COUNTY COUNCIL.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 858, 24 March 1877, Page 3

COUNTY COUNCIL.

SELWYN. Friday, March 23. The adjourned meeting of the Selwyn County Council was held in the Provincial Council Chamber at 10 30 a.m. PresentMessrs W. Rolleston (chairman), Mathias, Hawdon, McMillan, Dr Turnbull, and Hon John Hall. The minutes of the preceding meeting were read and confirmed. RETURNS. The chairman said that, in compliance with Mr Hall's resolution, he had had the returns prepared therein asked for. He also laid on the table a return showing the amount received from the Provincial Government by the county. FREE PASSES. A letter was read from the Secretary of Public Works, seating that free passes over the railways to the chairman and members of the County Council had been granted, and a«kinEr for a list of members to be sent to the traffic manager. THE DOG FEES. A letter was read from the Commissioner of Police, stating that the charge for dog collars was made against the Polios Department, and that the money received for registration was banked in the Bank of New Zealand to the credit of the County. He might say that the sum already paid in to the credit of the County up to date from the dog tax was £Bl3. WEST COAST ROAD. The Chairman said that he ha i telegraphed to the General Government, asking what was going to be done with the West Coast road. He had received a reply from the Government, stating that the Assembly having made no provision for the maintenance of the road it would have to be considered as a County road, and maintained by the Counties interested. Hon John Hall said that, at a later period of the meeting, he would, move a resolution 6n the subject. '■ HORORATA BRIDGE. A petition'was read from' residents of the HoTdrata district, asking that' the bridge in {he district should be completed at one?. A letter was also read from Mr J. C. Wason, asking that the bridge should be gone on with at once so as to open up the district, as it was yery important the work Bhould be done. DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS. The chairman read the following correapon enc V chrißlc h U rcb, 16th March, 1877. " Sir —I have the honor to request that tha Oovern'ment will be good enough to enable me to advise members of the County Council on certain points which are embodied in fc memorandum just banded to me» »n<* which

gives the view held by the writer: — 'lt seenn to me that in determining the proportions in which the county funds are to be divided among the Road Boards it is desirable to draw a distinc tion between the Government subsidies atid the surplus laud fuud. The former should be distributed to the Road Board? mainly in proportion to the rates which have been collected, and by which those subsidies are earned ; but this principle will not apply to the land fund which is collected in, and will be wanted in the outlying road districts where culverts, roads, and bridges have as yet all to be made, and where rate able property is as yet small. Cannot the County Council state that the land fund Khali be distributed in certain proportions, and the subsidies, &c, in other proportions ? Can it alao attach any conditions to the payments to the Road Boards V " The information sought is with a view to the meeting which will be held next week, under the 68th section of the Counties Act, 1876, and I shall esteem it a favor if you will telegraph a reply at your earliest convenience. " I have, &c, "W. ROLLESTON. " The Hon Colonial Secretary," To that he had received the following telegram in reply : " Wellington, March 20. " Provisions of Counties and Financia Arrangements Acts clearly define duties of Councils as to distributing county revenues between Boad Boards and outlying districts. Government have no necessity or right to inteifere. See in cases where Act is not in force, sections 68 of Counties and 31 of Financial Arrangements Acts. " H. A. Atkinson. " W. Bolleston, Esq." DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS. The Chairman said that they had met that day to decide how the money available for the county under the Financial Arrangements Act should be distributed amongst the Boad Districts and Boad Boards under the 68th clause. The Council went into committee on the motion of Dr Turnbull. After some discussion, The Hon John Hall moved—" Tbat in the of this Council the sums payable to the County of Selwyn during the current financial year, under the Financial Arrangements Act, 1876, or any other Act, should be divided among the several road districts in the county in the following proportions, viz : Avon, 6 per cent; Riccarton, 6 ; Templeton, 6 ; Heathcote, 6 ; Spreydon, 5 ; HalHwell, 5 ; Lincoln, 7 ; Springß, 8; Ellesmere, 9; Courtenay, 8 ; Malvern, East Malvern, and South Malvern, 12 ; Bakaia, 11 ; Coleridge, 8 ; Upper Waimakariri, 3." Dr Turnbull seconded the motion. After some discussion, Mr Mathiag moved—" That the Council adjourn until 8 p.m., when the diECUssion be resumed." Mr McMillan seconded the motion, which was agreed to. The Council then resumed, at 8 p.m., THE SURPLUS LAND REVENUE, The Chairman said he had telegraphed as follows to the Government that morning as regarded the surplus land fund : " Christchurch, 23rd March. " Selwyn County Council is most anxious to know when the surplus land fund, of which a large balance must be now available for distribution, will be paid. Council has adjourned until 8 p.m. this evening. " W. Bolleston. " Hon Major Atkinson." He had received the following reply that morning from the Hon Major Atkinson ; " Wellington, 23rd March. "Your telegram just received, Have had great difficulty in getting returns so as to determine proportions due to each county, Hope to have calculations sufficiently complete in two or three days to enable me to pay over about three-fourths of the land fund to the counties. Payment will be made at once, " H, A. Atkinson,

