THE COUNTIES BILL.

Evening Star, Issue 4219, 4 September 1876, Page 4

THE COUNTIES BILL.

At a public meeting at Naseby on ‘ Wednesday evening, to consider the above measure, the Mayor in the chair, the following resolutions were carried : That," in the opinion of this meeting, the County proposals are entirely unsuited for the thinly-populated and widely-scattered .0 > ? districts of- the interior of ; Otago ; that, the Counties, as proposed, would be ■' almost' and would, be. found to be unworkable. That this meeting views with alarm the proposal in the Counties Bill to band over the entire control of water works, such -as the Mount Ida head race and channel, to a County Council,'and is of opinion that, for the efficient management' aha financial success ht Works of such magnitude and public importance, a special trust' should be constituted ‘hy 'Act .of Parliament, with powers similar to tnoshfiOAferred on Harbor-Boards; .> 1 :• said trust to- be, elective. ■ . T ; , Atjfche meeting of the Timaru and Gladstone Works on Sept. 1 : the ‘Cojnnty scheme was discussed, and the following resolutions adopted:— .; ■; That this Board is of opinion that )(j granted

extenaeapowers pt representation, tne present Road Boards and municipalities * are ample for the purpose of t local government,- and that, the; proposed system is undesirable until the country is, more densely . populated. . ,-Butsif the Board is of opinion, that the district between the Ilangitata one county, • '.e,.;': present Timarti. and,- Gladstone - country to the south ina-l and-WfistuPl the/Otiio fjtrjiter shed be ex■iijf.v-. ,elndtfd.;irom‘the proposed county, and the v . u.:lfoamtCQok Road;BQard ( district, the same being topographically ajpart of north Otago. ... the following report of a-public meeting held at on lash There were about 300 people present. There was a deal uf discussion, and the result of the meeting was as follows ;

• *Tl|fttthk < 'mwtmgi'views'. '^ifbt the ffeooßMheridatxcin of a mee>tiqg of Canter bury , . members to form the whole of tile .country . from tile I^n^tatato theWaitaki into one cbuhty, 1 aba begs ‘ respectfully to protest on the follow jpg. grounds j-Tst. In conse- ' .qnencpj. of the Hrgef" a]"ea a county no. ; 2pd. That in tiie opinion of this meeting,ithe prppo9al of the Government -- ■ iftfl -ta boundaries, iess^the^pq^t.jpni,on the Otago side ototha Waitaki, would bq suffioiently darge. 3.--That Waimate being miles, 'dhdiisdme:; portions of the districts seventy. miles from Timaru, would considerably interfere with the {prosperity r©£ the jdiatrict,f and the despatch of public business,- 4. That the situation of igfcfct j)f the district is snob ap will lead to the necessity of-utilising chiefly the port of

y GatnarU, and consider any large liabilities r brbhght against this district for the conof a. breakwater at Timaru would not be remunerative to us; and 5. That finch a decision, would dead to more dissatisfaction than the Provincial system has done, meeting strongly protests against the. decision of the conference held by a lfi4stitig of chairmen' of Road Boards in Christchurch to amalgamate this district with the whole of the county south of the Rangitata into one county without any respresentationa from this district. There never was so unanimous an expression of public opinion on any subject in Waimate as upon that under consideration on August 31.