MR PYKE TO THE Cromwell Argus.

Dunstan Times, Issue 776, 2 March 1877, Page 3

MR PYKE TO THE Cromwell Argus.

Sir,—A copy of your issue of the 13! hj. not having been sent to my Dunedin address, I have only just rea I'tha report of the meeting at Cromwell on tho Sth. I feel assured that the proceedings of that meeting cannot fail to operate most injuriously alike to the borough, the County an 1 the district ; and when the excitement of the hour shall have passed away, they will he the subject of deep regret to the more clear-headed of those who took part therein. For myself, I entertain no doubt whatever of receiving the thanks of tho great body of tho County electors for the stand 1 have taken. So long as the boroughs continue to remain isolated 'from tho County, which is taxed for the expenditure upon roa's to their boundaries—roads constructed and maintained as much for their use and e '.nvenicnoe as for those of residents in the County—so long must the townsfolk he regarded as outsiders, having no voice nor any interest in County affairs. They have no right to expect advantages from taxation to which they do not contribute one penny. It may surprise some of the angrv orators who addressed the meeting, but I can assure them that the County system was not devised for tho special benefit of the towns. The question is not one of Cromwell v. Clyde, but of borough and county, and so far as I am concerned, I will never consent to the erection of permanent offices in any place which is not within the County. The inconvenience that would result from their location in a borough is illustrated lay the fact that the Assessment Court cannot be he'd there. With regard to the statement tint I promised if the borough of Cromwell “ took stops” to merge into the County, I have Inen, as 1 am willing to believe, unintentionally misrepresented. As a matter of fact no such steps have been taken. A letter from the Town Clerk does not and cannot bind the ratepayers, who. so far as I know, have never been consulted on the matter. Tdnt I never ca -r e sueli a promise. I told the deputation from Kawarau that, the consideration of the question was premature, and that the borough must first com? into the County- not merely “take steps” which could he easily retraced. 1 told them also that I objected to fixing the county town until one or other of the boroughs did come in. 1 abo told the representatives of the Nevis and Hawoa that the merger of the borough must first be accomplished—that the Town Clerk’s letter was not sufficient, and that t would not handicap Cromwell by making it the county town before the negotiations were completed. On these grounds I urged tlmm to postpone the matter, and I think it would have been well had it been so postponed. None but children pluck unripe fruit : men are content to wait until it rinens. I am loath to refer to small matters, hut. if people will fight me with windbags, I am bound to expose their emptiness. Mr MacKellar is reported to have, stated that I te’egraphnd to him that “T was not aware of any public meeting.” Will Mr MacKollar tell why he suppressed a portion of the telegram ? The complete message ran thus, “ I am not aware of any mooting on Count)/ hmlnes's .” Nor was I, for the Mayor’s telegram invited me to attend a public meeting on Parliamentary business. Surely Mr MaeKeHar understands the difference, and might, I think, have explained it. Again—MrStarkey talked of my “throw ing over” the Nevis constituency. No one knows better than Mr Starkey that before accepting the Kawarau requisition, I waited till the last moment for a requisition from Nevis, which never came. Ho knows also that it was marie a condition that I should personally visit the Nevis, and that 1 was very much too ill to do so. I cannot avoid remarking that the reading of extracts from private letters is scarcely calculated to elevate the tone of the community. and reflects anything hut credit on those who pursued and those who sanctioned such a very extraordinary proceeding. With regard to the proposed separation of the County, nothing could he more prejudicial to the interests nt the eloctore. The inert sensible suggestion is that offered by Mr Marsh. Decidedly tho true policy is “to enlarge rather than to diminish the size nt the County," and it is one that should commend itself to Cromwell with extreme force.—Yours, &c., Vincent Pvkk, Dunedin, February 20.

An obstinate pauper.- T’srish Doctor; “Well nurse, how go the patients?” Nurse : “ Oh, 'pretty well, Sir, there’s eleven dead! “Eleven ! only eleven? Why, t left, medicine for twelve.”—Nurse ; “ Yes. Sir, I know ; but one was so refractory he wouldn’t take hla’n. ”