr, 56.
After much "cheering," a "chairing" of the elected favourite was proposed, but as procuring a vehicle for the purpose would incur too much delay, Mr. Smith was seized, and half-carried and half-tugged along (under fear of grievous bodily harm, lest any of the beasts of burden should give a lurch or a stagger) from the Crown Hotel to his residence. During portions of his short but perilous journey, Mr. Smith was so distended by the fellows dragging at his arms and feet, as to resemble a spread-eagle, or a man undergoing torture of the wheel. The bumping and pulling and mauling he suffered on this memorative occasion, had a corner in his remembrance during his many election struggles of after years; and he always took care to avoid the second infliction of a good-natured compliment being converted by intoxicated bungling into a ridiculous martyrdom. The "Gentlemen of the Press" on duty are alleged to have entered pretty freely into the "spirit" of the time, for there was a wildly ungrammatical and inconsequential inspiration in their florid reports of the day's doings. They were especially complimentary to Smith's grand "trump-card," and the effects of its mellifluous influence is thus depicted:— "Bourke Ward was the scene of the greatest attention through Smith's most excellent band, which played lively and 'appropriate' airs during the day, and thus kept the crowd in cheerfulness and good humour." Again:— "The whole business passed off in such a cool and rational manner, as reflected great credit on the burgesses of Melbourne, and inhabitants generally, scenes of riot and disorder being less frequent than we have witnessed in a town at home whose constituency was numerically greater"!!!
The original twelve Patres Conscripti of the Corporation were, taken collectively, a fair average representation of the then commercial, professional and industrial interests of the community, as will be seen by the annexed classification viz.:— Doctors, 2; general merchants, 2; wine and spirit merchants 2; newspaper proprietor, 1; editor, 1; brewer, 1; master-builder, 1; butcher, 1; hotel-keeper, 1. Of this ​dozen five were Scotch, four English, two North Irish, one New South Welsh; and their religious professions might be specified as five Presbyterians to five Episcopalians and two Independents. Of them, three (i.e., Condell, Russell, and Smith) became Mayors of Melbourne, and six (viz., Condell, Dickson, Russell, Smith, Fawkner, and Campbell) obtained seats in the Colonial Legislature. Kerr was the only one of the group that changed an elective seat for that of a salaried subordinate — the Town Clerkship. Campbell had the shortest connection with the Council, as he resigned soon after his election, and Patterson quickly followed through disqualification as a Burgess; whilst Smith, with the exception of his name being once off the Burgess roll, continued a member to the time of his death in 1879. Of this primary dozen not one is now alive (1888.)
The members of the Town Council assembled for the first time at the Royal Hotel on the 3rd December, took the oath of allegiance, and subscribed the usual declaration.
The First Aldermanic Election.
This took place at a meeting of the Council, held at the Royal Hotel on the 9th December; and, as required by the Act, with closed doors. The following members were present, viz., Crs. Condell, Kerr, Mortimer, Patterson, Russell, Beaver, Dickson, Fawkner, James, Orr, and Smith. Absent — Cr. Campbell. The mode of election was, viz.: The Councillors present appointed a Chairman and two Scrutineers, and the Chairman,firstof all deposited in a box or urn, a card inscribed with the names of the Councillors for whom he voted, and then received the voting-cards from the other Councillors, and either "boxed" or "urned" them. If a member did not wish to give effect to his vote, he wrote upon the voting-paper the name of a non-candidate, and this was termed "throwing away his vote." No candidate could vote in his own favour. The Aldermanic selection having been made, Cr. Patterson was appointed Chairman, and Crs. Mortimer and Russell Scrutineers.
The voting was then proceeded with, but as there was not a full Council the scrutiny was delayed for an hour, and eventuated in the choice of Condell, Russell, Kerr, and Mortimer.
The Council decided that Alderman Condell be assigned to Gipps Ward, and Alderman Russell to Latrobe Ward, with a tenure of office for six years each; Alderman Mortimer to Lonsdale Ward, and Alderman Kerr to Bourke Ward, each for three years.
The election of Mayor was next accomplished by the same process, the same Chairman and Scrutineers. Aldermen Condell and Patterson were the only declared candidates, and as there was a tie in the voting, thefinaldecision rested with the Chairman and Scrutineers, and, after a brief consultation the Chairman declared the majority to be in favour of Alderman Condell, who thus became
The First Mayor of Melbourne.
No list of the voting has ever been published, no doubt through a desire to preserve the secrecy indirectly suggested by the Act; and the voting cards employed on this remarkable occasion have been either lost or mislaid, or gone astray, or accidentally perished. From my personal knoyvledge of the petty partyism of the period, and the likes and dislikes of the eleven gentlemen named as present, I append a list compiled after exit of forty years, which, if verification were possible, would, I have no doubt, be found to be absolutely correct:— For Condell. — Alderman Kerr, Alderman Mortimer, Councillor Fawkner, Councillor Beaver. For Patterson. — Alderman Orr, Alderman Russell, Councillor James, Councillor Dickson.
Non-voter — Councillor Smith. Absent — Councillor Campbell.
Neither Condell nor Patterson could vote for himself. The casting vote, vested in the presidential triumvirate, was disposed of by Patterson remaining neutral, and the Scrutineers turning the scale for Condell.
When the result of the election of Mayor was known, public opinion was much exercised as to its wisdom, for Condell's unfitness was not even questioned, and a very general impression prevailed that Patterson had been "sold." Though not the Mayor-elect, he was certainly the Mayor-designate for the week before, and it was only at the last moment that a successful opposition was forthcoming, Condell's eligibility for the office was not maintained even by his friends, and, excepting the advantage which a ​superior education conferred on Patterson, there was much of "six of one and half-dozen of the other" between them. They were a "Hobson's choice," and though Patterson, as a Government officer, could not have acted with the independence of Condell, he was by degrees the more courteous and intelligent of the two. Dickson was the ablest man of the whole lot at the time, and he or Russell or Orr would have done much better than Condell. Smith was then unknown as a public man, but his time was to come, as it did, though after a weary waiting, with a vengeance.
Immediately that the election of Mayor terminated, Councillor Fawkner moved, and Councillor Beaver seconded, "That the doors of the Council Chamber be henceforward open for the admittance of the public." This motion was made an order ofthe day for next meeting, and it was then resolved "That the doors of the Council Chamber be henceforth open for the admittance of the public, and that such be No. 1 of the Standing Orders of the Council."
Councillor Fawkner, therefore, it was who took the initiative in having the future business of the Council transacted coram populo.
The Mayor's State Procession and Swearing In.
The returned Twelve were almost beside themselves with the new-blown honours showrered on them by public suffrage, and lost no time in making the most of their novel situation. In private conclave they decided upon organising an imposing "turn-out" in the shape of a public procession through the town, on the occasion of the swearing-in of the Mayor before the Resident Judge. Mr. Justice Willis was consulted, and was only too glad of an opportunity of airing his "little brief authority" before the oi polloi. Had he descended to modern times he would have vegetated into the most inflated "Plebiskiter" known to Victorian history. The preparatory arrangements were put en train, and included the adoption of a particular uniform or livery, in which the "Corporators" were to make "Dons" of themselves, and this was of very easy adjustment. According to a sumptuary regulation, each Alderman and Councillor was to be decked in a "belltopper," white shirt, and "choker" to match, blue cloth coat with wide swallow-tail, the breasts and tail lined with white satin, and the coat-front to be starred with the blaze of large V.R. gold-gilt buttons, black doeskin trousers, white Marseilles vest, snow-kid gloves, and high-heeled Wellington-boots polished to a shine in which a monkey might shave himself. As an English Monarch once granted to a Baron of Kinsale the privilege of standing covered in his presence, so, by special favour, the Mayor, was permitted to be "unbelltoppered" on this august occasion, and under circumstances yet to be described.
