THE LATE SESSION OF THE COUNTY COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume VII, Issue 492, 11 March 1869, Page 2

THE LATE SESSION OF THE COUNTY COUNCIL.

Last, night Mr H. H. Lahman, one of the representatives of Greym.outh in the County Council, met his constituents in the large hall of Gilmer's Hotel, for the purpose of explaining the part lie took in the proceedings of the late session, There was a very large and influential attendance. E. Masters, Esq., Mayor; waa called to the chair, and in a few introductory remarks introduced Mr. Lahman, who was received with loud applause. He said: I appear before yon, not because I was called upon to da so by a number of my supporters, but because I considered it to be my bounden duty to account to you for what I have done in the Council, and also to give you an opportunity of judging whether I have fulfilled the promises I made to you on my election or not. I need hardly tell you that before I went to Hokitika I made up my mind, as far as the Chairmanship was concerned, to vote for my colleague, Mr Harrison, and so had the member for the Parpa district, Mr Carreras. Both of us determined, if possible, to put him into the chair; but when we went to Hokitika, we found that things had changed — that the country members had made up their minds to put one of their number into the chair, that they would not be ruled by any Hokitika man, or, as they expressed it, by any townsman. Under the County of Westland Act, the first business of the Council was the election of a Chairman, and unhappily the member for the Kanieri, Mr Eees, one of the legal fraternity, to obtain certain ends of his own, threw every obstacle in the way of the Chairman being first elected. A petition was before the Council to unseat Mr Sale ; and Mr Rees thought by that means he would make room for Mr Prosser, and declare Mr Sale's election invalid. But in this case the biter was bitten, and the country members made a tool of Mr Rees, and the result was that one of their number, Mr Conrad Hoos, was elected Chairman. I found • that there waa no possibility of securing Mr Harrison's election, because Mr Sale would not- vote, and Mr Bonar declined to vote for Mr Harrison. We were humbugged for two days without any result, and on the third day, Mr Rees offered to vote for Mr Bonar. I then tried to persuade Mr Harrison to vote for Mr Bonar, but we tried in vain to get Mr Carreras to vote for him, as, if he could not vote for Mr Harrison, he would only vote for a country member, more so as it was intended only to elect a Chairman for one month. Mr Rees then proposed that Mr Hoos be elected Chairman, on the understanding that he would resign as soon as the question as to the validity of Mr Sale's election was decided. This was a mere farce, as the Act was very explicit on the point, that the Chairman then elected was elected for two years. I wish to be understood. I did not know Mr Hoos, but I knew Mr Bonar, and that he had the confidence of the County, and I voted for him, because there was no chance of electing Mr Harrison. I also wish it to be understood that if Mr Hoos were to be proposed to-day I would vote for him, because up to the present time we have every reason to be content with him as Chairman of the County — the more so as I believe that Greymouth interests will be better served by having a Chairman outside of the Hokitika members. With regard to the business of the Council, a good many laws have been passed, but I will first confine myself to what has been done for the County at large. We made bye-laws relating to tramways, on the principle that to private undertakings of this kind we should give every possible encouragement. Tramways in existence, as well as those which may yet be built, are" to receive protection for ten years, with the privilege of holding the land 'half a chain wide all along the line, and a grant of land on which io build a terminus ; and in the case of a tramway not being successful, the Comity will guarantee 8 per cent, interest on its actual cost. We have left nothing undone to provide for and encourage these private undertakings. We also passed bye-laws concerning the Civil Service. I may say the Civil Service Departments in Hokitika were not carried on as they ought to be ; the regulations were anything but stringent ; there were too many masters — every servant was his own master. We endeavored to regulate this, and passed bye-laws to that effect, which I believe will prove to be highly beneficial to the County atlarge. We also passed bye-laws concerning disputed elections, ancl at next session of the Council Mr Sale's election will be decided upon. Up to the present time these bye-laws could not be put in force because of the non-arrival of the County seal. We held an enquiry into the Stoney.Lead affair. That has now assumed a new phase, as the buyer of the land has entered an action against the Government for LIO,OOO, and the question of the ejectment of the miners from the land will be decided this week by the Supreme Court in Nelson. The Committee appointed to enquire into the sale endeavored to find out who was to blame, and although, there were suspicions that the fault lay with the Waste Lands Board, nothing definite could be arrived at. The Committee took great trouble to arrive at a conclusion, and we believed that Mr Cooper, the District Surveyor, was less to blame than the Board. He read a number of the clauses of the Committee's report, which have already been published, and continued — I