HOKITIKA AND THE COUNTY COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 631, 3 February 1870, Page 2

HOKITIKA AND THE COUNTY COUNCIL.

Cfrom our special correspondent.) Monday, Jan. 31. The agent of Messrs M 'Median, Blackwood, and Co. has written to the Council proposing an arrangement for the punctual delivery of the English mail from Melbourne via the Bluff and other ports. The arrangement proposed is that the steamer leaves Melbourne within 12 hours of the at rival of the mail, and is to reach the Bluff in 7 days, Dnnedin 8, Lyttelton 10, Wellington 11, Nelson 12, and Hokitika 14; but if any. (Steamer is leaving Melbourne direct for the West Coast the mails for this place would como that way. The subsidy asked from Westland is LSO per trip, but it is doubtful if the proposed plan would give Westland any benefit, or at least be worth L6OO a year. The matter has not yet come formally before the Council. The committee appointed to enquire into the late . contract for printing the County Council work has brought up its report. It conveys a censure upon the Chairman and Mr Cavrera? for entering into the contract at all so immediately before the meeting of tlie Council, and goes a long way to show that the lowest tenderers, who were alleged to be unable to do the work,, and were refused the contract on that ground, had sufficient ulant and material and could have -performed the contract. Another tender has been discovered to have been a dummy one in the interest of Mr J. P. Klein, who was the successful and highest tenderer, j From what I can hear I believe the Printing Committee have, in pursuing their enquiries regarding the contract entered into, made some startling discoveries with regard to former contracts. I. am told that the late contractor for the Government printing has charged andlejn paid some hundred per cent, more for certain work than the contract price. It is stated that the late Chief Clerk, whose duty it was to check and certify the accounts, actually received a commission from the contractors, aud that altogether a perfect sj'stem of jobbery and conspiracy has been carried on. The committee will bring up their report in a few days, when a nice exposure may be expected. Mr Harrison ? s committee on the land regulations has not yet reported, but I think I shall . be right in saying that bo*.h it and the Council will be toleraSbly unanimous in favor of the leasing system. By-the-bye you may expect a reduction in the price of the unsold town .sections in Greymonth. Mr Harrison's motion on the subject was withdrawn the other evening, merely that it might more explicitly mention the boundaries within which the reduction is to be made. 1 should fancy that the land will soon be taken up when the price i 3 macle more reasonable. The Estimates are all pissed through Committee, but the supplementary items have not yet been considered. The unpaid portion of last session's vote for the Corporation of Greymouth has been again voted, and may be expected to be paid in a few days, as also the money I due to the Fire Brigade and Hospital Committee. The proposed road from Hokitika to the Arahura will cost much more than was alleged. It was stated that abont L2OOO would be the outside cost, but lam informed on very good authority that it will cost not much less than L4OOO. It must be remembered that the payment is to be deferred for 12 months, and , for. this the : contractors must make a charge , of some L4ooor LSOOfor interest and discount. It is to be hoped the good sense of the Council' will even yet 'prevail, and that they will defer deciding upon the tenders fpr .six. months.., Depend upon it this deferred pay'meht plan is a delusive and dangerous one, and will end in, sooner or later, such an anticipation of revenue as will leave nothing for immediate necessities. With regard to the Arnold andArajiur'a Roads, .; ;you seem to have forgotten what I told 'you in a former letter, viz., that until certain private owners of land in Christchurch. are arranged with, the road oannqt be made at all, as it must go through their sections. The action |of the Council with regard to the Araliura Road has : goue no further than to call for tenders, in order to ascertain the cos*-, and it is quite possible that nothing more will t be done this session; The hdn'orarhiiri question seems to have' j furnished <i fertile topic for newspaper?. The arrangement now adopted for giving a fixed- payment, is really cheaper to the County than 1 ; the, old 'plan.' It is about equal to a. pound a day for an average session of , seven weeks. (?) In my opinion, the recent outcry on the subject owed its origin f to an attempt to make political \ capital and to nothing else.- '■, < Mr Warden Price remains at Okarito as Sub-Warden, ■ at the reduced salary of L3SO per annum". Mr Keogh has at last handed over the charge of the Greenstone district' |o Warden Schaw^ but still Imalntaaus/iha'l:'j(ie.is,'iii''tiie '^eyyicei' ; He' is in