The costumiering capacity of Melbourne yvas, in 1842, on a limited scale, and it taxed severely the manufacturing and manipulatory powers of the establishments employed to complete so many { outfits in tyvo or three days; but the tailors and bootmakers, the milliners and the shoeblacks rose to the occasion, and the wearables were delivered in due time. But though one portion of the compact was faithfully observed, the other was, in part, not so, for two of the biggest figures in the ceremonial were either so impecunious or so utterly mean-spirited as to forget to pay for their "splendid toggery," and subsequent appeals for reimbursement to the Council, and to the Requests Court, were alike unavailing. Similar allegations were made in the case of two or three future Councillors, as the Civic Livery remained in fashion for some years, and used to be worn at the Council meetings, and on other State and even un-State occasions.
The 13th December was appointed for the demonstration, and there was a very general turn-out of the inhabitants to behold the exhibition. An invitation to the Masonic body was accepted, and as the Mayor had no official gown to put on, he borrowed a Masonic robe of crimson silk, arrayed in which he appeared as if clad in the morning dress of some obese dowager. A town band rattled away during the forenoon, and the "stormy music of the drum " beat up all the washed and unwashed urchins in Melbourne to head-quarters. The Chief-Constable, and such rank and file of the constabulary as could be spared were drawn up as a guard of honour outside the door of the Royal Hotel, and an old half-cranky customer, named Hooson, afterwards appointed "Street-keeper," was acting as unattached marshall or conductor, waving a short staff, to which he fastened a square of red calico. As noon approached, the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors appeared at the rendezvous, and in the phraseology of one of the newspapers, "they looked quite gorgeous." They paraded in the long-room of the hotel, and when the Mayor had indued "purple ​and fine linen,” he re-appeared in the hall, marched to the front door, and looked around him with turgent vanity of a pompous turkey-cock. He even commenced to hum a monologue, and if he had any familiar knowledge of the Lay literature of Ancient Rome, he might have been accused of trying to traverse Macaulay, for the jingle, if not the words, of his tune seemed to run in something of the following strain:—
Chief Constable, give warning; Policemen clear the way; The Mayor will stride, in all his pride, Through Collins Street to-day.
But though he had never heard of such a place in all the world as Lake Regillus, or the gallant Knights returning therefrom, he was prouder and more "bumptiously" exalted at this momentous instant of his life than any Knight or Cavalier that ever rode to or from a battle-field. The procession was at length formed in the following order:—
Hooson, as pioneer, armed with his banneret. The Town Band. Thirty Freemason Burgesses (two deep). Three Masonic Banners of the Lodge of "Australia Felix." Masonic Members in regalia of the Craft. Town Councillors, two and two, with right and left arms interlocked. Aldermen, ditto, ditto. The Mayor. The Chief-Constable and Police. Men, Women, Children, and dogs promiscuously.
The most amusing feature of this burlesque was that the Mayor appeared in his place bare-headed — why, I could never understand, unless that he was resolved that nothing should come between the "wind and his nobility," and, consequently, as the converse of John De Courcy and King John, marched "unhatted" to the Supreme Court, the band hammering away with "See the Conquering Hero comes." The movement progressed without interruption until near William Street, when the ensign-bearer, who was some yards in advance, made his appearance. A man was driving a bullock past St. James’ Church, on his way to the slaughter-houses, and the animal’s eye caught the mad fluttering of Hooson’s ruddy streamer. Hooson looked round, became alarmed, and executed a figure of serpentine posturing which would have done credit to a bandelero in a Spanish bull-fight. Now, a man waving a red flag as a danger-signal on a railway line may, perchance, succeed in stopping a coming train, but to shunt a half-wild bull by whirling a red rag in the air, is about the very last thing likely to succeed. The bullock at length made a plunge towards the standard-bearer, who ran for his life, followed by his pursuer. The runaway howled nearly as loud as the quadruped bellowed, and an only, though not a pleasant, chance of safety offered for Hooson. There was then at the junction of William and Little Flinders Streets, near the Custom House Reserve, a chasm nearly brimful thick slush, and into this the future "Street-keeper" plunged head foremost, carrying his banner with him, and burying himself all but his head in the muck, came to grief in a slimy, instead of a gory, bed, with the red drapery as a martial cloak around him. The bullock did not follow him, but with a parting snort of contempt at the almost invisible signifer, started away in the direction of the Yarra Falls, Hooson was speedily extricated from his unenviable condition, and at the neighbouring tavern, it did not take long make "Richard himself again." After all, the Hooson episode was was only an unwitting revival of the most comical incident of the old Lord Mayor's Show in London, for at the banquet that followed, the "Lord Mayor's fool" annually leapt into a large custard (certainly a more palatable batter than the one into which Hooson compulsorily dived), for the dlectation of all present; but then times and circumstances were different, and the Hooson feat was performed at the Antipodes.
Meanwhile, the Civic display had gone its way as if nothing had happened, and in due course arrived at the Court-house, corner of King and Bourke Streets, when further progress was impeded by the immense miscellaneous crowd. Mt Deputy-Sheriff M'Kenzie, a diminutive Scotchman, with a shrill, squeaky voice, appeared in the doorway and commanded a track to be cleared; but as he had no javelinmen at his elbow, and the few police were wedged awat at the back, his ordering was as a puff of wind. ​The crier, a squat Londoner, roared lustily from his side-perch in the Court for room to be made for the "Worshipful the Mayor and the Corporation;" but his mouthing was unattended to. Judge Willis was fidgetting impatiently on the Bench, commanding the crier to keep order, and the Court, now thronged, to be cleared, commands impossible to be enforced, for the crier was irrepressible with excitement, the spectators were in no humour to be trifled with, and this was one of those occasions on which Willis condescendingly left his bouncing unnoticed. The Judge as he appeared robed on the Judgment-seat cut a rather grotesque figure. His coiffure was constructed upon an admixture of two or three orders of hat-architecture, a tripartition of the billy-cock, the shovel, and cocked-hat. It was not unlike the "black cap" in which Judges pass capital sentences, but it was winged, padded, enlarged, and ornamented in such a manner as to be unrecognizable. After some delay and difficulty the Mayor marched in with head erect, his hair stiffened as if with starch, and likened to a crown of long bristles. Condell followed by his colleagues, strutted forward in his trailing red vestment looking like an ancient flamingo. The honour of a formal introduction was accomplished through the medium of Councillor Patterson, as a Government official, after which the Mayor was vouchsafed the privilege claimed by misdemeanants presented for trial and allowed to stand "on the floor of the Court," close to the Bench, whilst Aldermen and Councillors received the greater compliment of being pushed into the jury-box, like a lot of calves in a butcher's pen. Mr. J. D. Pinnock, the Deputy-Registrar administered the necessary oath to the Mayor, who kissed the greasy, insanitary looking Bible with a solemn face and loud smack, after which Judge Willis delivered the following address:—
"Worshipful Mayor, Worthy Aldermen, and Gentlemen Councillors,"
"Elected as you have been under an Act of the Legislative Council to the offices you now claim by virtue of that Act, to fill, I cannot but feel gratified at your presence in the Queen's Supreme Court of Judicature on the present occasion.