may state that the County Solicitor has great faith that the case of Mr Button will not be sustained in the Supreme Court, for the reason that the Waste Lands Board reserved to themselves the right of cancelling any sale within a fortnight, and the buyer in this case had only obtained a license to occupy. The Solicitor Bays that without a proper title the 'buyer could not eject the miners. The buyer of the land applied to the Council to have the matter settled by arbitration, aud a few hundred pounds might have settled it then, but the Council preferred to allow it to be decided by the Supreme Court. We also held an inquiry into the management of the Police department, which, was a very troublesome affair. Several cases were proved in which, the Inspector of Police had overstepped his position. One constable, M'Kenna, with fifteen years of service, had suffered great injury at the hands of the Inspector ; but the Committee did not deem it advisable, for the sake of discipline in the force, to go further into the matter, and left it in

the hands of the Chairman to decide. I h,ave no doubt that constable will have justice . done to him. To decide these matters for the future, a Court of Appeal has been formed, to which all the constables can come with their complaints against their superior officers. That Court of Appeal consists of Mr Sale, Mr Abbott, and myself ; and I will see that justice is done to eveiy man, though he be the lowest servantin the service of the County, no matter by whom the wrong is done. As I promised in my electioneering speech, I brought a motion before t,he Council concerning the division of the Customs revenue at this port. The matter was entertained very favorably by all the members, and a resolution was passed unanimously that steps, should be taken to have this matter looked into and readjusted. It was generally acKnowledged in the QouncU that Nelson had no right to participate in any revenues collected at this port, because the Corporation of Greymouth had borne all the burden of keeping the river in a navigable condition, and nothing whatever had been contributed by Nelson towards the cost of the protective works. This participation of Nelson in our Customs revenue did great damage to the interests of the district in the Council, as it was often thrown in our teeth that very little revenue was collected here, and that we had a small claim upon the surplus revenue. When Mr Harrison and I were opposing the vote for the Greenstone road, we were often told the County would lose one-half the revenue if these diggings were supplied by Greymouth instead of Hokitika. So long as we were convinced that the tramway scheme from Greymouth to the Greenstone would be carried out, we did everything in our power to prevent the road being made, but when it became known that the tramway would not be completsd, we were powerless against all the other members. In the interests of the County,' we resolved to erect a tollgate on the Christchurch road. The maintenance of that road costs us annually L 5500, which we are compelled to pay, if we did not the General Government would deduct the amount out of our revenue, and expend it as directed by the Westland County Act. The t"U-gate has been erected, and let for four months at L3O per week, and after that period we anticipate that it will bring in a revenue of L2OOO a year, which will go a long way towards defraying the cost of maintenance. We voted L2OOO for I educational purposes for six months, and on this subject I must appeal to the citizens to have a proper school erected here. It must be for the interests of all parents to see that not only schools, but proper schools, are now called into life. It will not do to confine ourselves to have a school erected for the English, Catholic, or Wesleyan body. We most go in for a school on National principles. On that ground we may participate in the grant, because the Education Board have made up their minds that they will not assist any denominational schools, but only schools on the National principle. Otherwise, the money would have to be divided into sums too small to benefit the country at large. I wish to press upon you that you must lose no time, and must set to work properly, and you will obtain a fair share of the vote. As soon as a proper school is erected, you will get a Government grant to keep it up. No denomination could afford to pay competent teachers proper salaries, but by being subsidised by Government we might be able to obtain the services of the best teachers, and pay them well for their work. I hope you will take this to heart, and set to work at once. It may appear strange to you that the members for the various districts went in for money being expended in their districts, without the means of obtaining it. The members for Hokitika and also my worthy colleague, Mr Harrison, tried to get roads made all through the country, but when it came to the point, they objected to borrowing money to defray the cost. This was a motion brought forward to borrow L 50,000 or more, and a discussion took place as to whether the County had power to borrow the money. Mr Rees thought we had the power, but all the other members of the legal profession, including the Attorney-General, denied us that right. The matter may, however, be viewed in a different light, for the County of Westland Act declares us to be a Corporate body, and as such we can borrow, provided we can find those who are inclined to lend. The Chairman and I were deputed by the Council to