COUNTY COUNCIL.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1257, 29 March 1878, Page 3

COUNTY COUNCIL.

SELWTN. A meeting of the Council was held yesterday at 11 a.m. Present: Hon John Hall (chairman), Messrs E. J. Lee, McMillan, Eujs, Mathias, Rollcston. CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT. The Chairman said : It will probably bo convenient if at tho commencement of this and future sittings, I state briefly the ordinary business which requires the attention of the Council. 1. No standing orders have yet been made for regulating the proceedings of the Council ; a committee to prepare draft standing orders was appointed in January, 1877, and submitted a draft, which is now before the Council. For the present our proceedings are regulated, in virtue of a resolution of the Council, by the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives so far as they are applicable. 2. Incompliance with your wi-h, I attended, ia company with Dr. Turnbull, a conference in Christchurch of Chairmen of County Councils, and Mayors of boroughs on the subject of the management of hospitals and charitable aid. Tho conference agreed unanimously to certain resolutions, which will be laid before you, and upon which I trust you will express an opinion. Since tho sitting of the Conference I have received a letter from tho Colonial Secretary, wanting the Council to take over tho management of hospitals in the County on certain terms. I shall feel obliged by your instructions as to the reply which I shall give. I am not aware that there are any hospitals in the County of Selwyn. 3, Vote for domains and cemeteries—Since your last meeting tho treasury has remitted ,£3766 13s 4d on account of domains and =£l9oß 6s 9d on account of cemeteries in the county. Of the former sum £I3OOO is required to he set apart as an endowment for the Christchurch Domain Board. It will he desirable that that Board should be communicated with, with a view to this sum being placed in trust for tho purpose specified. Of the vote for cemeteries, .£ISOO is to bo devoted to providing a central cenetery in tho neighbourhood of Christchurch. I would suggest that the co-operation of the municipal authorities of Christchurch, and perhaps of the chairmen of suburban Road Boards, should be invited on this subject. WHh a view of obtaining information as to tho best mode of distributing the balance of the two sums above-mentioned, I have by circular asked the several Road Boards in the county for particulars of the wants of their districts in the matter of cemeteries and recreation reserves. Replies have been received from some of the Boards, which yon will probably refer to the committee it is proposed to appoint to-day. 4. Malvern water race—On the 15th instant I addressed a letter to the Minister of Public Works, asking, for the information of the Council, in what position this work now stands, and whether there arc any funds in the hands of tho Government which would be handed over to this Council if it consented to take charge of tho work. To that letter no reply has yet been returned. 5. County Fund—When the Council, by resolution, brought the Counties Act into force in the County of Selwyn, I forwarded a copy of the resolution to tho Treasury, and requested that henceforward all county funds might bo paid to the county account, instead of being distributed to Road Hoards as heretofore. The Colonial Treasurer has replied that those funds must continue to bo paid to the Road Boards until the 30th June next. You will, no doubt, share the surprise and disappointment with which I received this statement; it appears to me entirely at variance with tho intentions of the Legislature, and in conflict with the 106th section of the Counties Act. Such a construction of the Act practically precludes its being brought into force at any other period than the termination of a financial year, whereas several of its clauses distinctly give to the Council the option of bringing it into operation at any time. I trust you will think it right to ask for a reconsideration of the decision of tho Government. By a singular coincidence, upon the s ime day on which the Colonial Treasurer refused to pay over tho county fund, the Colonial Secretary referred an account for election expenses to me as chairman for payment, because it was chargeable upon the county fund, 6, Electoral Rolls— The 42ud section of tho Counties Act requires that, by the 15th April, electoral rolls shall he prepared for tho several ridings of the county. The population of some of the ridings is so large that this work will be a very heavy one, and for which some special provision must be made. The time within which it is to he completed is now so limited, that I would suggest application being made to the Governor to extend the time, under the authority contained in section 211. 7. Annual and half-yearly balance sheets are required to ho prepared and sent to the auditor before the 15th Apal. 8. No auditor has yet been appointed by the Governor. I propose to call the attention of the Government to this omission. 9. It will ho necessary to appoint one additional member, to countersign cheques drawn on the county account. 10. No accounts supplied by Colonial Government. Up to the present time, although very large sums of money have been received for the county by the Government, and have been distributed to Road Boards after considerable deductions, no information whatever has been afforded of the extent of those deductions, nor have any accounts been furnished showing whether the Road Boards have received all that they are entitled to. I trust that you will agree that this is information to which we, and other bodies similarly situated, are fairly entitled, and that you will authorise me to press for its being furnished. 11. Sheep and Fencing Bills—The Colonial Secretary has forwarded to me copies of the Fencing and Sheep Bills, which the Government propose to introduce next session, and invited suggestions thereon. I suggest that these Bills he referred to a select committee. It pay be worth consideration whether upon subjects affecting, as these Bills do, the provincial district as a whole, it might not bo desirable, by discussing them with members of other County Councils, to endeavour to agree upon recommendations which would represent the general opinion of the provincial district upon these important questions. Any such recommendations would of course carry greater weight that the individual and possibly conflicting opinions of separate County Councils. 