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.
