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Clutha Leader, Volume V, Issue 209, 12 July 1878, Page 6

Original Correspondence.

giJg^^CO|l]^L. . ; ■-■■;■■■■ ;■'•■ f||pfSiß,^F;hop a c ; Captain Mackenzie will be Iff able to j^Ve soineigood reason for; his abfesenoßjfrom last meeting of County Council. g|^He;khew that a most important resolution S^rasStheja to be craimrmedior -rejected — a altering the ;tonndaries and rerepresentation of the ridings. It is evident voting, as; published in your repf^qrt, that had he been, present the bounf^daries and representation "would have been SKkept ff as they ;-:w ere." What, then, was llrthe cause of his absence from duty V Was % las ill, or snqkeoTup. ; : or what ? His conKrr^tituents. would like to know.— l am, &c, sv3 ■-'■"""-■ -:- :."- -: RATEPAYER. "lt-:\ Waipahi, July Bth. .'/;-" 'Vv T "_ .:' TO THE EDITOR. ; : Sir,— After nearly a week's respite, •f «now has again fallen. This, so far, = -has been the severest winter experienced duriiig the last twenty-two years, wand must be particularly trying to the new settlers, who are r very numerous in : iihis district, arid who are without roads — k '_]' neither the late Governments nor the present Council having done anything to- :; -wards making the : country habitable in : "that respect. * The hope of a railway being made so far. as Kelso has brightened the dreary prospect a little, but until the County Council; awakens to its duty and does something in the way of making roads leading towards the railway little practical good can result, for the line will— even when finished — be out of reach of many through the totally impassible state of the road lines in winter : the .very time when growers of grain wish to get their produce to market. At present there are thousands of bushels being •consumed by the rats, simply because it is impossible to get it away at a paving "rate. The County Council, especially the -Chairman and his friends, seem to think iihey have been elected not so much to look after the work of opening up the dis"trict by road making as to secure to them:selves and their particular clique a preponderance of power. The Chairman, in nis pompous manner, has always a long *(and lame) excuse for not doing what he . ought to do. It were better far that the ■occasion for such clever exhibitions of his ■ability in (no doubt to his own satisfaction) accounting for his non-performance of duty and dilatoriness in giving his at"tendance were less frequent, and that lie i;ook a leaf out of Mr Bastings' book, who makes it a duty — which he does not neg- , leet — to travel all over his County and see -■/ for himself what is needed. But our •Chairman contents himself with drawing nis salary and tardily exhibiting his handtsome person to the Councillors on meeting days, delivering occasionally an harrangue "purporting to explain and lay down the law in a manner which forcibly reminds iihe writer of a definition of a discourse, given by an old woman. " A discourse," .•said she " has nae heads ava, but is just a •confounding of the Scriptures and a jum"bling of the imderstanding." Such is exactly the character of the discourses of our Chairman, who, turkey-cock-like, struts and gobbles unintelligibly, but is ever ready to knuckle down and turn tail when the least resistance shows itself. Surely "the scandalous resolutions passed at last meeting, by which a great number of the Waipahi and Brugh ratepayers are vir- ' tually disfranchised, will be petitioned against. The electors cannot expect their i members to go round with petitions, but public meetings might be called and mem- , bers of Council invited to attend, and if -on petition the Council refuse redress, then the Assembly should be approached, and redress sought where it will not be refused, it being clearly against the whole "sympathies of those now dominant in Parliament that any set of people — much less settlers such as those in Wairuna. and Brugh," should be by a selfish cabal deprived of their privileges as citizens. — I •am, &c, Settler. "Waipahi, July Bth. _ «> TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— l wish to make a few remarks Tipon the affairs of the County as disclosed in your last paper. It is a very delicate business, but bad and long-standing •diseases require looking to and curing, ■although the cure may prove a painful one. If the County malady is not cured :at once, the County and" the whole of the ratepayers in the several localities must yet suffer terribly. There are only one •or two points I will refer to in this letter. The Chairman said he was not aware the men were not paid regularly. Now the people in. every district where men were working for the County knew they were never paid regularly, and on one aceasion not for -about three months. If the Chairman had said he knew of this, but could not help it for want of funds or some ■other cause, then there might have been some excuse for him, but " he was not aware of it." Then he is without excuse ; lie ought to have been aware of it, and is paid handsomely upon the supposition that he attends to such things. After his own confession, will he draw his salary 1 "There is just another point I will mention so as to be short, lest you should " hold over "my letter. I refer to the Chairman ■and Clerk agreeing to look out for a place ■of meeting. The Chairman said that when two are appointed to do anything there is a difficulty of their meeting. The meaning ' I suppose is, that the Chairman did not nieet the Clerk from the one meeting to the. other. This clearly proves that he "had not attended to this or any other County matter between the two meetings. -, : 1 have therefore a second time to ask, Tvill he draw his Ll2 10s for that month, and if so, what were the services lie rendered. ,»,H|^^eturn for the money 1 We, [ th'e^'rjalajHpfcsj have to work hard lor" iovcc X i-:Waney_, . and manyj.of us, as vtaleni^d, as educated, and having as much 'experience &s the Chairman, would be glad to devote 6\ir whole time to the County upon .the. pay of Ll5O a year. Yet appa- ..-.: Tently : the County Council is to extract our • money from us to pay away in salaries to "those /-.who }&o nothing in return. The ■-/--X "Council now propose to impose upon us a to be expended in this way, S of Clutha into disrey \" pute all over the country, and at the same -]Sfrtime : ;_ prevent us making our own roads, jip^liich we iave jiow for many years done Ssm£^: ; p,\'"'; ; ; ■ ■■ ' " ------ -•" ■- • • -i--" -v- '••'-.

.^ithout fee or reward. I hope the members 4f the Road Boards to meet at Warepa on Saturday, will devise some means of stopping the iniquitous imposition of rates proposed by the County Council. — I am, &c, " Road Board. Inch Clutha, July Bth.