|an awkward position ; on the one; hand Mr Hoos insists that he has discharged | him, but on the other Mr Keogh has received no direct intimation of the kind from the General Government, and as his, appointment' came from the Governor his dismissal must come through the same source. But, meanwhile, the Council has not voted any salary for Mr Keogh, nor anything in the shape of compens itidn. Owing to the reductions in the Engineer's department, the County loses tlie services of a valuable' officer-in-. Mr Main waring, late Assistant-Engineer, who has been in the Westlahd service over fdur years. A reduction has also, been made utf-the number of Warders at the .gaol, and the present ohief Warder,. Mr Stod dart,. formerly Governor of 'the Dunedin gaol, is selected for discharge. ' I should mention that the track from Grey mouth to the raceoourse is to be forthwith repaired, instructions to that effect having already beon given, 1 am informed. The session should now soon come to a close, as the only question that is likely to occupy much time is lhe land question, and possibly something may be done, towards memorialising the Assembly for a loan. It is quite evident that /unless Westland receives some extraneous aid it can never go on with large public works. Possibly next session the Assembly will be more disposed to grant accommodation, and Westland may be enabled to t^et a small loan. '. ' •..■.-.. Things appear to be improving here, and the large deep claims at Ross are getting ready to resume work after two years stoppage by water. There is a great demand there for wages-men, and employment generally appears to be plentiful. The unoccupied portion of the Government land in the Maori township, Greymouth, will shortly be leased by pubjic auction. I hear that already several parties are applying for portions, and it is likely there will be a good demand. Wednesday, Feb. 2. The whole of the Estimates, including several supplementary , items, have been passed, and only, remains to be adopted in globo. Amongst the supplementary votes are two sums of L3OO and L4OO for tracks in the New River district. The session is drawing to a close, and all the important business will be concluded this week, with the exception of the inquiry into, the treatment of lunatics, for the investigation of which matter Mr Lahman has obtained a special committee. As to the necessity of proper provision being made for the treatment, and custody of these. unfortunates there can be no doubt. Several are' confined in the gaol illegally, | and the result is that the friends of one j lunatic have entered an action against Mr Cleary, the gaoler, for LISOO damages, and have retained the Attorney-General to prosecute. You would notice that the sum of- LIOOO has been. voted for education and Ll5O for an inspector of schools. The amount is small, but will enable the proposed new system to be initiated. Mr Hoos has signified his intention to carry out the resolutions of the County Council a few sessions ago with regard to the formation of local committees and the reconstruction of the Board of Education. A3 soon as the session is over the inhabitants of the various districts will be invited to nominate their local committees, and each committee will elect one of its number to the Central Board. Your mining readers in the New River district will be glad to learn that -in all probability a Warden's Court will be established at Marsden, at which Mr Warden Revell will attend once a week. It is also proposed that the Warden's clerk at the Greenstone should be removed to Marsden, and that Mr Warden Schaw, who will have charge of the Greenstone, will take his own clerk from Waimea on Court days. A Court is ■■ also to he held once a month at Maori Gully, la the supplementary estimates i 3 a suni of LBOO to be paid to the Westland Saw Mill Company for the work they have done towards bridging the Hokitika River. This is one of the bequests of the pernicious and fallacious "guarantee* system adopted hy a former Council. , The company 111 question, on the faith of a guarantee of 8 per cent, from the County Council, and expecting to get accommodation from the Bank 011 the strength of this guarantee, proceeded to construct the bridge, and when they required the assistance of the Bank were refused, on the ground that the guarantee was valueless. Thereupon Mr Hoos and Mr Button, the two members who were empowered to act on behalf of the Council, entered into an agreement with the Saw-mill Company to take the works at a valuation — and LBOO is the price paid. The works purchased may be said to be practically worthless unless the construction of the bridge is proceeded with, which is certainly not likely to be done by the Council. An offer has been made by Mr Cissius to complete the bridge on the following very "liberal" terms :— That he is to have all the works and material already on the ground for nothing ; that a minimum, scale of tolls is to be fixed, below which they are ; not to be reduced ; that no watermen's licenses are to be granted on the river, and that he have a free grant of 100 acres of land on the southi side of the river, , in immediate, contiguity to the bridge ! Magnanimous, man, is : he' not? I understand that another offer is to be made by Boyle and Thomson, . the owners of , the Arahura bridge. The Auditor's report is not yet laid upon the. table, but I suppose will not be long delayed. I understand that the Auditor is highly satisfied with 1 the management of the Treasury, by the present Treasurer, and also considers the financial position of the County to be satisfactory considering the difficulties that have had to.be surmounted. There can be little doubt that with the exercise., of a. little prudence the County may in a short time get lidof its financial troubles; and be able to resume public worka.^ It is a pity : we cannot get hold of the LIO,OOO or thereabouts, which has to come to us out of the Canterbury -Sinking Fund. I see that Auckland ana Otago haye both received large sums, and it is hard that Weatland, which needs, it the most, should have to wait so- long. If the assets of the County (which amount; to about L 14,000) were realised, we should be.in a good position— as it is, we can only "grin and boar it. ;> The first of the,deficiency bills for LB4O became diie'-'ori Monday, but was not paid, I believe, until the following day. The remainder of the LSOQO on this account becomes payable in equal instalments monthly,: leaving an open overdraft of the same anpount; which,,, however, the County is bound to liquidate dunng. the. oil suing ; half -y6ar. , The 'business df tlie Council during the

last two days has not been very interesting, arid is only enlivened by occasional exhibitions of wit and temper, in which Messrs Lahman and White chiefly figure. Last niglit a long discussion^ took place upon -the question of increasing the .tolls on the Christchurch road. The Chairmau proposed to increase the toll on "cattle aud asses" from 3s to 7s 6d per head, but he was- opposed by every member of -the Council, one remarking that only asses would pay such a toll. It is true that the maiutenance .of .the. road is a heavy tax on; the revenue of theGountj (about -L4OOO a-year), and it' would be' very desirable if the road could be made to pay its own expenses, but it would be folly to put such a toll on as would afford an excuse for i raising the price of meat to consumers, | which would be the inevitable result of the f toll proposed. . .- The following motion, moved by Mr Lahman, was adopted :— " That this Council deenas it of the utmost importance that the departmental expenses voted by the General Assembly stndcharged to the : Connty of Westland, should,, if possible, be reduced, and that the "Chairman be -requested to furnish the Colonial Secretary with an exact statement of our financial position, in order to show the necessity for a general reduction in all departmental expenses." Mr Robinson's .motion with regard to applications for ferries and punts being made through the Road Boards, was negative.^ Mr '.Lahman. made an effort to upset the contract for reporting the debates,, because : he had found that the expense of reporting the debates was too heavy-r-the more so, as the co3t would be much more than LSO a month, and the/ Council could not afford it. If, therefore, no arrangement could be made with Mr Klein,- limiting the length of the reports, and confining them to a small space, he thought that it should be discontinued altogether. Mr Harrison seconded the motion pro forma, but he thought the motion a most extraordinary one. Ultimately the motion was withdrawn. The report of the Committee on the printing contract was brought up, and some very plain speaking indulged in. Mr Carreras said that as "one of the members of the Committee that had accepted the contract, he might, perhaps, have taken exception to some portions of the report. But he would refrain from, doing so, .and would accept the reproof. He would, however, say that having himself heard all the evidence given, if both tenders 'were now before him, he would accept Sir Klein's, being satisfied that the lowest tender could not have been carried out unless it were O:Ztt Browne," referring to a former Hokitika printer.