"The prerogative of erecting Corporations is justly esteemed one of the most important pertaining to the Crown, because it denudes the Sovereign of so much of the right of Government as may thereby be conferred on others. This prerogative, therefore, has ever been held sacred by the laws of England; were it not so, the evils would be obvious.
"All Government is a trust for the benefit of the people; and yvhen that trust is legally created, duly undertaken, and honestly fulfilled, it never fails to promote the general happiness—that happiness which exists not with dissension, but only dwells with unanimity and peace.
"If I might presume to offer a few words of advice, I would say to each of you in the language of Shakspeare,
'Love thyself last—cherish those hearts that hate thee, Corruption wins not more than honesty : Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace To silence envious tongues, — BE JUST AND FEAR NOT.'
"The Crown of Civic glory—of that glory which will result from the prosperity of your Borough—the goodwill of your fellow-burgesses—not of the knavish, the profligate, the timid, and inactive, but of the virtuous, and the industrious, and the approbation of your own consciences—awaits your efforts for the general good. I know those efforts will be strenuously made; and, so far as may be consonant to law my best wishes attend you for their success."
This was the shortest and best oration ever delivered by Judge Willis, and well would it have been both for himself and the Council if its precepts had been adhered to. It was a multum in parvo dissertation on the ethics of good government; and its condensed wisdom is as applicable to the present generation as to that to whom it was addressed.
After His Honor had concluded, the Mayor made a profound obeisance, which was reciprocated from the Bench, and the Judge courteously invited the "Worshipful Mayor, worthy Aldermen and gentlemen Councillors" to partake of the hospitality provided" in his Chambers, "that is, in an adjoining room where was served a sumptuous repast, consisting of a dish of corned-beef sandwiches, and a modicum ​of sherry and water! After doing only moderate justice (all that was in their power) to the fare set before them, the company retired, and the procession, considerably shorn of its attractive accessories, re-formed and proceeded to interview
Mr. Superintendent Latrobe
At his office on Batman's Hill, where the magnates were received by the Sub-treasurer (Captain Lonsdale) and by him ushered into the august presence of the Superintendent, who sat in state, arrayed in the uniform of a Lieutenant-Governor, and wearing the "hat and feathers," which in after years were so ridiculed by the Argus newspaper. Captain Lonsdale announced them seriatim by name and official designation, and the Superintendent met them with a cordial courtesy. A lengthy and interesting conversation ensued, confined mainly to topics Municipal, and one or two of the introductory sentences are worth transcribing, for pacific relations did not long exist between the parties, and irritants and counter-irritants soon constituted the stock compliments bandied between the Superintendent and the Council.
Mr. Latrobe.—"I have much pleasure in welcoming the first Municipal Corporation of Melbourne. You have a great deal of hard work before you, Mr. Mayor. I do not think you will find it a bed of roses."
The Mayor.—"I am aware of the onerous duties before us; but we must set our faces steadily against the storm, and endeavour to go through it."
The conversation took a practical turn, in the course of which the Superintendent promised every co-operation. It transpired that the Government would be willing to give the Council £2000 to start business with, conditional on a like sum being collected or contributed. The propriety of calling in some of the convicts, who were out on "assignment" in the district, with the view of employing them in street labour was mooted, but such a project was disapproved of by the Superintendent and Councillor Fawkner.
After the interview the remains of the procession with the Mayor leading, commenced its return-trip along Spencer Street to Lonsdale Street via Elizabeth Street, back to the Royal Hotel, where the Mayor was given three cheers, and the fag-end of the day's pageantry quickly disbanded.
The First Meeting of the Council
For general business was held on the 15th December, 1842, when an Address to the Queen was adopted, congratulating Her Majesty on her Providential escape from assassination on the 30th May, 1842, when a youth named Francis discharged a pistol as Her Majesty and Prince Albert were returning in an open barouche down Constitution Hill to Buckingham Palace. Francis was convicted of high treason and sentenced to death on the 17th June, but was subsequently transported for life. On a further commutation of punishment, he passed over from Tasmania to Victoria, and it is singular that this should have been the first act of a Corporation of which this same Francis was destined to be a future member, by virtue of his enrolment, for several years as a citizen of Melbourne—a man too of industrious habits, exemplary conduct, and held in esteem. Francis died in 1883.
The Council next considered the allowance to the Mayor, and after some discussion it was fixed at £350 for the Civic year. The stipends of the Town Clerk and the Town Surveyor were £250 each per annum.
For the appointment of Town Clerk there had been great intriguing, lobbying, and dodging for several weeks, and the following ten individuals (the four last named being Attornies), were publicly announced as candidates, viz., Messrs. J. M. Smith, W. C. Hendley, John Stephen, R. H. Budd, J. C. King, Alex. M'Killop, Henry Moor, Richard Ocock, Edward Sewell and George Barber. The list was reduced to eight, and the result of the voting was, for King eight, for Stephen three. Mr. King, who had both plotted and plodded in every conceivable manner for the berth, obtained it, but he never had a day's peace for the few years he kept it. This, in a great measure, he brought upon himself, for having secured what he so much coveted, he ought to have devoted himself to the business of his office, be Town Clerk and nothing else, but he did exactly the reverse. The manner in which the Council conducted this first meeting made such a favourable impression that a newspaper, more unfriendly than otherwise, was ​constrained to remark that "the whole day's proceedings were highly creditable, and the speeches of the members were very neatly put together. The Worshipful the Mayor looked remarkably well, and conducted himself with dignity and affability."
On the following Sunday (the 18th December), Mayor Condell and his Corporate "clutch" attended the Episcopalian Church service at St. James. The Mayor on this occasion left the borrowed Masonic over-all behind, and stepped out in the van of his brother Aldermen and Councillors, in the blue and white swallow-tail, black trowsers, white vest, white choker, and belltopper, the authorised wearables of his associates. This puny attempt to establish a spurious religious ascendancy brought so much ridicule on its promoter that he never repeated it, and the wonder was how the sturdy Presbyterian element in the Council could have sanctioned such folly.
As it was essential under the Act that there should be a Treasurer, Mr. James Simpson consented (pending a regular paid appointee) to perform the (little more than nominal) duties gratuitously, on condition that the Civic account was kept at the Bank of Australasia, of which he was a Director, and he was accordingly appointed. The following were candidates for the office of Treasurer:— Messrs. Gilbert Beith, A. M'Lachlan, James Smith, R. J. Bertlesen, J. D. Pinnock, and George Arden. The smallness of the salary (£150), however, drove several of these out of the field, and the first permanent occupant of the office was Mr. Beith.
For the Town Surveyorship there were twelve aspirants, viz.:— Messrs. G. M'Lagan, C. Laing, W. W. Howe, J. N. Craig, A. Sim, T. Burn, J. T. Everist, R. Russell, A. Thomson, W. Wright, C. Lundie, and J. W. Hooson. A whole heap of testimonials was sent in, but Howe made a great point of his having " instruments to carry on the work, and he had been connected with an extensive over-ground colliery in England." The billet was given to him.
One of the most pressing questions was the erection of a Town Hall, for which £500 would be sufficient, and the site suggested was portion of the St. James' Reserve, between Bourke and Little Collins Streets. As to temporary premises, the only places in town sufficiently commodious were the Lamb Inn and the Mechanics' Institute. Portion of the latter building was subsequently rented, into which the Corporation moved, and remained there for several years. Thomas Davis was appointed Messenger at £65 a year, out of twenty-two applicants. Old Hooson was sometime after berthed as "Street-keeper" at £1 a week—just 20s. more than he was worth.
