COUNTY COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 626, 22 January 1870, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCIL.

(from otjb special correspondent.) Hokitika, Jan. 20. Some very wholesome recommendations have been made by the Committee on Contracts, which, if adopted, will prevent a good deal of the dissatisfaction and complaint that have hitherto been created through contracts having been called for and accepted without reference to the Council, It has been the case for several sessions that on the opening of the Council great complaiut has been made with regard to the terms upon which tenders for the public service have been. accepted, by the Chairman, the more particularly that in niosr cases the contracts have been made for a considerable period in advance. The Committee now recommend that for the future there shall be laid upon the table of the Council on the first day of each sitting a statement with' specifications of all works, supplies, or services required for the ensuing half-year. That after these have been considered tenders be called for the respective supplies or services, and that the various tenders be opened in full Council and decided on by that body. It. is proposed, however, to give the Chairman and some other body authority to accept contracts in case of special emergency during the recess. Some very stringent conditions are also recommended to be inserted in the articles of contract, so as to do away with the pernicious system of personal sureties which has hitherto proved exceedingly unsatisfactory. There is likely to be a hubbub about the question of leasing the ferry at the Teremakau. Last session a resolution of the Council was passed to the effect that from the termination of the then existing contract the ferry should be thrown open as before. This resolution was passed, because of the extremely unsatisfactory way in which the ferry had been worked, but Mr Hoos who in this matter as in many others possesses an authority outside and above the Council as Governor's Delegate under the Gold Fields Act, and has expressed his determination to lease the ferry in spite of the Council. Mr Carreras is excessively wroth on this subject, and threatens some mysterious but terrible punishment for Mr Hoos, should he dare to defy the Council. A serious hitch has occurred with regard to the proposed new road to the coalpits from Greymonth. In order to avoid some extensive slips between Greymouth and the Omotumotn Creek the road has to deviate from the road reserve, and in doing so must pa3s through ten sections belonging to Christchurch proprietors, of whom permission has been asked to take the road through their land. One proprietor, Mr Hamner, whose land is situated on the creek, consenra, provided the road be taken equi-distant through it, whilst the Government only desired to run on the edge of his boundary. The other, a Mr Papprill absolutely refuses. So that unless a large and unnecessary expense be incurred, a special .Act of the Assembly will be required to compel the reluctant landowner to give up land for the road. How does this affect the Coal Company 1 It would seem to be worth while enquiring into. Another financial hitch has occurred :— There is a sum of LISOO or so that has been due for some three or four years by the Native Commissioner for surveys of native land on the West Coast. There has been any amount of correspondence on the subject-, and at last the Chairman is informed that it must be voted by the General Assembly before it can be paid. While on the subject of finances, I may mention that I hear the bank has conveyed a hint that should the the Council incur further indebtedness in the shape of entering into contracts on the system of deferred payments before its present liabilities are wiped off, the overdraft will be called in, and no more accommodation will be given to the Council. Should this be the case your proposed road to the coal-pits looks blue. Mr Harrison's motion regarding the District Court was altered to the follow- , ixig": — " That a respectful address be forwarded to his Excellency the Governor, praying that he will appoint a commission to enquire into the administration of the District Court in Westland." In proposing his amended resolution he stated on more particular enquiry he found that the abolishment of the Court altogether would be attendant with great inconvenience, especially in respect to bankruptcy business, which the Supreme Court Judge could not take. He explained that his reason for wishing for a thorough enquiry into . the administration and working of the Court was that, according to the very general complaints that had reached him, its present administration was very unsatisfactory. The Court did not supply the want for which it was instituted. As a Court of Appeal for mining cases it could be most valuable, but so utterly erratic were the decisions of the officer who presided over the Court, and so uncertain and variable, that no miner would take a case into it ii he could help it. He (Mr Harrison) was well aware that on numerous occasions miners have submitted to what they considered a wrong judgment by the Warden, rather than appeal. With regard to bankruptcy business, it was still worse ; almost every member of the legal profession with whom he had come in contact had expires ed his dissatistaction — not to say worse — at the whole.administration of the Court. With these thing 3 around him, and knowing the general dissatisfaction in the public mmd, he felt it to be his duty as a public representative to take some steps towards instituting an enquiry into the causes of such dissatisfaction. It was no exaggeration .to say that at present the District Court did not enjoy the confidence and respect of the people, and he thought that it was a proper subject for enquiry. As to the Court being abolished altogether, it must be remembered that the judicial district extended iuto the Nelson Province, and the inhabitants there would have to be consulted. He might mention that there would have been up need for the unpleasant task of debating publicly the subject now before them had i the Ministry not forced him to bring forward this motion. When he was attending to his parliamentary duties in Wellington, he receivad communications which, in his duty to his constituents, he was bound to make known to the Government. He, therefore, consulted with his colloamie Mr Barff, and also with a member of the Hokitika bar, Mr Rees, who Ua-piMvcd to be in .Wellington, as to the propriety of making any communication .to the Ministry, and all three considered that at the least the;._Governmerit should i be made aware that considerable dissatis-

