COUNTY COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 636, 15 February 1870, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCIL.

CfROM QUB, SPECIAL COKKESBONDENT. ) Hok t tisa, Feb. 14. Friday was a great day in the history of Jhflggresent session, To begin with, the TJoyncjl ingt at two cfclock in the afternoon, and with a slight intermission sat until about 11 in the evening, In the next place it was memorable because of the inauguration, by a telegraph message from the Colonial Secretary, of the system of constructing public works on the plan of deferred payments. Thirdly, it was a notable day, because of the extraordinary exhibition of personalities that occurred at the hands of Messrs White and the Chairman, You will remember that the decision of the Council with regard to the road to the Arahura was delayed from Thursday evening, pending the receipt of a reply from the Colonial Secretary to the question put to him as to the legality of the system of deferred payments. The reply only came" to hand within a few minutes of the meeting of the Council, and was in every respect an unsatisfactory communication. I am tolerably well satisfied in my own mind that the Attorney General had nothing whatever to do with the opinion expressed, because it is of an altogether superficial character, and does not bear evidence of having been well considered. The Chairman had telegraphed to the Colonial Secretary a messsage to something after the following effect — " Contrary to my wishes, a bare majority of the County Council, in the face of the fact that the County is in debt to the extent of L 14,600, desire to proceed v with the execution of public works on the system of deferred payments. Such a system I hold contrary to law, the borrowing powers of the Amended County Act only relating to cases in which the anticipated revenue has fallen short of the actual appropriations. Please ask Attorney General's opinion, and let me know." This, or something like it, was, J believe, the nature of the communication from Mr Hoos to Mr Gisborne, which was only replied to within a few minutes of the time when it would have been too late. Mr Gisbome's opinion took the Council hy surprise— ras well it might, for it was simply one diametrically opposed to the views which it is usually believed a Government should hold with regard to the spirit of its own Acts of Parliament.. The General Assembly, ever since the session of 1867, has said to the Provinces — "You shall not be allowed to borrow money on your own account again ; when you want to contract a loan you must come to us." This sentiment is plainly expressed in the Loans Consolidation Act, 1867, which contains a>provision, the effect of which is literally expressed in the foregoing remavks. . But if that Act were open to thu objection of being ambiguous a3 to its full intention, the subsequent action of the General Legislature of the Colony has proved what that intention really was. For instance, last session Otago desired to burrow L 50,000 for some public works. The Bill for authorising the borrowing of this money stipulated that the loan should be floated in the Colony itself, so as to get rid of the possible objection that the Provincial loan would compete in the outside money market with Colonial stock. The interest was not to exceed, 1 think, 6 per cent., but whether it were 6 or 8 per cent, does not much affect the question ; be it as it may, the Assembly, jftill imbued with the principles of the Act of 1867, refused to permit Otago to replenish itself by the means proposed, and the Bill was thrown out. One would imagine that this was a case most strongly illustrative of the real intention of the Legislature with respect to a continuance of the borrowing powers of Provinces ; but Mr Gisborne's telegram of yesterday entirely. cuts through all the Acts of Parliament bearing upon the question. The Pro yinciak Audit Act, 186,(5 ; the Provincial Audit Act 1866 Amendment Acs,,lß6jE) j^thejLoansiConsolidation Act; and the Public Debts Act, 1867, are all reduced to the condition c>f "deadletters" by the ipse dixii of the Colonial Secretary. Had he been really in earnest in the matter one would be inclined to consider his opinion as a skilful one, given more with the view of accommodating it to the views of its recipients than on any strictly conducted examination of the law on the subject. But my own opinion is that Mr Gisborne had only a feeble idea of -the real merits of the question submitted to him, and gave his opinion on very superficial grounds. His reply to Mr Hoos' question was to the following effect: — "It is somewhat inconvenient for public bodies to seek advice of the Colonial Government as to the legality of their acts, the advice as to which should properly proceed from their, own law officers. I will, however, in this case, not decline to give