"Looking after the Funds" (a sinecure as yet) was entrusted to the Mayor, Aldermen Russell, Mortimer, and Councillor Smith as a Finance Committee, whilst Alderman Kerr, and Councillors Dickson, James and Patterson were to try their hands at the compilation of a code of Standing Orders. Subsequently the Public Works, Finance, Market, and Legislative Permanent Committees were elected and continued to be so annually.
The Corporation Seal.
By the Act of Incorporation there was to be a Common Seal, and there was much curiosity as to what device should be represented on it. By a motion of Alderman Kerr, a Committee, consisting of the Mayor, Alderman Russell and himself, was commissioned to suggest a design. The Seal-Committee on the 9th January, reported in favour of a design, which was approved. It was on a field argent surrounded with wreaths of acacia or wattle, a St. George's cross gules, bearing the Imperial Crown proper. In the first quarter was a golden fleece, second a whale, third a bull, and fourth a ship, all proper—as representing wool, oil, and tallow, the chief exports of the time, and their means of transmission from the colony; the crest of a kangaroo demi coupée—the whole within a circular inscription, "Seal of the Corporation of Melbourne, 1842." This was adopted with an alteration of the inscription to "Town of Melbourne, Incorporated, A. D. 1842," and the subsequent addition of the now well-known motto, "Vires acquirit eundo." It has often been asked how the Town Council hit upon such a happy epigraph; and it certainly is not generally known that it was the result of a whim of the first Judge (Willis) to whom it occurred that they were just the three words that would suit the baby Town Council.
​And here is the pleasant way in which the Council found its Civic motto. Judge Willis, who resided at Heidelberg, was one day shortly after the election of the Mayor, returning home, and, meeting the Mayor's son, thus addressed him: "Look here, young Condell, do you forget your Virgil? Do you remember this passage in the fourth book of the Æneid:—
'Fama, malum quo non aliud velocius ullum, Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo.'
"Come take this, and tell your father it will make a good motto for the Corporation Seal." Drawing from his pocket a slip of paper on which was written the phrase "Vires acquirit eundo," he handed it to the lad, who took it to his father. On consultation it was adopted, and so became immortally inwoven with the armorial bearings of that city, whose legend it will remain as long as the city itself.
There was then in Melbourne a Mr. Thomas Ham (brother of the Mayor in 1881-2), an engraver of much ability, and to him the design was handed over, with an order for its engraving. Ham executed the work in a very creditable manner, though when he made a demand for £20 for the job, it was demurred to as extortionate, some of the Councillors declaring £5 to be sufficient. There was a deal of haggling over the affair, but a compromise was effected. The Town Seal remained as such, even longer than Melbourne was a town, for though it was made a City by the Queen's Patent in 1847, and by an Act of the Legislature in August 1849, the old Seal survived until 1852, when it was necessary to obtain a legal permit to kill it and accordingly the Legislative Council of Victoria passed an Act empowering the Corporation to destroy the old Common Seal and procure a new one. This was done, and the only difference in design between old and new, is the substitution of "City" for "Town" in the marginal scroll.
The first resignation of a member was that of Mr. D. S. Campbell, a Councillor for Latrobe Ward, for which vacancy two candidates immediately offered, viz., John Porter and John Stephen. Porter was a merchant, and Stephen a newspaper-writer, Police-office Advocate, and Secretary of the Mechanics' Institute. Gross charges of immorality were alleged against Stephen in the Patriot, of which Kerr was the conductor; both the individuals held high position in the Masonic Fraternity, but the altercation was fought out with merciless animosity nevertheless. The election contest was also the witness of much contemptible personal jarring. It took place on the 3rd January, 1843, when Stephen polled 106 to Porter's 59 votes. This verdict was regarded by Stephen of so much importance as to determine him to ride in state to the next meeting of the Council. On the 9th January he accordingly chartered the Town band, and headed by it, wearing white and green breast favours, new Civic regimentals, and mounted on a charger hired from a Bourke Street livery stable, the new Councillor proceeded to the Mechanics' Institute, where he dropped into his Civic place.
On the revision of the Burgess list, Mr. Patterson's name had been omitted, and this led to his resignation on the 26th January, 1843. It was said that the Superintendent did not approve of a paid Government official being connected with the Corporation, and insisted on his withdrawal. For the vacancy so happening in Bourke Ward, Mr. Patrick Reid, an industrious colonist, but a cipher as a public man, was returned.
The first officials appointed for a valuation of the town were Messrs. Joseph Anderson and Thomas Burn.
The valuation for the first year (1842-3) was £60,847, upon which a rate of 1s. in the £ was made; and four Collectors (one for each Ward) were nominated in the persons of Messrs. James Ballingall, Wm. Willoughby, Joseph Byrne, and T. M'Donald. Some time after, Byrne made himself scarce with a slice of the Town Fund unaccounted for. Messrs. William Cogan and Thomas Halfpenny were his securities, and Halfpenny being the better off, had to pay nearly all, if not the whole of the defalcation. He is still alive, and retains a lively recollection of the "smart young man" who did him so nicely. Mr. J. J. Mouritz was afterwards appointed a Collector.
By the Corporation Act it was necessary to elect the first two Auditors and eight Assessors on the 1st March, 1843, and so on every year. As the elections of such officers were little more than formal, in consequence of the absence of any public interest in the selections made, I shall make no further reference ​to them in this notice beyond giving the names of the individuals holding those offices. The First Auditors were the well-known Captain George Ward Cole, and Mr. William Locke, a merchant. The Assessors were:—
Lonsdale Ward.—Captain James Cain, and Mr. David Young. Latrobe Ward.—Messrs. James Graham, and Samuel Raymond. Gipps Ward.—Messrs. David Lyons, and James Montgomery. Bourke Ward.—Mr. William Mortimer, and Captain B. Baxter.
Of these ten persons only two—Messrs. Graham, and Baxter—survive.
The good behaviour hitherto shown by the newly-fledged Town Representatives, was only skin-deep. Municipal weather, hot and boisterous, set in, and these atmospherical conditions rarely, except at few and short intervals, changed. As Mr. Latrobe had truly remarked, the Council had no "bed of roses." The members had to do work of much difficulty, requiring patience, patriotism, energy, and disinterestedness; but the difficulties were manifoldly increased by the bickerings, brawlings, and squabbling imported to the Council table. Messrs. Kerr, Fawkner, and Stephen having newspaper and pesonal out-of-door quarrels, turned the Council Chamber at times into a disreputable bear-garden, of which the more reflective portion of the public grew thoroughly ashamed. To the turmoil within the Council two of the newspapers were potent contributories from without. Two cliques were formed, of one of which Kerr was the acknowledged leader, secretly and astutely helped by the Town Clerk; and there was what might be termed the Opposition clique, of which Stephen was the archon, assisted occasionally by Smith, Russell, James, and Dickson, but the last-named soon left them. As for Fawkner he was a regular firebrand, often absolutely unmanageable, grossly offensive in tongue, minatory in gesture, uniting the characters of bully and clown in such a manner as to render it difficult to say whether his conduct partook more of the one than the other. Fawkner and Kerr had the Patriot newspaper under their control, and Cavenagh of the Herald ground his organ in direct antagonism to them. Whatever course the Kerr clique took, it was cracked up by the Patriot, and roared down by the Herald, and vice versa. Dr. Greeves, not yet in the Council, the ablest man of the time, was editor ofthe Gazette, which had passed out of Arden's handsbut this much must be written of him that he was a veritable "trimmer," and did not do much harm, for if a trenchant article from his pen appeared one day, the next publication of the paper contained, if not a direct recantation, a re-hash so toned down as to make it the most innocuous namby-pambyism.
