GREYMOUTH PROTECTION WORKS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1105, 12 February 1872, Page 2

GREYMOUTH PROTECTION WORKS.

PUBLIC MEETING.

At the request of a number of the inhabitants, the Mayor appointed a public trieetingto be heldrat the, Volunteer Hall, at four o'clock on. Saturday, afternoon, "for the purpose of 'considering the present state of the protective works, and the steps which ought tb^bo; taken regarding them." The hour' of meeting was not one at which a large assemblage, was likely to congregate, but the majority of the business men of the town were present, and the character- of the discussion indicated, at least, a warm interest in the object for which the meeting had been called. The Mayor (Mr Wickes) occupied the chair. In stating the object of the mccV hig he referred to the extremely insecure position of the town since the flood of; Friday, to the necessity for some immediate steps being taken, and to the deBireofthe Borough Council, under the extraordinary circumstances, to seek the advice and co-operation of the public in taking such steps as were requisite for the general, security. He stated that he had placed himself in communication with Mr Greenwood, who had at once telegraphed to the Native Commissioner, and from that gentleman an answer which was so far favorable had been received. Mr Perkins moved the first resolution : — '■ ' j. That this meeting is of opinion that, 'ow'ng to the encroachiherits of the flood, it is a duty as we M as a necessity to take action to ward off such another calamity as occurred to the tow .1 on the morning of the Othinst. The resolution, ho said, spoke for itself, and must recommend itself to the sense of every member of the community. They had all been witnesses of the calamity, and what they had seen ought to be sufficient to rouse them to earnest and immediate action. The danger was so imminent that something must be done at once to avert it. Such a flood was certainly never anticipated, and such precautions as had been taken were taken tardily, otherwise it was possible that the Government township might have been saved. The. Council had not thought it necessary to urge on the work with extraordinary expedition, and meantime the evil came. It would not do to act now on the belief that such a flood might not happen again for years. It might, come again at any time, and it, was obvious that those having property on the Native Reserve were now in precisely the same position as had .been the Government township previous to the flood, and, as a fact which should instigate them to activity, it should be recollected that in 1867 there 'came immediately after one flood another which did considerable damage. Mr Wm. Smith seconded the resolution, which was, of course, carried. Mr J. C. Moore proposed the next resolution : — , That a committee consisting' of Messrs Strike, Purcell, Ashton, Coates, Macgregor, and the mover, be appointed to communicate with the County Chairman for the purpose of procuring a vote of at least LI OOO to supplement Borough < funds in order to secure the lower part of the town. He believed some arrangements had been made by which assistance would be procured, for the protection of the Native Reserve, and it should be their business to get that vote supplemented to enable them to render the work complete. Hitherto the protection of the town and the maintenance of the river in a navigable state had been a most expensive work. Since 1868^^7500 had been spent exclusively on that work, and the procuring of the necessary funds, irrespective of what, had been obtained from the County Council, had caused the Borough Council much trouble and anxiety. The present was a special occasion, and further application must be\made to the County Government. The property-holders below Boundary street occupied the grouud there under Government license, afterwards obtaining titles to their property, and in asking assistance to the protection of that property they were asking no more than was their right. The Government was receiviug half the proceeds of all land sales, and under the present circumstances they had a right to ask for some assistance. First of all it was their duty to save life and property ; and, secondly, to maintain the navigation of the river. The two: works must naturally be combined, and to some extent they might be proceeded with out of funds procured in the way proposed, with such funds as the Borough Council might be able to supplement; but, in his opinion, in any permanent undertaking they must look to the General Government for that assistance which it was impossible to procure locally. Mr Woolcock seconded the motion, but while doing so, he reebmraended that some action more immediate and decisive /than was yet proposed should be taken. Mr Kiigoor quite coincided with all that . had been said, but objected to the selection of the committee, or to the spending of money in any situation which would riot prove protective to the town as a whole.