you expression of opinion on the question raised in your telegrams of the 7th and 11th instant. Section 6of the 'County of Wetland Amendment Act, 1869,' does not appear to' affect the question. Bon-owing money is a transaction different in its nature from contracting for the execution of works. The con- - tractor must satisfy himself of the probable solvency of the County at the time' when the payment becomes dne. It should be distinctly understood that no liability incurred gives any olaim on the Colony." Now, the own law officer of the County had only the day before expressed his opini6n,' J iii : the most emphatic manner, that the proposed plan of deferred pay-: ments was in direct opposition to the letter and spirit of the law bearing upon the subject ; and, in contra-distinction to that, came the ruling of the Colonial Secretary :that deferred payments were the correct thing to indulge in— always with the proviso that no liability should attend to- the' Colony; It Would seem, therefore, according" to' the opinion expressed by_ Mr. j Gisborne,' that although it i&, contrary to lajv for any - Province or Cdunty to borrow money for a'lengthened period at a reasonable rate of interest,it is the proper thing, .to bbrruw from contractors for a limited period, at the' rate of from twenty to twenty-five per cent, interest per annum. ..That is really how, the question stands. Had Westland proposed to borrow fifty or a hundred thousand pounds at 6 per cent, for twenty or thirty years, the Colony would have at once said,' "No.; we' can't allow this. It is contrary to law, and is likely to affect the Colonial . credit." . . But Westland now simply wants to borrow a few paltry hundreds from road contractors for a few Uionths ? at the rate of about 25 per conk.

and the Colonial Secretary . deliberately sanctions the plan ! lam informed that Mr Harrison, who has all throughout the settlement of this question strongly protested against the system. of deferred payments, on the ground that they were really an evasion of the law, has written to the Hon. Julius Yogel, giving him a full statement of the case, and asking for explanations. You may imagine that the Colonial Secretary's telegram was a source of great satisfaction to Messrs Barff, Reeves, and Co. ; and it was edifying 'to listen to the lectures which both those, gentlemen administered to the Chairman and Messrs Harrison and Robinson upon the erroneousiess of their views. - Mr Barff was particularly oracular ; and he gave Mr Harrison such a " talking down" as I am afraid that gentleman is not likely to get over for some time to come. But Mr Harrison was not to be overcome in this wav, and plainly told the Council that, with all due deference to the opinion of the Colonial Secretary, he was quite convinced that he (Mr H,) was right, and he should continue to oppose the Arahura Road, not only on the grounds of the objectionable terms of payment, but because the road was not really required. Mr Robinson, the new member for the Kanieri, and who is a valuable acquisition to the Council, persevered in his opposition to the last, 'and placed the country members in an awkward position, by show^ ing that, in voting for this road, they, were betraying the interests of their own constituents. I could see, whilst, Mr Robin^. son was making this home-thrust, that it jold. Mr Carreras didn't appear to feel comfortable; and both Clarke and Barff were visibly affected. And Mr Robinson was quite right. Apart from the legal points of the question, there is no escaping from the fact that the Arahura Road is not an immediate necessity, whilst it is certain that many of the outlying districts are languishing for the most ordinary means of communication. I should fancythat the action taken by Messrs Carreras and Barff in this matter will not redound very much to their advantage amongst their immediate constituents. However, it is no use saying anything much more upon the subject ; the road is to be made, and Mr J. W. Hungerford's tender ha 3 been formally accepted. ' The only question remaining i?,/' ho.w, when, and where is this principle to stop ?" For my own part, it appears, that the message from Mr Gisborne, however foolish and bad as a mere legal opinion, does in reality ahsolve the County Council from the effects of incautious action,and encourages the idea that it would be good to .get over head aud ears into debt at once if possible. Unfortunately, however, there is another party in' these transactions who is not so easily managed — I mean that de • lightful body corporate, the Bank of New Zealand. The Bank is completely master of the situation, and has' a beautifully adjusted machine for- regulating the eccentricities of the Council. For instance, I will suppose matters to stand thus :— County owes Bank, say L 11.500, of which sum is represented by-LSOOO in deficiency