12. The resident engineer of the Colonial Government has to-day informed me that he has received instructions to proceed with the survey of the following branch railways in the county:—E’rom a point on the Whitecliffs line to Rakaia Gorge ; from a point on the Southhridge lino to Little River. Besides the ordinary business, there are several notices of motion, and I think the best way will be to dispose of the ordinary business first. STANDING ORDERS. Tho Chairman said the first business was the consideration of the question of standing orders. It was provided that the Council might make by-laws or standing orders. The former was a most circuitous process, and he hardly thought that this was intended to he binding on them as regulating their proceedings. He would now lay on the table the draft standing orders as brought up by the committee appointed some time back. Mr Rolleston suggested that it would he as well for some member to move the adoption of the draft now laid before them. However, if members required time to consider the standing orders, he would give notice of motion for next meeting that the proceedings of the Council be regulated by the draft standing orders now before them. CEMETERIES AND DOMAINS. The Chairman read a letter from tho Colonial Treasurer, remitting <£5675, on account of votes for cemeteries and domain hoards, in accordance with the recommendation of the conference of chairmen of County Councils north of the Rangitata. The first subject they would have to deal with was the sum of ,£3001), devoted to the Christchurch Domain Board as an endowment. Mr Mathias enquired whether the Domain Board was a body corporate P Mr Rollcston replied in tho affirmative. The Chairman suggested that it would ho as well to make an appointment with the Domain Board to confer with the representatives of the Council on tho subject of the investment of the money. Mr Enys moved, “That the chairman and Dr. Turnbull be requested to communicate with the Christchurch Domain Board as to the best mode of investment of the £I3OOO voted as an endowment for tho Christchurch Domain.” Mr Rolleston seconded the motion, which was carried. Tho Chairman said that tho next point was tbo yoto for cemoteriest He might say that

.£ISOO had been paid in for the purpose of i establishing a general cemetery, and he had suggested the co-operation of the municipal authorities and chairmen of suburban road , boards. Mr Rolleston would like to see the members of the Cemetery Board connected with the 1 various religious bodies also associated with the ■ Municipal delegates and Road Board representatives. He would like to see a general cemetery established on the basis of a contri--1 button towards the cost of purchasing a suitable site. Whilst they were about it they should sret one which would be available for all denominations, and this they would not ba able to get for .£ISOO. He would move —“ That the chairman and Mr Enys, with the Mayors of , Christchurch and Sydenham, and the chairmen of the Heathcote, Avon, Kiccarton, and Spreydon Road Boards, bo requested to confer ns to the best method of giving effect to the purpose of the vote of £ISOO for a public cemetery.” Mr G. L. Lee seconded the motion, wdiich was agreed to. MALVERN WATERWORKS. A deputation, comprising Hon. Colonel Brett and Messrs Paterson and W. B. Tosswill, members of the Courtenay Road Board, waited on the Council to ask that the Malvern waterworks might bo brought through their district, and that the Council would grant their assistance in money, the Council carrying out the work, or the Road Board under its supervirion. Colonel Brett then briefly referred to the votes which had been made for the works at Malvern. This for a distance of one mile fifty-five chains had been completed. What was wanted was that the water should be taken through the Courtenay Road Board district as far as Rolleston. Scientific men had calculated that if this were done a very large amount of water per diem would reach Rolleston —over one million gallons per day. Ho desired to impress on the minds of the Council that up to the end of the past year 105,121 acres of land had been sold in the Courtenay district, 22,800 acres hid been reserved for various purposes, and 65(35 acres of Crown lands were now open for sale. The total area of the district was 103,499 acres. It would thus he seen that the district had not received their fair share of the revenue, nor anything like 10 per cent, of the land sales of the district up to 1874. The district—that was the Courtenay Road Board —had only received £25,859, whilst they were entitled to £50,000. Besides this a number of gentlemen had bought land in that district on the understanding that the water race would he brought through the Courtenay district. Ho would further desire to point out that the drought in the Courtenay district could not be understood except by those who lived in it. Every day he saw numbers of drays passing his house going for water, and only a few days back a lady attending a sick patient who was in a high fever, was unable to find even a glass of water to quench the thirst of the patient. Was not this terrible that in a country like this, with its great trade and resources, they should find a district totally destitute of the simplest necessity of life ? If the water race was not carried out he considered that the Government would be breaking faith with the people. Mr G. P. Williams, the resident engineer, had prepared a plan of the line of route which had been submitted to the Government. He would lay this on the table. What he wanted to impress on the Council was the necessity for having a reservoir into Iwhieh the water might be taken after reaching Eolleston, so that this largo body of water would be available for use in case of fire in Christchurch, as it would have sufficient power to go over the highest house in Christchurch. Now ho desired to say that the Road Board had asked their legal adviser whether the Board