To the Editor of the Akaroa Mail.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 233, 11 October 1878, Page 2

To the Editor of the Akaroa Mail.

Sir, —Knowing that your columns are always open to fair criticism on public imatters, • 1 beg you will allow me a small space irr ; your valuable paper respecting County Council matters. I was one of a deputation, who-waited on. the . Akaroa County Council, at a meeting held at the Hill -Top; to-present a petition respecting an increase of representation for ; the Berard Hiding. I was somewhat amused, or in other,.w.Qrds annoyed,, by,the remarks of the Chairman of thSti body, , when the petition presented..: B[e opened the meeting by .saying he was not going to oppose the petition in any way ; but the very first words he used were, I ! consider, an insult to >the.deputation,.inasmuch as going so far as to ..say—that the petition was drawn up and signed Hinder a misrepresentation,.,,and led the Councillors io, believe thai' the people Vthat, signed ,tb,atpetition' signed 1 it under' a misapprehension of facts.' Does'the.Chairman contend ; tnat the people of the present day are 'so iignorantt, and;so blind, as to;attach'their' signatures to a document, not knowing" what it is. The ; figur.es shown in that.peiK: tiun as figures _ and. facts were a cqrrect. number of ratepayersand value. If the Chairman thought fit to 'take the figures a, year previous, that did not alter the facts" stated in : the petition presented; , I have read a letter in your paper of the' lstinbt., signed E. : C; Latter, where that gentleman says he thinks the case might be met by altering the boundaries of tli3 Berard and Wainui Hidings. .1 should .like , to know from that gentleman ,vyhy. ho, as our representative) endeavoVs to w.eak'eh the.'Bemrd Riding to strengthen the 1 Wairiui; Elding. If we are to , have fair representation, let us have it- in" accordance with the number '.of 2 ratepayers wddltlj of.the riding:;-d!on'iilQt .us have-Jo-iie disi trict weakened, the ihaftdsjiOf; another. ' Lthinljc if the Cfiairtqan' !wer,e..to ( ; look arouiid'lnmjliVrWpu'ld fin'ct/it is quite necessary that the "'''fcbrt I .Levy, Hiding, should be thrown irito.'th>e' l 'ft\2f e>on '.'Bay or Port Victoria' l Riding, 1 and fl l'think"if the , Chairman had taken Port Levy! value andfigures for ; th'eisame ;time 'as iho:!took the; Berard Killing's, I think 'lie would have i found the number, ~pf ratepayers • and ; rates collected for the same year would have been very far short in figures than that of the Berard' Hiding.' I should like to ask the Chairman' whether he thinks it fair., representation for a'riding like PortiLevy to.have! the same, representation,as Berard Riding ?;slf we arc to ha,ve fair,plAy, from Council, ,as a .ratepayer, I should certainly say nof. Now I wish to make a few remarks relative to the Le Bon's Bay Hiding. I should like to know does the Chairman think the Le Bon's Bay Riding should' bo as strongly represented as.the Berard Hiding ? But I think, if the Council had taken-a little time to consider- the matter when they took away the member; from the Okain's Bay Riding, they woiild have found by leaving,the centre riding, that is, the Okain's Bay Riding, and dispensed with the Le Boa's Bay arid Haupo Ridings, '

I think they would have found one member sufficient to have represented the nunibei of latepayei on tLai bide ot the Foniiisula. Yours, <§$.. < »- v Head of the Bay, 7> 1878. , "I ROAD IN GERMAN 'BAY. To the. of. ilif Aharoa Mail. SIR.^T* 1 inference to youi report of the la&t"Wetitig l of the Abaiod and Wainui Road Board, heW on the 28th Septernbei, there is a portion thereot wliich might be the means of conveying to those who were not present, a wrong impression of what took place at that meeting. The portion I allude to is that in which the subject of the road in the German Bay Valley forming the approach to the Le Bon's Bay road, was Brought under the notice of the Boad Board. Your -report, states that Mr Roberts produced the sale ,plan'ibf Mr Ininan's? property, and Mr Wilkin, wlloliacl prepared s tli(i sale plan of the property, stated that "the "plan produced was not the regular s/ilejplany which statement would evidently infer that the plan pro-; dqced'bj* nic was an Incorrect ole! ' N6w the plan wliich* Iproduced was a tracing taken from the sale plan, a counterpart, of wjiich was* posted, j up , undern'oath the verandah ; ; ofi Mrj .Inman's,.house in German, B&y, when .the., several plots of 'land' Were' 'sold*' by auction. 11 The' ' plan which Mr Wilkin- was referring , to was :totally distinct,irom , the tone;produced by me, inasq<ueh;as iliy not show the old road, wbej.eas.the other plan (Mr Wilkin's) sljpw.s the- old .road, approximately.' ''With' regard to the statement at that meeting', viz., that Mr Roberts had blocked up the road without any authority, it is entirely at variance with ( the facts of the case, and calculated to'mislead'the public in this matter, as I neither blocked up the old rßad'Ojrltbe'new one. I certainly tiin&ago, in Mr Wilkin's "presence; block up a gate near the : Woolshed, but as that gate is not on the old road, as Mr Wilkin's surve}' will I am at a loss to understand what the above , assertion of Mr Dusbury's can mean, and moreover, if I had blocked up the old road, I should certainly have been justified in so doing, as the' sale plan does not show that road; which would be a: sufficient authority to me for closipg it, as ..that plan was prepared after'a definite' arrangement had been come to with Mr Ininan by the Road Board, viz., that the ' old road' should be given Up for'the new one. With regard to Mr. Duxbury's statement 'that the old line is the best of the two, it is entirely a professional . .Question, the accuracy of which could .only be ascertained with an instrument by a Qualified surveyorj 'whose report on this point ivould settle the ques;tioji, arid until:this report is laid before the Road Board any haphazard statements made thereon by a non-professional man are out of. place and uncalled for.. With regard to the relative merits, of the two roads, the new one fulfills two important conditions, viz., that it gives access to the main road, and the valley road, and it was no doubt on these grounds that it was selected' as being -the best of the two, and I certainly think it was bad taate to condemn the work, when : . the late clerk to the Road Board was not there to defend it. Yours, &c. : JAMES F. ROBERTS.