bills, and L3500,-a cash overdraft, County having in the meantime promised to incur no further liabilities. But County does not keep its promise, and does incur fresh liabilities to the tune of about L 3300, so of course Bank reduces the .accommodation by that amount, and reduces the overdraft. Of course it doesn't make, much difference to the Bank, for whether we. borrow direct from it at 8 per cent or from , contractors at 20, the money in each case comes out of its coffers, and the profit of the transaction goes into the same receptacle. Really, the strongest argument in favor of the construction of the ArahuraRoad was contained in an offer made by Mr Hungerford, to the effect, that he is willing to undertake the maintenance of the road, and pay about L3OO per annum for the right of taking the tolls on the road. I have said that there was a free interchange of personalities last evening, and I may add that no pen could adequately describe what occurred. There was a brilliant skirmish early in the afternoon, but it was reserved for the evening to witness the grand combat. It was simply disgraceful. The Chairman lost his temper, and said most impertinent and improper things to Mr White, and Mr White fully retaliated. The great source of squabbling was the report of the Committee regarding the dismissal of Mr Warden Keogh. The Committee had recommended that Mr Keogh, having continued to act as Warden until the 24th January should receive two months salary from the Ist January. This recommendation was peculiarly distasteful -to the Chairman, who holds the opinion that Mr Keogh has been -taking advantage of a mere teonnicality in the notice given, him, and even the' members of the committee thonv selves were obliged to admit that there could . be no doubt that Mr Warden Keogh understood perfectly well that the notice he received, although, capable. pf another interpretation, did really mean what it purported to bf. Indeed there can be little doubt that Mr, Keogh will find that he has made a grave mistake in putting himself into antagonistic position to the County anthoritiep. But he has managed to convince some of the members of the Council that he is rightfully entitled to compensation ; and Mr White is peculiarly "enthusy moosey" on this matter, and allowed his feelings to run away with his judgment. Both members were frequently on their legs at the same time, and such passages as the following were not rare:— The' Chairman : "Sit ;down, Mr White/ ' Mr White : " I shall not, sir," and both re named standing for some considerable time amidst cries of " Chair, chair." " Order order," , from* the rest of the Council. Ultimately, Mr White site down, and the Chairman goes on w'ithanot very intelligent but forcible speech, during which he takes the opportunity of telling the Council that Mr Whi^e does not comprehend the English language. Mr White, who, I bolieVe, rather prides himself on his scholastic attainments, of course could not listen to this with any degree of. patience, and gave his tongue -license", accordingly— all of which is very amusing whilst it lasts, but is very '„d isgraceful,- and calculated to bring the .Council intopnblic contempt. . The report j of the ; committee was carried on a division by a majority of one,' but Mr Hoos openly; 'told the Council that he", would never sign the cheque for, Mr Keogh— and I am perfectly certain he will not, for I happen to know that this matter is a sore point with Mr Hoos, and that he considers Mr Keogh's conduct to have been highly improper. . , , The Waste Lands Committee's report, which was brought up on Friday, does not recommeud any change in the present

system of disposing of the waste lands, but fixes the period during which miners may enter private lands for mining purposes to 10 years, It was expected that the Council would have prorogued on Saturday---indeed there was nothing to prevent it, but for some reason or other no quorum could be got, and therefore no meeting took place. The session will, however, close positively to day (Monday) evening. Another report has been brought up by the Printing Obmv mittee. They say that after examining Mr Browne they consider his evidence an "unsatisfactory, being incapable of proof" by himself or disproof by the committee" — pnd so the matter rests, with nothing definite upon. which any action can be taken. All that can be done, I expect, will be to condone the past and look sharp after the contractor for the future. The Chairman visits Greymouth this week, to-morrow probably. He is going to have a look and give instructions concerning the track to the racecourse, and to pay the Corporation their: balance: A resolution was passed by the Council on Friday affirming that -the proceeds of the land, recently withdrawn from the limits the Borough of Greymouth shall be handed over to the Borough Council.