RESIGNATION OF MR GUINNESS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1052, 9 December 1871, Page 2

RESIGNATION OF MR GUINNESS.

[to the editor.] Sir— During the last session of the Council I have been engaged in certain business arrangements, which have resulted in necessitating my resigning the seat I have the honor to hold in the County Qouncil. As ' there was a possibility of ray being able to attend to the duties of the position until the last few' days, J refrained from putting the public to the inconvenience of an election until I knew that I could not properly attend to them, save at a personal sacrifice, which I do not consider warrantable. I felt, therefore, that I could not delay sending in my resignation any longer, without risking the interests of the constituency I have the honor to represent. Sir, 1 regret very much that my ppor. efforts for the district have resulted in such small benefit to it. Such, however, has been produced, wholly, I am justified in asserting, by the course my colleague, Mr Lahman, has followed ; for the Council in the last session agreed to a resolution authorising, among others, the making of the Arnold Road, and a track to the New River from Maori Gully, One would have thought that the County Chairman, a representative of the district, having the power in his hands under this resolution, would have gladly availed himself of an opportunity to undertake a work qI such importance to the Grey; but what do we fin,d Mr Lahmau doing? Instead of (as he most undoubtedly could have done) calling for tenders to make this road alter the Council had authorised it, he not only delays, at the eleventh hour, to do so, but allows aperiod of nearly a chole month to elapse between calling for the tenders and the time for their acceptance. The first' notification of the County Government requiring tenders appears on 22nd November, and they all close on the 18th December, a period sufficient to enable persons residing at : any part of New Zealand to compete for 'the work— a most questionable boon to the Grey district, which has. bq Jong called for this important work. There is auotner matter connected with this road— the survey plans and specifications. The County Chairman alleged that the only delay which existed when the Council passed the resolution arose from there not being any County Engineer to do the work, and he iojd me that as soon as the Conncil elected an Engineer the work would be proceeded with, with as little ! delay as possible. I," of course, am ignorant of; the oause which prevented the County Chairman carrying out his promise, but" the fact remains that no

survey was made for months after^he appointment of an Engineer, and . when made was not made by him at all, but by a gentleman employed specially for the work. It is plain, therefore, that a most unnecessary delay, and I am much inclined to think, an unwarrantable expense, has been caused by the County Chairman in this most important matter. I would not venture to assert that any undue influence has been exercised to induce Mr Lahman to act in this matter as he has done, nor will I say that he has displayed a want of judgment in it ; but whatever the cause may have been, the public of the Grey District are the unfortunate victims of the ■policy of the County Chairman.

I will not trespass on your space at greater length, although there are many topics of public interest connected with the Conncil on which I should be glad to to express my opinion, especially referring to the great saving which could be made in the departmental expenditure, by adopting the plan which I sketched out when 1 first addressed the electors of Greymouth, viz., the amalgamation of various offices. I am convinced that in the County of Westland and the Grey Valley, (and the present boundary line altered), a saving of not less than L2OOO a-year could be effected by a judicious amalgamation of the offices in the various departments. . ... ■

Allow me, through your columns, to convey my thanks to the gentlemen who have, since I came forward as a candidate for the Council, supported me, and I sincerely trust that they may select (in which they can have little difficulty) a gentlemen who will more able sustain the interests of the town of Greymouth than I have been able to do. I am, &c, Frank Guinness. Greymouth, Dec. 8, 1871.