endeavor to raise a loan from any of the Banks, and on visiting the managers of these establishments, we found the Bank of New Zealand most willing to assist us. Afterwards I brought forward a motion to reduce the loan to L 20,000. I was not in favor of borrowing more, because on'looking at the Estimates, and comparing notes, 1 found that the County would be fully able to pay this sum in twelve months, but not L50,0U0. This overdraft was to be at the rate of 8 per cent., and without it nothing could be done in the matter of constructing roads in any part of the country ; but now the Chairman has promised that within a month he will have all the works for which money was voted in hand. Mr Harrison obtained the reinstalment of Mr James as. Sub-Inspector of Police at Greymouth, and I succeeded in having the lock-up here 'declared a common gaol. Wo also tabled a motion declaring the protective works here works of public utility, to be carried out at the expense of the County generally, but this could not be done in terms of the County of Westland Act. However, we obtained a grant-in-aid for the Borough Council of LISOO, which was arrived at after a good deal of trouble, for the country members had made up their minds that nothing should be done for the towns, as they had hitherto received the full benefit of the expenditure, and nothing had been done for the country districts. I also endeavored to obtain for the Borough Council its share of the surplus revenue and land fund for the last two months of last year. The County Chairman did not intend to give up these shares of the revenue, but to use them for the construction of the Greenstone road. There was L9OOO to the credit of the County at the end of the year, consisting of surplus revenue and land funds, and it took some trouble to get this divided between the Corporations and Road Boards, but it was accomplished. In addition to the usual grant for the hospital, we obtained an additional sum of Ll5O for the extension of the building, on condition that the Nelson Government gave a similar sum. We also got a grant of LSO for the Fire Brigade. The resolution of the County Chairman that the towns should

not participate in the surplus revenue w«. a mere farce, because for the next twelve months there will be none, but we obtained for the Eoad Boards L?SO each, beside the one-sixth share of the surplus revenue for November and December last. We also succeeded in obtaining a vote of LIOOO for the completion of the Arnold road, and L4OOO for a road from Greymouth to Greenstone. Tim latter is. to be a horse-track, gravelled, and con^ strncted. in such a\ way that, it can be easily converted into a substantial road, which I hope will be accomplished next session of the Council. This road is to. go from the Omotomoto Creek to the Eight-mile, and on to the Greenstone. A further sum of L2OOO was voted for a road from the Teremakau Junction to the Greenstone Township, which, although it would not benefit Greymouth much, was in the district, and could not well be opposed, the more so as the country members were united in having all these roads made. On the whole, there was a, sum of L 29,000 voted to be expended on roads aud bridges in the County, and out of that sum, including the amount, voted to the Corporation, this district had obtained £10,500, which, considering the. difficulties we had to contend with,, ought to satisfy you at present. I also assisted in getting the Government officers to. make a proper survey of the Arnold district, in order to ascertain whether it was advisable to construct a large water-race to supply the Arnold, New River, and Greenstone. I hope in a few days to call you together to form a company to construct such a water-race.. Even before roads, water is' the cry for this country. Nothing would be more profitable to the Grey district than the supplying of some of. those highly situated diggings. Our prosperity lies up, the river, not at the Greenstone. When we have proper roads and water-races, in the district, we will prosper more soi than by competing with Hokilikafof sup-v plying the Greenstone, where any business man will tell you the prices realised do not leave a margin of profit. He stated the conditions recently published, upon which a Government guarantee will be. given to large water-race companies, and continued —I have a few words to say with respect to my colleague, Mr Harrison. You have cause to be proud of your representative. Believe me, when I state that the work of the County Council would not have, gone on so smoothly without him, because he was thoroughly up to the business j and although we have differed often when the interests of the County at large were at stake, we never differed when the interests of Greymouth, were at stake. Then we went hand in hand, and I may say the same for Mr Carreras, the member for the districts I have no doubt tthatt t judging from what he has done, he will be a very valuable member for the district in future. (Mr Lahman was frequently applauded, during his address.) Mr D. Girdwood moved votes of thanks; and confidence to Messrs Lahman and Harrison for their past services in the Council. Mr E. B; Fox seconded the motion, and on behalf of the miners in the Arnold dis-r trict, thanked the members for having ob-. tamed the vote of LIOOO for the Arnold road. The motion waa carried amidst loud applause. Mr Lahman returned thanks on behalf of Mr Harrison and himself, and moved a vote of thanks to the Mayor for presiding. The meeting then adjourned.