The Council primarily was the only local representative body in the district, but it sometimes diverged from its legitimate functions. The consequence was that in occasionally attempting to dictate to the Executive, the Council came into collision with the Superintendent, by whom the latter body was snubbed.
There were also other embarrassments, not the least being the want of money, and the Corporation coffers were in a sad condition of impecuniosity. Indeed, in the first half of 1843, the Council was in such straits in this respect, that it had not the funds necessary to pay current expenses; and at one of the meetings it was seriously proposed to discharge the overdue salaries by a subscription amongst the members. The significance of a proposal of this kind, may be guessed when it was well-known that some of the members' outfitters' bills were unliquidated for their official raiment. Grave doubts were also expressed as to the validity of the Corporation Act, by the very Judge Willis who gave such good advice on the "cold-beef sandwich day;" and it was even boldly stated at the Council table that several ofthe members who had sworn to the contrary, had never possessed the necessary property qualification, as to the truth of which, many who had good reason for knowing, never entertained the slightest doubt. The Council meetings, agitated by all those disquieting agencies, drifted into a chaos of abusive recrimination and utter disorder. It is only common justice to record that, in the midst of all this misrule, the Mayor a well-meaning man in his way, performed his difficult and irksome duty, if not with dignity, with impartiality and an independence for which even his most ardent admirers had not previously given him credit. The times in Melbourne were also very bad, for it was the middle of the financial crisis which raged in 1842 and 1843, when every branch of trade and commerce was at its lowest ebb, insolvency general, employment scarce, and money, like the fairy gifts of Irish fable, seemed to have almost totally ​" faded away." A large proportion of the humbler class found it therefore difficult, and many of th impossible, to pay the town rate, and in this deadlock, the Council notified that all defaulters yvould he levied upon, and sold off. The Herald and Gazette newspapers boldly advised the people not to pay; and their proprietary endorsed the advice so given by not paying the amount due upon their own offices. Thereupon distress-warrants were at once issued against them, and types and presses distrained upon, but no one yvould buy.
The very unpopular officer, a Town Auctioneer, was necessitated, and thefirst" knocker down " of the kind was a Mr. William Barrett, a short-tempered, loud-tongued, blustering,fluffyold fellow, well-known in Melbourne and Richmond, where he lived to an advanced age. " Old Billy's " remuneration yvas two and a-half per cent, for a levy, and the like commission on a sale, but he did not make much out of it, and soon gave the office up in disgust, yvhen a Mr. Henry Frencham succeeded to a berth as uncomfortable as it was unremunerative.
The site for a Town Hall yvas often on the tapis, and a fruitful source of contention in consequence ofthe urging of various localities, mostly prompted by personal predilections or vindictive feelings. The tyvo-acre subdivision of the St. James' Church site, had a special attraction for the Kerr clique, not so much because of its suitability, as that it afforded an ever ready weapon with yvhich to worry, if not to wound, the Church of Englanders. It was dubbed " Parson Thomson's Cabbage Garden." To this plot it yvas reasonably enough contended that the church had no right, and that it had been seized on by a "fluke,"to which Sir Richard Bourke was privy. Several sites were talked over, and amongst them the spots where the Mint and the New Law Courts are erected. The Council also claimed a moiety of certain fees and fines, and the control of fees from the punts plying on the Yarra ; but their demands yvere ignored, always with a quiet contempt, and sometimes with but scant courtesy.
But a momentary outburst of sunshine broke from the dark and troubled sky, by
The First Mayoral Dinner,
Which was given on the evening of the 18th May, 1843, at the Royal Hotel. It was not only a Corpora spread, but also intended as a commemorative compliment to the introduction of a partially self-governing institution, conferred on the colony by a recently passed New South Wales Constitution Act, by which a Legislative Council was provided, and to which Port Phillip was privileged to contribute half-a-dozen members. The banquet was a god-send, though the limited number of invitations issued was the reverse of satisfactory. Still it presented a fair admixture of the official and social classes of the community, for there were gathered round the festive board, heads of departments, merchants, squatters, doctors, layvyers, and ministers of religion. But an unaccountable line yvas drayvn around the clerical invitations, for the senior representatives of three only of the religious denominations were included, viz, those of the Church of England, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian bodies. There yvere certainly no Wesleyans in the Council, and neither was there a Roman Catholic; but there were two Independents, and thefirstminister of religion that unfurled the banner of Christianity in the province, was the Rev. Mr. Orton, a Wesleyan. Hoyvever, the prohibitive circle was drayvn in a manner which provoked some well-founded jealousy, not amongst the excluded clerics, but their folloyvers. Still the " feed" yvent on, and in its way, yvas an enjoyable one. There yvere about seventy persons present, plenty of good cheer, a long list of toasts, and no lack of talk. The Mayor, though Chairman, yvas not much of a speaker, yet he got up a tolerable Address in reply to the Corporation toast, in proposing which, Mr. Edward Curr expressed it as his opinion that it had come too soon, for its birth ought to have been postponed for a couple of years, and even if that auspicious event had been put back until 1845, it would then have had some chance of becoming a success. Poverty yvas the great sin he had to lay to its charge, and he thought the Legislature ought to do something for it in the yvay of a presentation of ,£20,000 or ,£30,000 to start with, instead of the paltry ,£2000 or ,£3000 voted. There was one noticeable feature in the olden dinner demonstrations, yvhich in modern times seems to be altogether ignored (and the omission savours of an irreverence yvhich the ancients could not think of), i.e. the inclusion of "The Clergy" in the toast list. On this occasion it was given in a very effusive style by Alderman Mortimer, who declared that the Clergy of Melbourne were ​" not only the glory ofthe land,' but they were an honour to the British name"—an encomium which all w h o knew them would admit yvas not an exaggeration. In response, the best speeches were delivered by the clerical visitors, three pious, charitable and patriotic citizens. Parson T h o m s o n declared that if Corporations yvere necessary Lto advance the temporal interests of men, the Clergy yvere not the less necessary to advance their spiritual interests. Father Geoghegan protested that he could not improve upon Parson Thomson, yet he expressed a fervent hope that the Clergy yvould always prove most efficient members of every society; and Minister Forbes wound up by trusting that the Corporation was the germ of a still more liberal extension of the Institutions of the Mother Country. T h e Alderman Mortimer referred to yvas present at the Mayor's dinner in the Melbourne T o w n Hall on the 9th November, 1881, and I sayv the "old soldier" there, hale and hearty, though suffering an irreparable loss of sight, in his 90th year. If he could only have seen the spectacle around him on that occasion, he yvould have been more surprised than Rip V a n Winkle on ayvaking out of his score years' nap in the Kaatskill Mountains. T h e difference in the surroundings of 1843 and 1881 was such as to precisely indicate the Melbourne of then and now. A n immense advance had taken place in everything except the speaking, which certainly yvas inferior to the post-prandial orating at the first Mayor's dinner. In the old party conflicts and election struggles, Mr. Mortimer and myself invariably fought under opposing banners ; and it gave m e sincere pleasure, after the vanishment of so m a n y years, to find that w e were able to bury the old feuds and cordially shake hands. There was still the firm, emphatic, deliberate ring in his wellremembered voice, and now that he is dead (1888) it is a pleasure to remember him kindly.
T h e harmony generated by the Mayoral dinner was of short duration. T h e truce yvas eagerly terminated by mutual consent, and the Corporation barneying was soon renewed, with, if possible, increased virulence.
