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252
The Colonial Secretary in reply indicated that the Board was just an
experiment at present and it was unwise to give absolute control to
Boards . 25
Not to be outdone Crowther moved at the next meeting of the
Board on September 16 that an address be presented to the, Governor,
protesting against any interference by the Executive either in a
pecuniary way or otherwis e, and asking that the functions of the Board
should be accurately defined. 26
In such an anomalous situation, the hostility between the
tlofficialu members , who supported the actions of the Executive , and the
upopular elementu continued.
In an attempt to clarify the situation,
Parliament on September 5 had appointed a Select Committee
to enquire and report upon the condition of the several
charitab le institutioPs of the colony recently placed
under the supervision of Boards of Management, and upon
the nature and extent of the powers possessed by such Boards ,
and the practical results that had fol lowed from this system
of management . 2 7
However, the Select Committee issued no report owing to its suspension
after hearing a number of witnesses .
themselves revealed their confusion:
In the meantime , Parliamentarians
on October 28, in the Committee of
Supply, one accused the Board of extravagant expenditure, another said
the Executive had little control over an institution managed by a Board
and could only advise economy, a third hoped the Select Committee would
enquire into how the Board had been thwarted by the Executive , whilst a
fourth considered the estimates submitted for 1862 by the Board were
unsatisfactory, and should be returned for reconsideration . 2 8
Somewhat
indignantly, the Board denied that the estimates had ever been seen by
them;
The Board further desires to take this opportunity of protesting
most strongly against the anomalous position it is placed in -
being charged with 'wasteful expenditure' etc. when it has never
ever been consulted in the matter . And it will be found that
many of the items have been positively disavowed by the Board
in the two reports , latel y adopted and which are now in the
hands of the Government . 29
.f
It was little wonder , therefore, that tempers sometimes became irritated
at Board meetings .
Understandably enough, Hall's earnest advocacy of the
25
Mercury , September 4, 186 1.
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26 Mercury, September 18, 1861.
2 7 H.A.P. , 186 1, p. 90 .
28 Mercury, October 29 , 1861.
29
Mercury, October 31, 1861 .