Correspondence

Feilding Star, Volume X, Issue 44, 20 September 1888, Page 2

Correspondence

We are not responsible for the opinions ; of our correspondents.] MANCHESTER ROAD BOAIO). TU THE EDITOR OF THB STAR. I .^Sib,— l an-r^fclad thajt Mr Walter I Bailey has at last come out openly and i made bis accusations against niy con-, duct as a member of the Manchester J6oad^Boa£d ,, in„ .public . v print^.wJb*^B; y ,,^ they can be met and refuted. Such A . . course is infinitely preferable to the- ilj continuous stabbing in the dark that l. I have been subjected to for soma years past. Mr Bailey's . charge ;.< amounts to this, though he adduces ,_, no facts in support;, of his statement;, that I have been, and still remain, an „. opponent of the construction of the ....... Taonui and^ "F^ilding-Bunnythorpe; . roads. " Throw „ enough ; mud,; ana -..,., some is sure to stick," is.evidently Mrv . ,. Bailey's motto. How do the facts of; .; the case support his contention? ■■. 1. jl got the Manawatu „* County: , r. Council, in 1882 to spend £300 on ther -..., Feilding-Bunnythorpe road. 2, With Mr C. Bull and Mr Williana Bailey I waited on tbe Manawatu Koad Board, and we obtained a gTanJ-. ; of £100 — the first money tbat. Board had ever spent on the road. I think both Mr 0. Bull and Mr William Bailey will admit that I bore niy part A. a in persuading the Manawatu Eoad Board to make the expenditure . 1 '3. The Taonui., r<">ad< was, during my. i . Chairmanship, inciuded in the list of . roads; to be surveyed, so that an application could be put in under the> . Roads and Bridges Construction Act; -It is true the plans could not be pre-^ > pared in time ; but 'that was not "-myf -fault, or indeed anybody's. The whole preparation of the plans rested with the Board's, Engineer who, ;i iia v",th^V..'L. \ short time at his disposal, did wonders.-, 7 , In f f act, no other local bodyio iN*e!w:ji V Zealand got: as much mileage of road. ; "-V ■'prepared for the first application, un-.-der the Roads and Bridges Construe- l T tion Act in 1882 V To say, as has been said, that Mr Bray; left out any 'r6ad; : V' ; he could possibly get in, is aibsurd in>;A .; the face of the,' fact ;! , tb^^''jhe'';*flfas'. paid. ; >, by commission. " '*.'■"" ■..'■■:. A 'Af : - A. To compensate , No-iAO- fo*rv, „'; the loss of Taonui road aU the promis- ; • sory notes, given by the settlers to the ,i Board for the construction of Nannes- a ;. tod's road, were cancelled? > ■fAhfi: To givo . the • Feilding-Buniiy- -„ thorpe road; a better chance of construction, under the grants 0f 1883, 1 ' got it proclaimed a ! main road. Even AMr Bailey will hardly 1 say that it vtaa my fault the Roads and Bridges (Don- A struction Act broke down before a * r grant could be obtained.' "When &£- „ sett's lawsuit, which the Board could ' ' not legally compromise, landed the Board ih damage, and costs. to, tlie tune bf £1200, Mr William Bailey, Mr R. linton,, and myself, gave our personal guarantee to the Bank for < £1000 to save the district either front a special rate or a receiver. Till thia was paid ; off no ; road construction could be proceeded with, and the Tad- : nui r road w^ hecesaarily delayed , among ' others. '/ WIVAVfA. 6. When the 'Oove-r^ment ; LoansV to Local Bodies Act came; in force, JL .,... supported the first attempt to get the; Aorangi bridge made, in conjunction with tthe Feilding Borough; The* Borough vote fell through, and the ' " project was stopped for a time, Again, I"sec6iided Mr Bull's motion oh the second attempt, which fell through owing to an informality,. .for. which X was not responsible,, having been absent attending.,. Earhament, or in ■ Wellington when . it was committed. Af. On the third attempt I could not come to vote, not beingV allowed by the doctor toleave my room,, and, though nezt day I managed 'to hobble across "• the street from my' lodgings iio attend "' the sittings r of the Houses I could not have travelled tip 'to Manawatu on- the*^ ' day of the voting if my life had desponded on it. 7. I would- have moved last meeting ■ of the Board that steps be taken 1 to make an application "to ithe Government for a loan to make the roads- 1 i referred to in the petition: signed by 51 ratepayers of No. s Ward, but felt " reluctant to do so in the absence of the Warden, Mr Buill I will vdo so-;Vf-next meeting if Mr Bull does not. takethe initiative. How do; all these facts which I ,defjr r Mr Bailey to disprove, bear out his charge of opposition ? ■'• Again as I have confessedly been in a f minority on the. Board since Mr Bull \ has been a member, .how could my ''*-• opposition, granting - that it existed, - ' hare prevented the roads being made, had the majority ab willed it ? ' - L ... Now, Sir, „am aware this let-teri^ of inordinate -length; ''but it' is difficnlf f to,i give a history of transactions spreading over, many .years, in a few <-,- . sentences. Let, .me .^now deoi witb . Mr -Bailey's last"' charge, or insinua-, V 'a tion : " That the settlers hare to thank me for the special rate, they have to • '••■■ ! pay for the roads -made in the (until ■'"■l lately) unsold portions of the Corpora- -,; tion block." What was the position of ( the Manchester Euad District in 1882 ? Were we not paying a County- A Council rate of Is, and a Eoad Board rate of ls on the rental value, equal to lid on the v selling yaiue? What ,-, are we paying now, with the advantage of | tlie fifty or sixty miles of; road made under the Roads and Bridges A Apt,: roads that could never have been : constructed oiii; .of rates ? WTbiy, one 1 ! * penny! fartbin|f Jof the selling value, -'A special and general ratOs combined 1 Is ■'"." -' ; - • not this something to have achieved? - r ' How does this position compare with *■ * that qf neighbouring local bodies? The, Kiwitea Boad Board levies a penny jhalfpeuny ot general -ratfefHlhesides special rates. So does the Manawatu: Council, .'arid staggers at the - ■ i same -time under a heavy overdraft, v I, meed not ref er to the unfortunate • position of the Manawatn Eoad Board. A H It is quite true that roads 'were made: V-l L^ough the Corporation unsold land,, v;A and why not? I, at any rate, am not ashamed of having, obtained for'the - Corporation, which was payin ft general rates at that time to the taipSol Uuee or '

