COUNTY COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 579, 2 October 1869, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCIL.

(from our special correspondent.) Hokitika, Oct. 1. It appears that some technical difficulty has been discovered in that portion of the County of Westland -Amendment Act which relates to the power of borrowing upon deficiency Bills' to the extent of onefifth of the previous years' revenue. The Act Bays ":— " The previous years' revenue "of the County shall, be. taken to mean "the total sum actually paid into the " County of Wedland Account on account "of revenue during the year," &c. Now up to the present there has been no such account as the " County of Westland Account," but all monies were paid in to an account called the County Treasurer* Account. This discrepancy was as soon as discovered telegraphed to the Colonial Secretary, who replied that the Ministry would bring in a Bill next session to rectify it. The Council has decided that no travelling expenses shall be allowed to Warden's except upon vouchers accompanied with receipts,, and a declaration that the expenses were incurred whilst in the performance of their duty. The following is the scale to be allowed to other officers : — Survey Department : TrsveHiflg expenses, per diem, 10s, and field allowances, ss. Travelling expenses only to be allowed for the time actually occupied in travelling to and from the scene of work. When travelling, no 'claim to be made for field allowances. 4ny -extraordinary expense, such as horse hire, coach fare or steamboat fare, to be granted only when such is imperatively necessary and certified as such by the head/Oi the department. Engineering .Department : | Expenses of Chief Enginj&r to belaid upon vouchers. Staff— travelling expenses 10s per day on same conditions as surveyors, but no field allowances. Warden's, clerks and other officers :\ Travelling expenses only to be allowed when travelling to and from scene of work when on duty. Messrs Lahman, Hoos, and^i&es were tlie other night appointed to ascertain upon what terms and to what extent, an overdraft could be obtained from Bank. Mr Hoos wished that the deputation should have full power to act, but this was opposed by Mr Harrison, who thought that the Council should be in possession of full information before coming to any decided arrangement. On resuming the consideration of the Estimates on Tuesday, the Chairman, whose ideas upon the subject of expenditure appear to have undergone a wholesome change, announced that it was advisable that all the items put down for large public works, amounting altogether to L 20,000 should be struck out. It waa very edifying to see that Mr Hoos, ,who t up to that time, had manifested a supreme indifference to the consideration of the ways and means to meet the desired expenditure, at last coming to his right mind, and urging the Council to get out of debt as soon as possible. I may here mention that the Bank overdraft, which at one time amounted to £O:ne L7OOO, has been entirely wiped out, and that the only liabilities of the County amount to some LIOjOOO due on the works constructed for the last half-year. Mr Hoos had also arrived at the comprehension of the fact stated by Mr Harrison on his return from j Wellington that the so-called borrowing powers conferred under the Amended Act of last session of the Assembly, did not mean that the Council could appropriate money to be borrowed, but could only borrow money to cover engagements previously entered into. It was rather amusing to see the manner in which some of the members deliberately misunderstood the nature of the borrowing clause. Mr Beeves, with delicious naivete, said he could see no reason whatever why the Council should not go on with all the works proposed ; he was sure they could get the money from the Bank, and so on. Mr Barff, also, who, as a member of the Assembly, ought to know better, seemed to hold the same opinon, at least he thought that the sum put down for hut own particular district, Okarito, ought to be voted. Mr Harrison then read the clause of the Act bearing upon the question, and showed that the Council could only borrow temporarily when the revenue of a particular period fell short of the authorised expenditure, and could only then borrow for a period of six months. Of course it was not a very pleasant thing for the representatives of' any district to see all public works entirely knocked on the head ; but, as Mr Lahman very sensibly observed, it was extremely desirable that the County should endeavor to remove the reproach that had been cast upon it, and get out of debt and difficulty. The estimated revenue from all sources for the current half-year amounts to L 57,000, and omitting all fresh works, the expenditure will amount to about the same. There is a probability that at the beginning of the next half-year the County will have quite recovered itself, and that the various needed public works will be resumed. When the vote for the Engineer's department came on, Mr Carreras moved that it be struck out, because if they had no> public works to construct no. engineer waa required. This led to a debate, most of the members considering that it would not be wise to disband the department, when in three months* time it was possible they might recommence public works. After some discussion the items for the department were passed. The expenses of the delegates of the StoneyLead Committee, amounting to L 32, were passed. With regard to this