The Twon Surveyor's First report
Submitted to the Council yvas a document yvhich, read in the light of the present day in Melbourne, would be immeasurably amusing, and suited only for the humourous columns of Punch. Yet at that time it was conned yvith solemn seriousness and without a smile, a feat which it is doubtful if a peruser of the following abstract can imitate.
T h e Toyvn Surveyor said he yvas instructed on the 13th January, 1843, t0 report " O n the best method of making the streets passable for loaded carts and foot-passengers." Hisfirstgreat difficulty was the holes and ruts, and their relative state in summer and winter. Their depth was less in summer, " oyving to the bottoms of them becoming solid; yvhereas in the winter season the ground was softened by the rain, and the holes made considerably deeper." H e suggested an elaborate plan for taking off the crowns of the streets, and sloping the stuff towards both sides, trending to the curbs, there cutting efficient drains, well sloped with stones. A peg was to be driven every chain on the line of curb or edge of the footpath, the tops of the pegs to represent a gradient, as a guide to the house or property-owners to form andfillup; and an adherence to this plan would produce an uniformity of surface, and prevent an overflow from the higher level of a neighbour. T h e levelling up and the levelling doyvn of the street-crowns, ruts and holes, curves and slopings, went on without any perceptible improvement, and assuredly in several places producing the state of things known as "from bad to worse."
O n the death of the Treasurer (Mr. Beith) the occurrence was made an opportunity for docking the salary of the office one-third, i.e., ,£100 for .£150. There were ten candidates for the appointment, and in July, Mr. J. S. Patterson (son of the ex-Councillor; yvas declared the successful one, out of yvhich event such a difficulty sprung that he yvas obliged to relinquish the position. T h e security fixed was a bond for ,£1,000, but Patterson being a minor, it was objected that he could not legally bind himself. T h e question yvas re-submitted to the Council, and by the Mayor's casting-vote the appointment was cancelled, and Mr. John Richardson succeeded to the berth.
T h e Mayor, who had been elected a m e m b e r of the Legislative Council of N e w South Wales proceeded to Sydney to attend to his Parliamentary duties, and Alderman Russell was elected locum tenens. After Condell left, the "rowing" at the T o w n Council was resumed with unedifying spite; personal ​vituperation indulged in passed almost all bounds, and the proverbial fish-fags of Billingsgate yvould have hidden their diminished heads had they been listeners. Kerr, Fawkner, and Mortimer talked away at one side whilst Stephen, a m a n of imperturbable good temper, with an unscrupulously bitter though polished tongue yvas a host in himself; and for unmeasured and unchoice volubility, Kerr and Fawkner had no equals. Orr James, and Russell would in a quasi-gentlemanly way occasionally back up Stephen, while T o w n Clerk King, quietly and cunningly did all in his poyver to foment mischief in the sly, underhand manner of which he was master. Smith usually talked against the Kerr side, but some Masonic grudges between him and Stephen m a d e him at times an unreliable ally. A s for a casus belli, the assessment, the salaries, the shortness of the funds, the bye-laws, some apparent act of neglect on the part of the Superintendent or the Executive, and the supposed inaccuracy of the minutes of the previous meeting, offered ready pegs on which to hang the grossest abuse and malignity. A n d then there were the newspapers "ding-donging" every morning, ringing the changes in every description of typographical tirade, from the scurrilous leader to the suggestive paragraph; from the highly-spiced letter to the dirty doggerel.
A fertile source of dispute with the Government was the refusal of the Council to contribute towards the maintenance of the police, by levying a special rate for the purpose as enjoined by the Corporation Act. T h e police cost was to be met by Police Court fees as far as they went, and the Council was to make up the deficit by a property rate ; but it refused to do so unless the entire management of the police was transferred to the Civic body, and to this the Executive could not accede. Unquestionably public opinion was loth to an increase of Corporate power or patronage in a general way, and, so far, the Superintendent yvas amply justified in the stand he took against intended Corporation innovations. The letter of the law, however, had to be complied with, and to do so the Council m a d e a police rate of one halfpenny in the £, whereat the Government flared up, and threatened all sorts of pains and penalties, but all it did was to abolish Major St. John's office of Police Magistrate at Melbourne, the duties of which were henceforth, for several years, effectively performed by the respective Mayors.
The First Annual Election
Came round in November, 1843, and the Council was purged of some of its bad blood by the retirement of " Johnny " Fawkner, w h o was succeeded by Mr. J. R. Murphy, the proprietor of a brewery in Flinders Street, and one of the most upright and best-esteemed m e n in Melbourne. There was also a much needed acquisition of new blood by the election of Dr. Greeves for Latrobe. Mr. E. Westby (thefirstRoman Catholic Councilman) for Gipps, and Mr. Henry M o o r for Bourke Wards. U p to this period the Scotch or Kerr clique had everything its own way, but now the Anglo-Saxon contingent was recruited by Greeves, Westby, and Moor, whilst Murphy was as " out-and-out a Dubliner " as could be netted all the world over. Kerr's burning ambition in the early days was to be Mayor of Melbourne. Let him once be installed as such, and he would die happy. Indeed it was declared of him that he once said " he'd burn Melbourne to the ground to be Mayor of its ashes;" but he never had the chance. Great efforts were consequently made, not only now, but at other times, on his behalf, but they were always frustrated. A s the day for the election of Mayor approached, the coming choice yvas the absorbing topic of discussion, and at the Council meeting of the 9th, Messrs. Fawkner and Reid, who were supposed to have retired by rotation for Lonsdale and Bourke Wards, had the hardihood to appear at the Council table, but being " strangers," they were warned not to vote. If the Mayoralty had been contested, no doubt they would have tried it on, and tendered their support to Kerr, but at the eleventh hour it was decided to re-elect Alderman Condell, who consequently enjoyed the honour of a Civic "walk-over."
T h e balance-sheet for thefirstCivic year showed:—Receipts, ,£2388 2s. g±; Disbursements, ,£24 22 10s. 8d. T h e balance being on the wrong side of the ledger, and a portion of the Mayor's stipend with a few small accounts unpaid, the screw had to be put on, and all the paid offices (except the Mayor, of course) were declared vacant. The salaries were then thus reduced, viz. Mayor at .£200, T o w n Clerk ,£175, Surveyor ,£150, and Treasurer ,£100. In the re-appointment of the officers there was much debate, especially as regarded the T o w n Clerk, for Mr. King had rendered himself very obnoxious to a portion of ​the Council, as well as to many of the Burgesses. It yvas also ' '>:nly alleged against him that his duties were inefficiently performed, and a Committee of Inquiry was appointed, but it ended in smoke.
T h efinancialperplexities not only continued but increased, and the revenue of the General Market fell off so m u c h that there yvas some notion of removing the latter to the corner of Collins and Syvanston Streets (the noyv Police Court and Toyvn Hall).
T h e continued depression, and general poverty of a majority of the toyvnspeople, also added to the difficulty ; and so loud yvas the outcry against the payment of rates, that the Council yvas obliged to reduce the rate by 25 per cent, or 9d. in lieu of is. in the £. Even this concession did not stay the public clamourings, inasmuch as it was declared that house and land property had fallen not only 25, but as m u c h as 50, and in some cases 75 per cent, in value. Even the reduced rate could not be got in, and though the Council avowed that the people should pay up, the people would not, or could not, do so. In one day 400 distress yvarrants were ordered to issue, and amongst the victims were three corporation officials, viz, Mr. Henry Frencham (Town Auctioneer), Mr. Mouritz (one of the Rate Collectors), and Hoosen (the " Street keeper"), the reasons given for their default being the non-payment of their salaries.
