1989: An Amalgamated Visage Lies
June 15, 2020
By AHNZ
A warning sign (image left) over 30 years old still stands sentinel for a defunct Dannevirke Borough Council (1892-1989.) I discovered it still stuck to a municipal wall during a history walk around the town.
Today that $50 would be about $200 if the bylaw were not but a ghost.
“A REWARD OF $50 IS OFFERED FOR INFORMATION SECURING THE CONVICTION OF ANY PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGE TO THIS BUILDING”
“DANNEVIRKE BOROUGH COUNCIL”
Reminds me of..
“Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
[..]
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay”
– Ozymandias
Like so many of New Zealand’s boroughs, counties, and even some city councils, the axe fell on Dannevirke Borough Council on November 1st, 1989.
[Image Left: Image ref. Onehunga Borough Council’s epitaph, another scalp claimed at the same time; Photographed inside the Onehunga Blockhouse; AHNZ Archives (2019)]
All part of Labour 4.0’s reforms and another leap forward in our history of concentrating power ever more centrally.
It’s the Statist project to turn us all into one great amalgamated kraggle.
—
Ref. 1872: Dannevirke
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