MANGONUI'S CASE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 86, 3 July 1945, Page 5

MANGONUI'S CASE

SEQUEL TO RATE REFUSAL LETTER FROM CHAIRMAN The following letter received by the Whakatane County Council from the new chairman of the Mangonni County Council regarding the stand it has made with regard to the levying of the Hospital rate will be of

interest to our readers:— "I. am in receipt of your circular letter together with newspaper cutting, and in reply I have, to thank you for the interest your Council are displaying in the Hospital ratine ' question. The Mangonui County.has ; by its lone stand on the matter blazed a trail which the Council very earnestly desires other counties will follow, as the injustice of the j Hospital rate—whether large or small —is now universally acknowledged. Tracing the matter through history, we find that John Hampden successfully resisted the unjust imposition of "ship which in its day no doubt caused a serious flutterbut is one which down the passage of time has placed our democratic laws on a sound footing. There, are many ideas as to what form the resistance against Hospital | rating should take, and to find an j idea which 100 per cent, of the people will accept as perfect is an impossibility. The drastic action taken by the Mangonui County did for a time react on the Main. Highways, by the cessation of work on ] these roads, but with one month's ] attention by the Main Highways , Board these roads are now quite up to usual standard.

The deterioration of the side roads and bridges within the County has been a steadily increasing factor for many years ? and the payment of the large Hospital Levies during' the years which have passed have prevented the Council from carrying out the improvements which have been necessary to keep up with the traffic. The Native and Crown lands wiiich are non-rate producing, make the upkeep of roads a heavy burden on the rate producing portion j and the fact ol the Maori forming 45 per cent, of the population makes the upkeep of the Hospital an unheard of burden. My as a Council feel that the effect lias not been in anyway disastrous but on the other hand 9 feel that their efforts have been crowned with a good deal of succcss. it Is the wish of the Council therefore to entirely disassociate, itself from the sentiments expressed in the letter reported, which the Council understands was a privately expressed. view of Mr Barriball in reply to an enquiry from the Chairman of the Wliakatane County and therefore does not convey the sentiments of the Mangonui County Council. My Council therefore trusts that when the .true position is realised many other Counties will follow Mangonui's lead and thus induce the powers that be to remove for all time this groat injustice from the farming community."