T h e efforts of Cr. Greeves yvere directed towards rendering the Council of some use by devoting a portion of its wasted energies to purposes of public importance. T h e all-absorbing question of Separation was ably taken up by him, and he was instrumental in getting the Council to petition the Queen and Imperial Parliament on the subject. At his instance also a Conference was held with the District Council of Bourke, to consider the necessity for the erection of a bridge over the Yarra, and these bodies conjointly offered premiums for alternative plans for an elliptical arched stone, and a yvooden bridge. A n application was m a d e to the Government for a grant of ,£10,000 towards street improvements, but was refused.
In the course of the year an opinion gained strength that it would be better to have no Corporation than the caricature one in existence, and a couple of Ward-meetings were held in favour of abolition. Cr. M o o r brought the question before the Council by tabling a motion approving of the project, but he received little support. T h e old-standing squabbling about the police rate was arranged towards the close of the year (October), and the Corporation had the best of the bargain. T h e original demand of the Government was ,£500, and the claim was wiped out for ,£100.
T h e Corporation Act, as originally drafted, yvas a sad bungle, for it was as full of doubts as an egg is full of meat. Frequent patching up was necessary, and some doubts were removed by an A m e n d m e n t Act in February, 1843, and in December 1844, more of the doubts yvere set at rest, the Council's powers were enlarged, and the Civic limits of the T o w n extended, so that parts of South Yarra, St. Kilda, Emerald Hill, and Sandridge became " annexed " though no new Wards were created. T h e Burgess Qualification was also reduced from a ,£25 to a ,£20 annual rating, and certain complications about the Aldermanic elections so re-solved, that the number of the Council became sixteen instead of twelve, by the election of four Councillors to replace the four Aldermen.
At the Rotation Elections
In 1844, Mr. J. S. Johnston yvas returned unopposed for Bourke Ward, Mr. Stephen yvas re-elected for Latrobe, and Mr. Fayvkner got back through the vacancy for Lonsdale Ward. For the Mayoral election it was to be either M o o r or Kerr, but the former had the odds vastly in his favour, and received all but an unanimous support, for the only vote recorded against him was that of his yvould-be rival! H e yvas an immense improvement upon Condell, for he had education, tact, and (being a solicitor) legal knowledge as well.
O n the day of the next meeting of the Council all the members, preceded by the T o w n Band accompanied the Mayor to the Supreme Court in Latrobe Street, where His Worship was sworn in.
T h e ceremony was very tame as compared with the grotesque m u m m e r y of Condell'sfirstyear, and was matched by the light collation of sherry and biscuit, which the ex-Mayor "shouted" for his colleagues in the afternoon at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Little Flinders Street East, but this was more than compensated for by a respectable spread given by the neyv Mayor to a select gathering of " Corporators " and others, on the 14th, at the Royal Hotel. ​One of the first subjects demanding the newly elected Mayor's attention, was the state of the public account, now virtually stranded. A Select Committee was appointed to consider the whole financial prospect, and the outlook was very disheartening. The times in Melbourne, though slowly mending, were still in a bad state, for every description of property was down to the lowest, trade was dull, employment scarce, and cash was almost as scarce as ever. The Council might levy a rate, and issue distress warrants, but there was little to levy on or to sell; moreover, sales were impossible without buyers, and the latter were regarded as animals, nearly as rare as the Apocryphal bunyip of Aboriginal tradition. The Committee, therefore, submitted a report, recommending that the levy of a rate was not advisable under existing circumstances, nor until the passing of an Amendment Act; that the legal machinery of the Corporation be kept in motion, and that in the meantime all salaries be reduced. After an acrimonious discussion the report was adopted, and the Council proceeded to give it effect. The new Mayor (Mr. Moor) had previous to election declared that he should not accept any allowance, and this is the only instance on record of a Mayor of Melbourne having held office gratuitously. The other salaries for the Municipal year (1844-5) were thus reduced: Town Clerk, ,£150; Treasurer, ^75 ; Town Surveyor, ,£50; and all the smaller fry, except the Messenger, were done away with. By this sweeping retrenchment ,£600 would be saved. As it yvas subsequently found that the Surveyor had some works to superintend, his salary was restored to its former rate for two months.
A "Protection" Movement
Was originated in the Council on the 4th December, by Councillor Fawkner moving the adoption of a petition to the Legislative Council, praying that body to frame a measure prohibiting the use of sugar in breweries. He did so, he said, in order to encourage the growth of grain. In the course ofthe debate that followed, Councillor Greeves strongly opposed the proposition as an interference with the principles of Free Trade, "and introducing an incipient system of Corn Laws." Its effect would be to increase the price of agricultural produce, and make the poor man's glass of ale or beer more expensive. Councillor Johnston contended that in dealing with this question the Council was acting ultra vires, whilst Councillor Murphy (a brewer) strongly supported it. On a division it was carried by the casting-vote of the Mayor. Some months prior to this the Legislature of Van Diemen's Land had passed an Act for the same purpose, which was disalloyved by the Home Government.
The Council also discussed the subject of what was known as " Pentonvillainism," a modified form of transportation, by which British convicts, after serving a term of their sentences in the model prisons at Parkhurst or Pentonville, were shipped to the Australian Colonies, with conditional pardons setting them free on arrival, and a strong memorial was transmitted from the Council against this very pernicious system.
At one of the last meetings of the year, a proposal emanated from Alderman Kerr to the effect that the past and present Mayors be invited to present their portraits, to be hung in the Town Hall (that was at some time or other to exist), and that a like compliment be made to all future Mayors. This was negatived, Alderman Russell opposing it on the ground "that some person with a bloated carcass, and not given to tell the truth, might, in the chapter of events, get his portrait added to the series, in which case the viewing of it would reflect anything but feelings of pleasure or satisfaction."
Early in the year 1845 the Council directed its attention to securing places of public recreation, and made application to the Government for the reservation of 500 acres of land for parks, and also a suitable area for a Botanic Garden.
One of the so-called public improvements, effected at an outlay of ,£600, was a floating-drain, constructed of yvood, whereby it yvas thought that the water lodged at the southern part of Elizabeth and Flinders Streets would be discharged into the Yarra, but it proved an absolute failure. It yvas the cause of much contention in the Council, and bitingly sarcastic comments in the Press. One of the future floods paid it off in its own coin byfloatinga portion of it away, and some relics of this once great public work were, up to a recent date, visible in Flinders Street.
