TUAPEKA COUNTY EXPENSES.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 183, 11 January 1878, Page 6

TUAPEKA COUNTY EXPENSES.

- ,i l T0 6 |r.HT!'.,EpjTOR;,7 i y f ■;.,-,,.,„ . if . !\ ■ Siß,^Lwas,muclv;surp^ < '-over - a:- Reading -> article -in ! -the; ■ .Tapanui' ' CdurierVof .iJah; "2, j whicH* the- writer 'feeS t!, at 7 ' 'sdnie^ length 'to •rGfut'c a return: ' ; whic|i. was . laid . upon the' table 1 of- "tlie. * House; "of Representative's ; tp "sliow •; the * ' working expense^ of 'the'diffcrent. County'-' Councils. ' The return^appearpef. in. tlie - " rWeUingtpn.- Argus, and .- has t , 'been ; -freeiy ' ' circulated by the. Press, and :of which.-.the" T%al*iui' -Coiu-ier- ■ says' : --"The writer of .the article from which the' extract--was--1 taken 'made' a ' big : niis-fcake" * in tho-'case of the Tuapeka County Council, the working expenses of "which hV puts' down at L 1690 ] instead pILIOOQ. ' ''jQf all. the "Council's yet; brought, undeivthe Act, , that ,of / Tuapeka" is Ithe - most , .expensively ,,. worked -„ and. ?»topa* A the lot." -The.: Couirer. says that '•"'-"the next' time '-*oiir'* -contemporary (the,-, Wellington Argus). deals with figures with. .thp^ objedt of. pointing put a, frightful exaniple, let him make use pf .his reader-' boy, and .use- his own .eyes a little, more : searchingly, : so as to ; avoid similar mistakes to the one pointed out." ;. . 2To*w, ife 'Editor, I ; eki-mot say whether , the Argus is in' the right, of it or, not ;".but.one thing-I arnaware of-r-that the Tapanui Courier is not right. " The. Courier gives the' different' items* as: follows, namely :— 'Chairman, L2OO ;'' Clerk "and r Treasurer, *L2soj .Engineer and Inspector, L3S3 ; .Sub-Inspector,' L 203 .; travelling allowances, L 49 ■; total,. Llo9o. Total— -yes, of-" the'; items given-; but -'he does not/give, for _ instance. Valuator^, L 227 v ; Collector of Rates, about tlie same or more;;- -. Collector of Dog Tax, at 10. per cent;' advertising, stationery, \&c., &c, and a gafieror two every few miles. ou the main road up-eouritry looking after two or three ! -men.; Why, Mr Editor, this beats Provincialism fo 'pieces'. .7 Many "people here formerly allowed themselves to be led by the nose _by n, few individuals upon tho. cry of Provincial extravagance, which thoy magnified a hundredfold. To such an ex-. -tent -.did p3ople allow themselves to be gulled, that many actually regarded it that tho' hated Provincial Institutions were the .-only -b.ar -to -tlie .dawn, of the inillaimmm. They imagined that these obstructions had only to 'be removed 'and we should have railways and ordinary roads made everywhere,, ancl without our having to pay a penny towards , the. expense.' "Now what do we find ? Provincialism is abolished, and the result is' a heavy taxation ivvnoced for. the formation of roads, but ey ended in paying extravagant salaries to a new stalf of ofneials. _ . ' We look-id for tlis millennium, but we simply got out of tho frying-pan into the fire. This should bs a ' les?;o'ri -to the Tapanui people to read aud tliinjz for theniseives instead of believing every absurd cry. got up by" interested' individuals.— I am, &c, . ■ - Settler. - Dunrobin, Jan. 6, 18fS.