could use the funds of the Road Board for the completion of the waterworks. In reply to this Messrs'Hanmer and Harper, their solicitors, had expressed an opinion that the Road Boards were not empowered to appropriate money voted or raised by rate to the construction of waterworks. The power to expend the money of the ratepayers was confined to works of general utility, such as roads, which were of equal benefit to all the ratepayers. The construction of waterworks or an aqueduct would only benefit part of the ratepayers of the district, hence the power to expend rates, &c., for works of public utility would not apply. Mr Tosswill said the reason why the deputation had waited upon the Council was because the water scheme, stopping where it did, would not benefit the largest number of persons. Besides this, he believed that if the work were in the hands of the County Council it would be more economically carried out. It was a work which wanted practical men to carry it out, and did not want to be, as many works were, over-engineered. He had been told by a gentleman who had had great experience in these matters, that it would be quite possible to construct timber channels instead of the very expensive concrete now used. The work, if carried out as proposed by the deputation, would benefit a large number of people, and they desired that the County Council should undertake the work, rather than the General Government, because if the former took it in hand it would be more economically done. Mr Paterson said he had bought his land on the faith of the Government bringing the water to the district. In spring and summer he had to send carts for water, at a co*t of 14s per day. He therefore thought that the Government were bound to carry out their promise. The Chairman said that, so far as he understood, the object of the deputation was to request the assistance of the Council, either by funds being placed at their disposal by the Council or by carrying out the work itself. [Hear, hear.] He felt sure he was expressing the opinion of the Council that anything they could do for the district would be done. He might say that immediately on the Act coming into force he had written to the Government asking what was the present position of the Malvern water race question, hut had not received any answer. There was, as the deputation knew, a sum of £6900 lying to the credit of the work, and so soon as the Government apprised the Council of the position of the question they would consider the points put before them by the deputation. Hon. Colonel Brett said he desired to inform the Council that the engineer had informed him that the cost of the proposed work would bo from £SOO to £6OO per mile, and could bo completed within a year. Mr Tosswill said that there was one point he wished to put before the members of the Council. All the Courtenay Road Board desired was to bring the water to the boundaries of their district, about ten miles, which their present funds would euable them to do, and then the district would have to decide how to proceed further, whether by a company or otherwise. The deputation, after thanking the Council for their courtesy, withdrew. It was resolved that the chairman be requested to write again to the General Government asking for an answer as to what the present position of the Malvern water supply question was. HOSPITALS AND CHARITABLE AID. The Chairman reported the resolutions arrived at by tbe conference on the subjects of Hospitals and charitable aid, and read the following letter from the General Government on the subject :

“ Colonial Secretary’s Office, “ 15th March, 1878. “ Sir, —The Government on taking office found that the hospitals and charitable institutions throughout the colony were being managed upon no fixed principles or system, and that it was absolutely necessary to place them on a more satisfactory footing. Up to the end of December, and till the new Financial Arrangements Bill took effect, it was impossible to change the existing state of things, but from that date the principle Government have endeavored to bring into operation is one which is at once comprehensible, uniform, and practical. In the larger towns Government have hitherto maintained a most unsatisfactory control, and paid the expenditure, recovering it, however, from the subsidies payable to the boroughs and adjacent counties, in the outlying localities and at Hokitika a grant in aid, differing in some instances, but commonly 20s for 20s of subscriptions, has been given, the Hospital being managed by a committee appointed by the subscribers. A proposal has been made to the municipalities of the larger towns to place the hospitals and charitable aid under the direct control and management of the Borough Councils, and to subsidise them to the extent of 20 * for every 20s of paid-up subscriptions and of moneys contributed from the borough fund, and to make no deductions whatever from the subsidies, and the Government propose to offer similar terms to County Councils if they will undertake to manage hospitals in country districts. Many of the patients admitted being resident outside the borough, one question would remain for adjustment between the County and Borough Councils, namely, that of their respective shares of the cost of managing hospitals in boroughs, This might probably be adjusted by a charge being made by the Corporation per head for county patients and paupers, and if this or some other mode can be arranged, a more equitable arrangement will bo arrived at. “ I have, &c., “J. Ballance.” Mr Eolleston said that he had been informed that, in reply to the deputation which waited on the Ministerial members recently in Christchurch, the Government had stated that it was not intended to hand over the hospitals to the boroughs, Ho thought that the boat way would

he first to pass a resolution confirm‘ng the action taken by their chairman at *io conference, and agreeing with the r- j bitions passed thereat. He would move, '‘ 1 1 at this Council concurs with the resolutions arrived at by a conference of chairmen of counties and mayors of boroughs, held on the 2lst March, relative to the management of hospitals and distribution of charitable aid.” Mr Mathias seconded the motion, which was agreed to.