But most clouds have a silver lining. No doubt the Council had acted without sufficient consideration m suspending the assessment, and if the members had not been blinded and cowed by public clamour, they would have known that during 1844 the district was gradually recovering from the effects of ​the blighting pressure of the crisis of preceding years. T h e change was not perhaps very apparent amongst the working classes, yet Port Phillip had righted itself, and was once more like a ship in a calm sea, the breakers subsided and the angry waters stilled. A month of the n e w year had not glided by when everyone saw what the Council could not or would not see, and at length it dawned upon the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors, and in February they resumed the assessment; the reduced salaries were again raised, giving the T o w n Clerk ,£200, the Treasurer ,£150, and the Surveyor ,£125. T h e clashing of bells and other noises in the streets, opposite auction marts—a great nuisance m u c h complained o f — w a s suppressed by a bye-law, which rendered the ringing of bells and sounding of gongs, or the display offlagsin the streets, punishable by a fine graduating from ios. to ,£5, whereat the "knights of the h a m m e r " yvaxed yvroth, but rapidly recovered from their indignation. At a Council Meeting in March, one of the Councillors appeared in a state yvhich occasioned m u c h amusement, not untinged with annoyance, to those yvho belonged to his side of the table. There was not m u c h of the "Celestial" about the member, yet he (or, rather, his big head) yvas hedged by a heathenish divinity, for, like Minerva, he yvas azure-eyed, at least as regarded one of his optics, yvhich had a bluish circle drawn round it, the luminary itself being more than half-closed, and seemingly in a state of total eclipse. Whilst the laugh at his condition flew about, the Corporator himself "eyed " the laughers with astonishment, and calmly assured them that if their rudeness were directed towards himself, he could not see what they were sniggering at. Next morning one of the newspapers elucidated the mystery. A couple of evenings before, the m e m b e r alluded to had been participating in a public entertainment, and, as yvas his wont, imbibed too much, and grew quarrelsome over his potations. A scrimmage ensued, ending in the Bacchanalian getting the "turn-out," and a "blinker" at parting—as a reminder to behave himself better the next time. Three vacancies occurring in Lonsdale, Gipps, and Latrobe AVards, three well-knoyvn surgeons were returned, thus strengthening the intellectual and gentlemanly section of the Council, as well as improving the tone of the proceedings. They yvere Messrs. J. F. Palmer, W . H . Campbell, and C. J. Sanford. T h e Mayor (Councillor M o o r ) having refused to nominate some members of an Orange Lodge w h o applied to him for appointment in connection yvith the preparation of the Electoral Roll, yvas roughly handled in the Patriot neyvspaper, and he took occasion to defend himself at the next meeting of the Council. H e declared that during his Mayoralty he should not appoint any m e m b e r of a Secret Society, either " Orange " or " Green," to any office in his gift. This was a notion he had imbibed in Britain, and one he should never forget. It had been alleged that whilst he discarded the " Orange " he recognised the " Green," but this he most positively denied. In March, 1845, " J o h n n y " Fawkner, after tiding through the terrible crisis referred to, yvas, whilst others yvere settling doyvn at safe anchorage, compelled by stress of weather to run for shelter to that harbour of refuge—the Insolvent Court; and his seat being thereby vacated, M r . A d a m Pullar, a merchant, was elected thereto as Councillor for Lonsdale Ward. T h e "Pentonvillians" still arriving in drafts from England, the Council was again up in arms, and transmitted another Petition against such demoralising importations. T h e want of a powder-magazine was m u c h felt, and the expediency of purchasing the " Samuel Cunard," a vessel then for sale, as a powderstorage hulk was brought under the notice of the Government, but unavailingly. Melbourne in the olden time yvas a veritable paradise of "stumperdom," for every few yards, even in the principal streets, trunks and stumps of trees remained, to the imminent danger of life and limb, and the greatest inconvenience to traffic. Even three years after the incorporation of the town, the nuisance was of such an obstructive character, that the Public Works Committee yvas specially charged to take s o m e effective steps for its abatement. Since 1843, the Council had been endeavouring to negotiate a loan with the banks, but yvithout success, in consequence of the doubts at times expressed as to the validity of the Corporation Act, even by some of the Council members. T h e question was noyv revived, and the Finance Committee was authorised to effect a cash credit with the Union Bank. T h e attempt was for a time unsuccessful, as was also an endeavour to issue ten ,£50 debentures. T h e consideration of a site for the Toyvn Hall yvas also resuscitated, and there appeared a desire to have portion of the Western Market Reserve for the purpose. T h e erection of a T o w n Hall was looked ​upon as premature, unless ,£1000 could be obtained from the Government, of which there appeared but a poor chance. Addresses were sent to the Executive upon the subject, and also as to placing a sum upon the Estimates towards town and wharf improvements. A reply was received refusing aid to the town, but consenting as regarded the wharf. T h e lighting of the streets was mooted in April, and a resolution passed authorising the erection of posts, and lighting of lamps at all the main street-intersections; the " Streetkeeper's" office was restored, and Daniel Egan yvas appointed thereto at a salary of ,£50 per annum. In M a y the Public Works Committee presented a report upon the grubbing operations entrusted to it, and from this document it appeared that 402 stumps had been eradicated at an expense of ,£60 6s, but the uprooting of the remainder, about 1000, would cost £m. This formidable expenditure so frightened the Council that further " stumping " operations were discontinued. T h e valuation of the town amounted to ,£47,343 15s. 5d, upon which a rate of 6d. in the £ was made, and tyvo Collectors were appointed, viz, Messrs. James Ballingall for Lonsdale and Bourke, and William O'Farrell, for Latrobe and Gipps Wards. T h e Aborigines began to show in large numbers in and about the town, yvhich so annoyed and alarmed Councillor Palmer, that he brought the matter before the Council. H e denounced the dark vagrants as " both drunkards and pertinacious beggars," and at his instance a communication was addressed to the Superintendent, asking for their speedy removal. In July, 1845, some law suits yvere commenced against the Corporation, and two members of the Bar, viz, Messrs. E. E. Williams, and A. Cunninghame were retained for the Council. T h e Council handed over to the recently established Fire-brigade the s u m of ,£50 being an unexpended balance of Police Rate. In August, Councillor Pullar died, and a vacancy occurred in Lonsdale Ward. A grocer named George Annand, kept a shop at the north-east corner of Queen and Collins Streets ; he was a most unmitigated Scotchman, and unflinchingly sided, through right or wrong, with the Scotch contingent of the Council. H e was put forward with the strongest hopes of success ; but without achieving it. Fawkner was fortunate in getting himself expeditiously "whitewashed " by the Insolvent Court. With his "certificate" in his pocket, " Johnny " was himself again. H e " ratted " from the Scotch party, and skipped into the arms of the Anglo-Hibernians, yvho, truth to say, did not care m u c h for him. But they had to make a selection, and as Fayvkner was the smaller man, of the two evils they chose the lesser. There yvas a smart spurt over the affair. It yvas a petty faction fight between " O r a n g e " and " Green " and " Johnny" yvas returned by a majority of seven,—the polling score being 69 v. 6 2 — a s close a shave as he ever had. In September, Mr. H o w e the Surveyor, resigned through ill-health, and M r . Charles Laing was elected to the post. The following incompletefinancialstatement yvas submitted to the Council -.—Receipts from Town Rate for the year ended 31st August, 1845, £"1165 16s. ioj^d. ; Deduct cost of collection, ,£130 16s. 2d.; Nett proceeds of Rate, ^£1035 os. 8>^d. Expenditure for Public Works for above period, ,£1417 18s. 3d.; In hands of T o w n Treasurer ayvaiting completion of works in progress and contracted for, ,£646 19s. gl/2d. Total appropriation of Revenue to Public Works, ,£2064 17s. n ^ d .
A "Tailor" in the Council.
One of the Councillors who had ordered an official rig-out from a Melbourne tailor, got it and showed off in it, but yvould not pay for it. Payment yvas demanded but not a cent could be drawn from the member's pocket. T h e tailor appealed to the Court of Requests, and a verdict yvas obtained, but all the bailiffs in the world could not get blood from this Corporation turnip. At length " Snip " yvas advised to bring his plaint before the Council, not that his little bill would be discharged from the Town-fund, but in the hope that the debtor might be awakened to some sense of shame. Accordingly amongst the correspondence produced by the T o w n Clerk was a letter enclosing the following :—Councillor " Blank" Dr. to "Snip," tailor. T o one Corporation Uniform Coat, with white satin lining, and velvet collar, £4 4S- ; T o one pair black doeskin trousers, £1 15s. ; T o one white Marseille vest, 183.; T o one set of V.R. buttons for the coat, 4s. Total, ^£7 is.