Mr Nichol .explained that there were other resolutions to be proposed which would fully meet the views of Mr Kil,goiju\ It was generally known in town that a telegram had been received from Mr Mackay, the Najt^yp Commissioner, stating that he would recommend ft subsidy of LIOOO from the Maori Trust Fund, in addition to the annual subsidy of L 250, for the purpose of protecting Mawhera Quay. Onthe receipt of that intelligence it was considered better. to appoint a committee of . gentlemen in the Maori township for the purpose of corresponding with Mr Mackay. At the same time it was considered necessary to deal with the lower part of the township, and if they got the LiOOO suggested, it would then be for the B^qsqugh, Council to co-operate ' with the committees, and, with the assistance of the County Council, to try to do something atrthe lower end, not only to protect the Government 'township, but to connne the river to- : seething like its original channel. Of course, if the LIOOO. was not sufficient, they would' naturally expect the Borough Council to supplement the vote as fully as < it was within their power to do. He considered that hitherto the . Borough Coun- j cil had been a little too frightened of incurring the responsibility of getting into debt, f hey had had such a dose of it at one time that they, perhaps, might reasonably have these fears, but at the present time they [might at least lie ex.

pected. to incur responsibility to some extent. , ■■'••'..' - •■: Mr KiiopDß insisted upon the propriety 1 , of the town being protected gene-:: : rally, and, to do tliat,any.work;undertaken. would require to commence at the very headi;'- otherwise the Tidal Creek would' become the bed of the river. It was utterly useless to proceed with the works as they had been in the past, nor did he think the Borough Council was the body to be entrusted with the expenditure. ■ ■■■■- • ••••■ '"-^'- ir>{^-':^ .-'•■ The Mayor assured the mfeeting that the Borough Council was fully prepared to hand over the trust which had! been reposed in them. They had done their very best, but they could not avert such contingencies as the present. Mr. Girdwood advocated the expenditure of any fiyids obtained for the benefit of the town generally, and so as to prevent a collision of interests in future, he proposed the. omission from the motion of the words flower township." ; .. Mr G. S. Smith seconded- the proposition. He knew that there was urgent necessity for expenditure in the lower township, but : he did not think they should then pass any binding resolutions. Mr Kerr Baid they, were only asking LIOOO from the County Chairman, to supplement LIOOO from the Native Commissioner. Their object, in fact, was to obtain the means, not to devise how the work should be done. The LIOOO from the Native Commissioner, the annual subsidy, of L 250, and LIOOO from the County/ with what could be obtained from the Borough Council, would yield a total of from L 2500 to L3OOO, and such an amount might meet all the requirements of both townships. They were all alive to the necessity of the work being commenced at the Mghest point, , and. thej unfortunately knew that, there was i now but a small portion of the lower townshij to be saved,, but it must also be protected. He recommended that the resolution should be passed as it stood, believing that the resolutions as a whole would represent the wishes 1 of the community. Mr Woolcock thought the desire should be, without importing the distinc ; tions between townships, to obtain the money to protect the town, and leave ii to engineers to say how it should be expended. '.-., .; ■.-.:-.. • . /■■■? ; Mr Girdwood withdrew his amendment on a suggestion being made thai the original motion should conclude will the words "to secure the town and navigation of the river ;" and, on Mr Moor( . accepting the suggestien, his motion wai put and carried in the following form :— That, a -committee, consisting , of -Messri Strike, &c., be appointed to, communicati with the County Chairnian for the purposi of procuring a r vote. of at least LIOOO, t< supplement Borough funds, ; in order/ to se cure the town and navigation of the river. Mr, Kilgbiir had moved an amendment proposing "another committee," whps< names were not specified, but oh beinj put to the meeting it- was negatived, and! on the proposal of subsequent motions! Mr Kilgour explained that lie proposec his amendments under a misconception. Mr Greenwood, during the discussibi on these several amendments, supported the motion as amended, and narrated t( the meeting w.hat, as ,. Agent . f or Natiy« Reserves, he had represented to the Coin missioner, Mr Mackay, by telegram, h that telegram, he asked whether tl« Native Trust would help the necessary works, and suggested the payment -oi LIOOO at once; and. the following wai the reply which he had received from Mi Mackay :— r, . ■■■ ¥' { "».- --" Have recommended the amount named The annual contribution will be forth coraint directly as a modicum of assistance, and th< other sum I hope to receive speedily; Inthi meantime, the main exertions, no doubt, will be 1 directed towards protecting tht upper end of the work, that being the mosi valuable, point." . . . ... Mr Nichol moved the third resolu t-ion : — ' That a committee consisting of Messn Kilgour, W. Smith, M. Kennedy, Kerr, Maclean, F. Hamilton, E. Wickes, Perotti, G. S. Smith, and G. W. Nichol be appointee to communicate with Mr Mackay^ and other wise aot in taking necessary steps for the pro tection of Mawhera Quay. • f : Mr Kilgour seconded the mption : which was carried. Mr Kerr said it was very gratifying te know that several ladies had already in .terested themselves in the work of relieving the immediate wants ; of many who had suffered by the flood. Tpassisi these ladies in their work, and to 'enable them to distribute to advantage the fund which they might collect, it was desirable that a committee should be formed oi gentlemen acquainted .with the icircum; cumstances of those, who had. suffered, and with this ob^ecthe proposed the following resolution ?—,.■,>......,- That this meeting 1 deeply sympathise with those of their fellow-townsmen who have suffered from the calamitous events of the late flood, aud that a coiumittee consisting of Messrs W. Smith, Newton, arid Greenwood; be' appointed to confer with the ladies who have so kindly collected subscriptions in order to relieve the immediate, necessities of the sufferers, as also to extend their operations in collecting and seeking information with a view to the distribution of money, as the case may require. Mr Rbvell seconded the motion, and suggested the addition of the words, "with power to add to 'their number 1 ." He stated that he had received a telegram from the County Chairman asking for information with regard to those who had suffered by the flood; and inquiring whether the Government could do anything in the matter of affording relief. He had sent a reply stating that there) was a good deal of distress, and, not being aware that there was any collection being made by ladie3,' he simply suggested to the County Chairman that he should send authority for LSO to be judiciously spent. He had since received authorriy tb spend LSO, but had no warrant to get the money from the Bank. The Chairman, however, would be in Greymouth that evening, and the contribution would come as a very convenient addition to the subscription which had. been raised. ■.'■■•..".■'' The suggestion as to the addition of names to the committee was'adopted, and the name of Mr Reyell; was substituted for. that of Mr Greenwood, who stated that he: had early: business engagements at Westport. Mr Greenwood also remarked that, although' there was nothingaaid in the motion as to applying through the Mayor to other places for assistance^ such might very appropriately \ be done. Greymouth had previously assisted other townships, and, if the , application were made, 'help would/ ho doubt, be given. Mr Moore proposed that a vote 1 of