faction existed concerning the District Court. He then associated with Mr Barff, sent in a memorandum to the Premier, drawing his attention to certain statements which were furnished, and suggested an enquiry. Shortly after his return from Wellington he received a letter from the Colonial Secretary, the effect of which was to throw upon him and his colleague all the responsibility and. unpleasantness of giving precise information on all the matters to which we had drawn the attention of the Government. Of course that was. a position which he was not going to occupy, and hence the present resolution* which, if carried, would at once exhibit to. the Government that the public were dissatisfied, and that an enquiry was necessary. ' Evfsry member spoke, and unfortunately for the dignity of the County the debate,. at,length relapsed into a debate on the merits or demerits of the Jjudge. ,'Mr Lahman, in an irritable manner, said that whilst he agreed with the resolution he thought it did not go far enough. Mr Harrison whs too delicate ; why not say at once, "We want another Judge." Mr Carrenis confirmed what Mr Harrison had said with respect to the want of faith the miners had in the court as. a court of appeal. Mr White deprecated any per--, sonal allusions to the Judge in the discussion. It was sufficient for him to knowthat general public discontent existed regarding the working of the court, and for that reason he should support the proposition for the enquiry. Mr Beeves did not see any use in the court at all, and he would move as an amendment asking that the court be abolished, and deputyregistrars appointed to facilitate bankruptcy proceedings. The amendment was, after some discussion, withdrawn. Mr Robinson could not well vote on the question, as he really did not know or had he heard of the necessity for the enquiry asked for. Mr Barff supported the motion, and corroborated what Mr Harrison had stated with respect to the representations made to the Government in Wellington. After some further debate on matters not exactly pertaining to the question, the resolution was carried without dissent. That fruitful subject of debate, the printing contract, afforded Mr John White an opportunity of displaying his horror of anything that is unfair or underhand, and he carried a resolution ordering" copies of all tenders and contracts for the public service since June 31, 1869, to b» laid upon the table. Friday. Yesterday the Southern Steam service was resolved to be continued for six months longer, the tenderer having agreed to modify the amount of subsidy originally asked for. During the discussion which took place it was suggested that the Chairman should communicate with the Government of Otago with the view of ascertaini ing the possibility of some joint service being established along the whole West Coast line. Mr Barff brought forward a motion for placing the combined survey and engineering departments under one head—the Chief Surveyor—but it was lost, chiefly on the grouml that Mr Fraser is a General Government officer, and not under the c introl of the Council. There was quite an anima'ed debate on the question of sailing certain reserves, and the matter was postponed to enable a Committee to make enquiries as to the possibility of the s ile being prejudicial to the mining inters3t. j The poor unfortunate Road Boards appear to be unlikely for some considerable time at least to have any assistance from the County Council. Mr Harrison brought I forward a. motion, which, if carried,would i have provided some certain, if small, re- | gnlar revenue—(when there was any to i have). He proposed to give each Board an amount equal to the rates collected byeach Board respectively, and that if there. was not a sufficient sum of surplus revenue during any half-year the deßciencies to be. | carried forward and regarded as a posifive debt and liability to the credit of the Boards. His object was to prevent them sinking altogether into bankruptcy aud disrepute. He had never been favorable to the establishment of Road Boards in a. 1 place like Westland, but as they were in j existence it was the duty of the Council ! to enable them to perform their functions properly. Each speaker expressed sympathy with the Road Boards, but the exact object of Mr Harrison's- motion not being sufficiently clear to the rest, hewithdrew it. That "fifth wheel" of our coach, the Receiver of Land Revenue, is to go—that is if the Government act upon a unanimous vote of the Council on the subject. A resolution was carried without dissent, stating that the cost of his services was an unnecessary tax upon the resources of the County, as the work could be equally efficiently done without cost by our own Treasurer. Mr Harrison prefaced his remarks by stating that his resolution did not in the remotest degree refer to anything of a personal nature, as Mr Barber was an old and efficient officer and enjoyed the full confidence of the Government. If the Government do not remove him, our representatives at Wellington must look out and stop the supplies when the salary comes to be voted. The County Chairman has been authorised to communicate with the Nelson Government with regard to removingthe worst snagsfrom the Grey river. The other business wasof nospecialimportance. The honorarium question comes on on Monday, when we may expect to have some amusement, for there is sure to. be some personalities.