" W. Rolleston, Esq, Christchuich." DISTRIBUTION OP THE COUNTY REVENUE.

The adjourned discussion on the Hon John Hall's motion was then resumed.

The Chairman said he should like to say a few words as to the principles which, as it occurred to him, should guide the Council in the distribution of the county funds. The question, so far as he could gather, was one as between the settled and the outlying districts. Now the manner in which he looked at the land fund was that it belonged to the provincial district as a whole, and not to any special part of it, the primary object being so to allocate it as to promote the opening up and settlement of the county as much as possible. But he would deßire to point out also that this had not prevented the Provincial Council in the past from giving liberal grants from the land fund to open up the country, and he could give instances of districts only some few miles from Christchurch which were far worae off as regarded reads, &e, than districts lying so far removed a 9 Malvern, &c, He thought that they should now recognise the same principle obtaining in the county as to the distribution of the surplus land fund amongst the several districts as would obtain between the different counties in the same provincial district. He did not mean by this to say that they should act in accordance with the provisions of the Counties Act, and allocate two-fifths on the principle of area, and three-fifths on the amount of rates raised. If this were done there would be no need for discussion as to the mode of distribution required. But he felt that they met there as representatives of the whole county, and they should be prepared so to distribute the funds at their disposal as to afford every facility for the occupation and settlement of the land. The land fund belonged to the people, not to the land, for the purpose of carrying out works which should conduce to the progress of settlement. He desired more particularly to refer to districts adjacent to the city, such as the Avon. In the case of' that district, if it had been intended only to open up the country near to and 'around the North road then they would not have required to have expended as much as they had done by onehalf. But the fact remained that the road was used most extensively by the districts lying bfiyond that of the Avon, and the same remarks applied to the Riccarton district. This principle extended still further, because a district did not receive the benefit of the iand fund expended by the passing over its •oads of its own people, but of those residing in districts beyond it, and this went op back further and further until a district wa. 1 - reached in which there was scarcely any traffic at all. The district he had in his mind was the upper part of the Rakaia, where there was no back traffic. What he had always held was this that the surplus of the land fund