m- !,,.,.. „ „.: . - ; Tour hundred a year, its fair share of expenditure. For its heavy general rate the Corporation had got scarcely any return, though it had then paid over £3000 in the shape of general rates to local bodies. Though a company, it had the same rights as any other ratepayer,, and, if I asked anything unjust as its share, I can only say no member of the Board opposed the motion reciting the schedule of roads, Which motion was proposed by Mr William Bailey and seconded by MrLoudou. What would have been the Board's position how without these 50 or 60 aiiles of road ?-- Any one can -see it would have been subjected to very heavy demands, which it would have been totally unable to meet ; whereat now, if the Board steadily j •applies under the Act, in a very short] time all the roads will be made. ■ j The fact is the whole head and front ofAjhy offending is that I am opposing the Manchester Board tak- j ing any^, responsibility, for the road on ■ the south side of the railway line, seeing that.the Manawatu "Road Board ' is not in a position to he±r its share. ■ Let us, say I, make the road on our own side, at any rate, from Bailey's crossing io Bunnythorpe. This, of course, does- not suit some owners on the south side, whose rates go to the Manawatu Boad Board ; but, as an independent . member of the Board, with no a±e to grind, I shall steadily advocate*; what T believe to be best for the interests of the Manchester ratepayers; careless whether I thereby incur the. enmity of interested parties who are*' seeking to serve their pri--vate interests at the general expense. — I am, &c, "A 7 . D. H. In^CARTHUR.