COUNTY COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 782, 21 January 1871, Page 4

COUNTY COUNCIL.

♦ THE CHAIRMAN'S OPENING S ADDRESS. The County Council re-assembled on Thursday, when the Chairman read the following address : — Gentlemen of the County Council of Westland— Thanking you for the opportunity you have afforded me to address you upon the opening of this Council, I trust to meet with your approval when I confine my remarks to a statement regarding the present financial position of the County, and also draw your attention to a few more important matters which are sure to engage your attention during the present session. It will be seen from the County Treasurer's statement of assets and liabilities of the County of Westland on the 31st December, 1870 — which, together with statement of receipts and expenditure for previous six months, and balance-sheet on 31st December, 1870, I beg leave to lay on the table — that the receipts for the last half-year show a deficiency upon the amount estimated of LBOOO, but to this must be added the sum of LSOOO, raised by Deficiency Bill, which, by " The County of Westland Act, 1869," must be considered and treated as revenue. This ■will, therefore, make the deficit LI 3,000. 1.5000 of this sum is caused by substitution of the capitation payment in place of the system of an equal division of consolidated fund, an alteration which was affected by the General Government after the estimates referred to had been made and passed. The other most noticeable instances of decrease occur in the Land Fund, L3IOO ; Gold Duty, LI4OO ; Miners' Rights, L 1100; and Spirit Licenses, LIOOO. The large deficiency in the Land Fund is attributable to the disturbed and unsatisfactory state the Land Regulations were in, and the consequent reluctance of purchasers to invest until the new Land Bill became law, which only happened in November last. Only in one instance has the sum estimated been realised, in Tolls, &c, which shows an increase of L7O. The expenditure calls for no special comment, being entirely for purposes duly authorised by the Council, and in no instance has any vote been exceeded. The statement of assets gives L 12,30 the principal sum of which is L 12,000 due to the County from the releasing of the accumulated sinking funds of the Canterbury loans. This sum, which has been so leng looked forward to, although not immediately available, has become so far of benefit to the County, that an advance has been made by the bank against the security of its payment. The other items are for various fees and services which will be at once paid. The liabilities amount to L 20,000, and include every debt due by the County. This sum may at first appear large, but I trust that the explanation 1 shall offer concerning the various sums will in a great measure take away the impression which would be otherwise created. The first item of L 4689 is due to the General Government as the balance of the consolidated fund. Only at the end of June last the Colonial k Treasury found that a very serious error had been made in charging the Province of Canterbury and the County wi*h the Bums set apart as sinkfr " funds to provide for the various loan? It appeared from a statement forwarc I in explanation that no less a sum than jj5868 8s lid had been short charged during the years 1868-1869 to this County, while the Province of Canterbury had not been debited with L 13,000. .This amount, together with some other

items made the total sum due on June 30, L 6204 18s 2d, which has since been reduced by the unexpended portion of Capitation Grant to the figures stated by the County Treasurer, that will be applied in future to its liquidation. The next item, L 3040, is for the Arahura road, constructed upon the deferred payment system, the vouchers for which mature in February and May next ; this, together with L 2537 10s 4d outstanding accounts, will be placed on the Estimates, and are in fact the only sums for which provisions have to be made during the ensuing half year. The other items, LSOOO and L 4734, are due to the Bank of New Zealand, the first advanced, as I have before stated, upon the security of the accumulated sinking fund, and the last being an overdraft which the Bank has consented to allow. From this it will be seen that the financial position of the County is only so far satisfactory as it justifies us to expect that, by exercising strict economy, we may hope, not alone to free ourselves from embarrassments, but also that this Council will soon be enabled again to undertake works of public utility. In confirmation of this, I beg to refer you to a report of the Auditor-General on the financial position of the County, a copy of which was forwarded to my predecessor by the General Government, and which concludes with the following remarks : — " It only requires care and economy on the part of the County Council, and the stimulus and fostering aid which the financial project of the General Legislature would give to the construction of roads and public works, to raise this parb of the Colony to great prosperity and wealth. ', And comparing the expenditure of the County on public works with that of the Provinces, it will be seen that much credit is due to its wise appreciation of < the true needs of a young community, and it is not to be forgotten that these works have been defrayed out of the ordinary revenue charged with the weight of a heavy provincial debt." It must be a source of gratification to the Council to learn that a gentleman who is so well qualified to give an opinion on the subject, has expressed himself in the above terms, more especially so when it is taken into consideration that the opinion is given at a time when the County has, for the last two yeara, been laboring under the most adverse circumstances. It affords me great pleasure to state that, since the vi&it of the AuditorGeneral, the understanding between the County and the General Government has been placed on a more satisfactory footing, and, in proof of this, I beg to mention that through the assistance of the General Government an| arrangement has been made with the Bank of Dew Zealand by which the County has been enabled to discharge a great part of its liabilities. In accordance with the "Public Works and Immigration Act, 1870," I request your co-operation to secure a fair share of the amount voted by the General Assembly for a water supply on the gold fields, and for making main roads throughout the County. lam bound to say that some preliminary steps have been taken by my predecessor to obtain this most desirable object. I shall lay on the table the scheme proposed by my predecessor for the disposal amongst the "various Road Boards in the County of the sum payable to them by the General Government for the current fin. ancial year, under "The Payments to Provinces Act, 1870." My attention has been drawn to the general dissatisfaction expressed by the miners against the new Mining Regulations, gazetted on the 2nd August, 1870.

I shall therefore take an early opportunity of asking for your assistance to revise these rules, and to frame such a code as will meet the requirements of the mining population. I must congratulate the Council that the liberal measure passed by it during the last session for the sale and disposal of the waste lands of the Crown in the County of Westland has received the sanction of the General Legislature and is now law 5' and it is to be hoped that under its provisions a more general settlement of the population will take place, and that purchasers and other classes of settlers will take advantage of the facilities offered to them. The usual reports from the heads of departments will be laid before you, and, in reference to those furnished by the Wardens, I may state that the accounts which they give as to the general prosperity of their respective districts are very satisfactory ; and they also agree that nothing would conduce more to the welfare of their respective districts than the construction of water-works. You will be asked to provide for the expenditure for the ensuing half-year, and I hope in a few days to be able to lay the Estimates before you. In conclusion, I beg to express my opinion that, if the Council has no great reason to congratulate itself upon the present state of affairs, it has every reason to hope that, with proper management and judicious retrenchment in the various departments^ and 1 ask your hearty cooperation in this — the future of the country will look more cheerful. Further, we have no reason to doubt but that the i measures contemplated by the General Government with respect to making main roads and constructing water-works will be carried out, and be the means of developing more fully the great resources of the County.