should be distributed in respect to the county so as to meet the necessities of the people as to works required to be performed, and not in any precise spots with reference to the amount of money already spent in one or in another. This was, he thought, the principle which should guide thera, and he had taken the opportunity of making these few general remarks, became he was of opinion that the district he represented (the Avon) •i*d a torge claim upon the county from the » rfjflic which came through it to the capital i'-nd port town of the province. Dr Turnbull would like to say a few words with regard to the distribution of the surplus of the Land Fund to the various Road Boards. If the Council would pardon h'm referring to himself, he might say that he had in the Provincial Council advocated the special claims of the municipalities of the province to a small share of the funds accruing from the sale of the land of the province. He had endeavored to point out why they should along with the Road Boards of the province receive a portion of the funds accruing from the sale of land, but he had barely succeeded. He must say this that he thought the members for Christchurch in the Assembly—indeed he might say the members for Canterbury—had taken a course which was very iuimical to the best interests of the centres of population. It was therefore incumbent on him, as holding the views respecting the municipalities which he did, to explain the reason why he thought that the distribution now proposed was unfair in that it gave too much to the metropolitan Boards. If there was one tning more than another incumbent on them as members representing the whole county it was that justice should be done in all parts of it. Now the distribution proposed by Mr Hall inflicted, he thought, great injustice on one part of the county most entitled to justice at their hands in the distribution of the surplus land fund, and that was what he might term the outlying Boards. He looked upon the four districts around Chriatchurcb, viz, the Avon, Heathcote, Riccarton, and Spreydon, as metropolitan Road Boards, and if they looked at the subsidy proposed to be allotted to them for twelve months, they would find that Bicjarton was to receive £1744 ; Heathcote, .£2I3S ; Spreydon, £1876; and Avon £2848. These large sums, it must be borne in mind, must be paid over, part from the consolidated fund and part from the land fund, before they came to the consideration of the distribution of a single half, penny of money. Now let them remember the large sums to be received by theße metropolitan Road Boards before touching the surplus, and then look at the outlying districts. Conrtenay would get £742, Rakaia £lB2, Coleridge nothing, and Malvern £74. And it must also be recolleoted that not one penny of contribution came from the metropolitan districts towards the land fund, but was raised in the outlying districts. During the past few months the outlying districts which it was proposed should receive some £IOOO from the public funds, had contributed £30,000 in the shape of land sales, and they were only to receive the small sum of £IOOO ; but the metropolitan Road Boards, which contributed nothing, were to receive something like .£lO 000 for the year. That was for the si? months as proposed. The metropolitan districts, having contributed nothing, got £SOOO, while the outlying districts, having contributed £30.000, got £SOO for the same period. There was no justice in this. The proposition of Mr Hall simply meant this, that those districts which were roaded and bridged were to receive the enormous sums he had referred to, whilst those which had all the work to do were put off with the smaller sum after having contributed largely to the land fund. It waa not their fault that this system had obtained before the surplus land revenue came to be distributed, because it had been done on tha basis of rates collected. Now, however, when they came to distribute the surplus revenue, it was their duty to see that those who had contributed so largely should have far more than those who had not. It was proposed to give 6 per cent to Metropolitan, Boards, and an average of 8 per cent to the outlying districts. Now what he based his remarks upon was that by doing this they took away utterly all value from the amount received by the outlying districts, because it would be utterly disproportionate to the amount of works to be done in roading and bridging the country. His idea was that they should not give the metropolitan Road Boards one farthing until the outlying districts had received a certain proportion. Holding these views he should move as an amendment to Mr Hall's motion, "That the distribution of the surplus land fund by this Council amongst the Road Boards, be on the follow? ing basis, viz.—Avon, 3 per cent; Riccarton, j 3 ; Templeton, 3, ; Bfeathcpte, 3 \ Spreydon, | 3 ; HaJswelL 3: Lincoln, 4; Springs, 8;, JJllearaere, It) ; Courtenay, 14 ; Malvern, 6 ; East Malvern, 5 j South Malvern, 6 ; Rakaia, 16 j Coleridge, 10 ; Upper Waimakariri, 3."

Mr McMillan seconded the amendment.

Hon John Hall, whilst agreeing to a great extent with what had fallen from Dr Turnbull, desired to point out that it was, nqt in their power—owing partly to, the action of the County Council and partly to that of tho Government, aa shown by the telegrams read that day--~to draw a lino between the absolute surplus of the land fund and the subsidies payable to the Boards by Act of Parliament. If it had been in the power of the Council to do this, Dr TurnbuH's argument would be complete. What they had to do was to put the whole amount into a lump, and give each Road Board a share of the aggregate amount. It was exceedingly difficult to say what share of the land fund would fall to any district by the distribution now proposed, and what share of the subsidies. He thought that perhaps the original proposition was open to the objection that the metropolitan districts had been too, literally dealt with, and he should' Ue prepared to ; accept a The chairman had : stated it aa his opinion that the reason why they should give large subsidies to the metropolitan districts was because the Provincial Council had done so. He thought this was a reason why they should not, because large amounts had been already given them to do works.