item, I may meation that it is rumored that the expenses of Messrs Harrison and others who formed the delegates and witnesses upon the Stoney Lead case, were defrayed by a subscription got iup amongst the miners interested. If this be a fact, it would only be a decent thing for the delegates to hand over the L 32 voted by the Council to the Hospital.' • Mr Bees received LIOO as his expenses on his celebrated Wellington mission, and LlO5 was voted to Mr Harrison as & douceur for his services in apportioning the Canterbury debt. With regard to this last item, it was unanimously admitted by the Council that the fee paid to the arbitrators was ridiculously small. They only received 100 guineas each for arbitrating on a case involving over half a million of money— a remuneration utterly disproportionate to the magnitude and! responsibility of the case. I need hardly mention the whole of the various items passed, but may briefly state that the whole of the unauthorised expenditure of the past half-year was voted almost without a murmur. It must not be supposed) however, that Mr Hoos has escaped

acheless, for I am sure he has had enough bullying and complaining to satisfy any one ; every day some member or other has had occasion to pitch into the Chairman for something or other — indeed, had Mr Hoos been a "responsible Ministry" he must have v gone out" long ago. On Wednesday evening tho Council waa occupied chiefly with the adoption of certain amendments in the articles of contract to be used for the future. The main alteration was the insertion of an arbitro-' tion clause, which did not exist in the present articles, and which it was urged will prevent a recurrence of the many applications for redress which the contractors are continually bringing before the Council. Some further Supplementary Estimates were passed, aud a proposed grunt of LSO for a Volunteer Cup to be tired for at Christmas was refused. In order to save time, the Council resolved itself into Committee of the whole to consider the petition of ex-Sergeant M'Mynn without the usual form of first submitting the petition to a Select Committee. The opinion was very generally expressed that M'Mynn had no possible claim upon the County Council, and that his remedy, if any, was against those by whom he had suffered. The two legal members, Messrs Bees and Button, spoke strongly against the conduct of Mr Revell, R. M. , in issuing a warrant for the arrest of Mr Tew, on the information of a man who was himself charged with the offence of which he accußed Tew, and an intimation was made that an application had been made to the Colonial Secretary upon the subject. The Council authorised the Chairman and Mr Lahman to negotiate a loan not exceeding LIO.OOO with the Bank of New Zealand, for the purpose of paying off past liabilities. It was stated incidentally that the Manager at Hokitika would have to refer the matter to Auckland, but that meantime a liberal amount of accommodation would be given to the County to enable it to carry on. I may here mention that the delay which would have occurred in the receipt of our gold fields revenue had the Btrict letter of the ne.v Act been enforced will not occur, as the Government, now that their Receiver is here, have intimated their consent to the gold fields revenue being at once paid into the County of Westland account instead of into the Colonial account. Had the latter arrangement been adhered to, two months would always have elapsed before the revenue would be available. The question of Mr Guinneass' appointment came on, and the Council adjourned to the committee-room to discuss it. I need hardly mention that the recent discoveries of discrepancies in the accounts of the Warden's office at Greymouth, induced Mr Hobs to refuse to instal Mr Guinness into the office to which he had been appointed, 'first by the Chairman - himself, and afterwards by the unanimous vote of the Council, the question which had to be considered was whether, under present circumstances, the appointment of Mr Guinness should be confirmed or rescinded. As the discuslion took place with closed doors, I am not able to say what took place, but when the Councillors assembled in the Hall, the question had not been decided. I have heard since that the Council decided to wait for a report from Mr Patten, the auditor, before finally deciding. Last evening the Council had a private meeting before assembly in the usual place, and the appointment of Mr Guinness as chief clerk was rescinded, and Mr Tennant elected to the office. lam given to understand that Mr Fatten, who was present, stated that up to the. time that . Mr Tew had, under the direction of Mr Revell, taken possession of the cash-book, the books of the Greymouth office were well and correctly kept. But because of this unfortunate late exposure a majority of the Council refused to confirm Mr Guinness's appointment, the only members who voted for him being, I believe, Messrs. Harrison, Lahman, and Clarke. The remaining business was not important. Mr Rochfort's case is not yet decided, but comes on for final decision to-day (Friday). I fear Mr Rochfort will go the wall, the prejudice against him being so strong. Josh Billings divides the human race into three clases — "Those who think it is so, those who think it isn't so, and those who don't care whether it is or not." A white boy met a coloured lad the otber day, and asked him what he had such a short nose for. ' I 'spect's so it won't take itself into other people's business.'