Mr Rolleston then moved, “That the chairman he requested to forward a copy of the foregoing resolutions to the Colonial Secretary, in reply to his letter of the 15th March, and to express a hope that the proposals embodied therein will have the favourable consideration of tbe Government.” Mr Lee seconded the motion, which was agreed to. COUNTY FUNDS. The Chairman brought under the notice of the Council the fact that the Government proposition to pay the county funds to Road Boards was against the law. The law provided that this should bo done only whilst the Act was not in force, but so soon as the Act came into force this ceased, or else they would be in the position of handing over their funds to some other body while having important works to carry out. Mr Rolleston thought the Government should be asked to reconsider their decision upon this subject. He would move —“ That the chairman bo requested to urge upon the Government a reconsideration of their decision with regard to the county funds as conveyed in the letter of the Colonial Treasurer, dated 25th March.” Mr Enys seconded the motion, which was carried. ELECTORAL ROLLS. The Chairman brought under the notice of the Council the f.o/'t that by the Counties Act a return of nil tbe electors in the various ridings had to bo compiled by the clerk before the 15th April. The population in the various ridings was very largo, and, therefore, it would be manifestly impossible for the Council to have them done by the date named, so that it would bo necessary to apply to the Governor for an extension of time. After some discussion, it wasresolved —“ That the chairman take tbe necessary steps for the preparation of the electoral rolls for the various ridings, and that the Governor be requested to extend the time for their preparation until Ist Juno.” ACCOUNTS OF THE COUNTY, The Chairman brought under the notice of the Council the subject of the Government not having furnished the Council with any accounts as to the sums received by them on behalf of the county. After some discussion, Mr McMillan moved —“ That in the opinion of this Council it is highly desirable (hat accounts should be supplied from the Colonial Treasury allowing the sums received by the Government on account of the County of Selvvyn, and the sums actually paid to the county or Road Boards, together with a statement showing how the amounts so paid have been arrived at.” Mr Enys seconded the motion, which was agreed to. BRANCH RAILWAYS. The Chairman said that, as stated in his opening address, he had been informed by the resident engineer that he had received instructions to survey several lines in Canterbury. UPPER WAIMAKARIRI RIDING. Mr Enys, pursuant to notice given at last meeting, moved—“ That the Council do petition the Governor in Council to alter the boundaries of tbe Upper WaimakarH riding, so as to include tbe whole of the Upper Waimakariri road district, and do send a request to the Ashley Council to join in the same petition.” Mr McMillan seconded the motion. The Chairman suggested that as this was a very important matter it should bo deferred for a time to allow of petitions from the ratepayers being sent in. After some discussion, Mr Enys obtained leave to withdraw the motion. OFFICE ACCOMMODATION AND STAFF. A motion, in the name of Mr Mathias, stood from last meeting, “That a committee he appointed to report upon office accommodation and staff of officers required; the committee to consist of the Chairman, Mr Rdleston, l)r. Turnbull, and the mover.’ The motion was now moved, and, being seconded by Mr McMillan, was agreed to. POUND RESERVES. Mr Mathias obtained permission to withdraw the following notice of motion standing in his name :—“ That, in the opinion of this Council, it is desirable the proposed reserves for pounds should be handed over to the road districts in which they are situated.” DOMAINS AND CEMETERIES. Mr McMillan moved, “ ihat a committee, consisting of the Chairman, Mr Lee, and the mover, he appointed to re port on the distribution of the vote for domains and ’ cemeteries, two to be a quorum, to report in a mouth.” Mr Mathias seconded the motion, which was carried. ADJOURNMENT. Notices of motion having been given, the Council adjourned until Thursday, April 11th.