The Chairman desired to explain that what he had said was that the Provincial Council had recognised that the laud revenue belonged to the people, to be used for purposes of settlement and occupation. Mr Hall—Bat the chairman had explained the high Bounding and pretty doctrine of the land belonging to the people, by saying thai the Provincial Government had spent largt ■iuras in the metropolitan districts, He (Mi Hall) did not say it had been unwisely done bat it had been done, and loads, &c, made, and it was now the turn of those district*:

whichjhad not had roads and bridges made f. them to come in for a share of the expen.li f ure, to enable the land to be opened up fo) occupation.

The Chairman—l quoted districts not ai\ miles from Christchurch which are wo-si off in this respect than outlying districts Mr Hall—To nay that the revenue belonged to the people was no guide to the proper distribution. Did the chairman mean tosav that it belonged to the people to pay for their daily wants. The Chairman—l guarded myself against that by saying that it should be used for tut necessities of settlement and occupation. Mr Hall—Thenlet it go to the districts where it was urgently wanted to open up communi cation. After all they came back to the question where were roads most wanted ? That was where the people wanted most money spent, and it was necessary expenditure in order to facilitate settlement. The chairman had spoken about the North road being kept as an arterial road ; it might have been so some years ago, but it was not so now. The railway waa the arterial road, and this more particularly applied to the districts north of the Avon. Therefore the main roads in the metropolitan districts were no longer arterial means of communication, and theße districts therefore had no claim on the Council in the distribution of the funds.

Mr Hawdon wished to ask for some expla nation as to the maintenance of the West Coast road, which he thought was a bugbear.

Hon John Hall said that he intended to move a resolution on that subject after the disposal of the one now before the Council. Mr McMillan waa in favor of Dr Turnbull's amendment. He thought the metropolitan districts were far too favorably treated in Mr Hall's proposition, and that the outlying districts had fair claims to be considered and receive larger grants. For this reason he ehould vote for the amendment.

Mr Mathias said he had intended to bring forward a resolution on this subject, but he found very great difficulty from the fact that the Council had no idea of what amount of money they would have to spend. In fact they were working in the dark. [Hear, bear.] He considered that Courtenay was the worse treated district of all, according to Mr Hall's estimate, particularly considering the very large amount of land sold in the district. He thought also that Mr Hall's distribution did not treat Malvern properly, when compared with Rakaia and Coleridge. Dr Turnbull, he felt, had been very hard on the settled districts, but as the resolution of Dr Turnbull had been accepted by Mr Hall, ha (Mr Mathias), while preferring a resolution he hr.d himself drawn up, would only be in the minority. Mr Mathias thought that Rakaia and Lake Coleridge districts wonld, under Dr Turnbull's resolution, get far too much as compared with others.

Hon John Hall explained that the grant was made in respect to an arterial road. The motion of the Hon John Hall was then withdrawn by conaent, and the amendment of Dr Turnbull was put as a substantive motion and agreed tc.

THE "WEST COAST ROAD. Hon John Hall moved—" That as the West Coaßt road is altogether of an exceptional character, and should not be a burthen on the County of Selwyn alone, the Government be requested to maintain the same under the authority of section 3fi of the Financial Arrangements Act, 1876, and charge the cost thereof against the provincial district. In the event of the Government declining to do eo, that they be requested to p©t apart from the moneys payable to this county a sum suffiVient to maintain the road until the end of the next session of Parliament." Mr Hawdon seconded the motion, vthich was agreed to. HAGLEY ?AUK. Dr Turnbull moved—" That as Hagley Park and the roads through the same are not in any municipality or road district, the Government be requested to deal with the same under the provisions of section 91 of the Public Works Aot, and charge the cost thereof against monies payable to the county," Hon John Hall seconded the motion, which was carried. COUNTY REVENUE Hon John Hall moved—" That in the opinion of this Council the monies payable to the county of Selwyn during the financial year, commencing the Ist July next, under the Financial Arrangements Act, 1876, and any other Act, should be divided among the several road districts in the same proportion as already recommended for the financial year ending 30th June next." Dr Turnbull seconded the motion which was agreed to.

ADJOURNMENT. The Council then adjourned till 23rd March, 1878.