thanksi be/, tendered to the; police i for the manner in which they had acted oil; the night of the" flood. 'Oc»nimencing with Sergeant White, all the police [haft;. acted- very manfully, and had assisted materially in removing people from positions of imminent danger. The motion was carried by acclamatibn. '" .~^'-"..:^-.. •■,.,:■.-.-■..:.-.-. ■•..■.-*;-■;•■ On the proposition of Mr W. Smith, seconded by Mr James Johnston, the thanks of. the meeting were also given to the many private individuals volunteered to rescue their f ellowicitizehs from positions of peril. V Mr MobRE supposed it was I;he iriten-^ tion of the Mayor and Council to take" steps at once for the safety . of, the town, and he suggested that application should be made to the. Government for the services of the District Engineer in determining how 'the available funds should be expended. ' •■ The Mayor referred to the expected visit from the Premier, the Houi TVtr Fox, and, with the leave of the meeting, . he : proposed that ; the appointment of a deputation to wait lipon that gentleman, and to represent . . ' to ■■. him ■-. the L: ; desirability of the General Government : co-operating .-• in the work oj protecting the town. and iiriproving the navigation of the port, t He explained how this could be advantageously done by the construction of the contemplated railway in such a manner that the three objects could be r served without any material increase of cost. He proposed that the following gentlemen should form the deputation : — Messrs Kilgour, Hamilton, , M'Lean, Kenrick, >W. M. Thompson, Kennedy, Moss, Fitzgerald, Ashton, M'Gregor,- Revell, Coates, Whitmore,; Strike, Moore, Perotti, Anchor, Levy,! Johnston, Oavanagh, W. Kilgour, Thomas, Tqnks, Glenn, Joyce, Gnmer, Lap-, ham, G. King, Bowman, Sheedy, Morice, Walter Hill, ;Hildebrand,,Newton^*Perkins, Griffen, Middleton, Carroll, Nancarrow, Henderson, Guinness, Dupre. The motion was adopted^ and the proceedings concluded with a • vote, of .thanks to^ttie i Chairman! ' ' '' " :■"