COUNTY COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1393, 17 January 1873, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCIL.

Wednesday, January 8. The Council met to-night, and all the nerabera were present. The following is a condensation of the Chairman's address : — As you are doubtless aware, our finan-cial-position is so far embarrassed as to be ■ - likely to .cause us temporary jinconpenience, but I am of opinion that a judicious course of action onthepaitof the Council will enable us to overcome 1 our difficulties. According to a return furnished by the County Treasurer (and which, together with a statement of receipts and expenditure daring the past 3ix months, I beg leave to lay on the table), the total sum of the liabilities of the County on the 31st of December amounted to L 46,678 14s, and consists of the following items :— Bank of New Zealand deficiency bills — one forr LI 000, matured 31st December, 1872, one for L 3500, matured 2nd January, 1873, and one for L 3500, to mature 2nd March, 1873, L80C0; overdraft on County account, L 8493 2s lOd ; unpaid accounts for various items (vouchers for which are in hand), L 4026 133 lid ; amount due upon currentcontracts, L 124 915 5; amount due npon deferred payments (Kokotahi road), L 7154 10s ; amount due upon de- . ferred payments (Arnold road), L6249 13s 2d ; advanced by General Government, October, 1871, L 7500; omission by General Government to charge interest and sinking fund on Cauterbary loans, from July, 1870, LSOOO. The assets of the County to the same date consist of that portion of the sinking funds of the Canterbury loans, which are not yet released, and -which, in the same . statement, is estimated at LIO,OOO ; and an amount due from the Province of Nelson of L 461 14s 3d, for the maintenance of prisoners. ."_'. In dealing with the various items of our liabilities, I will endeavor to indicate those which are likely to cause ns auy financial embarrassment. The amount of L 7500 due to the General Government, is on account of an advance obtained by the late Chairman oh the security of the; County portion of the Sinking Funds of the Canterbury loans, and being, thereby assured, can fairly be regarded as satis- . fied. The liability to the Bank of New Zealand of LBoooon account of deficiency bills is one which will not press for immediate settlement, as the Bank have ... evinced a disposition favorable to the renewal of those engagements to the full extent of the legal powers of borrowing enjoyed by the County, viz., to. the extent of one-fifth of the previous year's ■■■'. revenue, which would in this case amount to about L6BOO, and that the balance of 141200 could stand over for liquidation at some future time, when the funds of the County are in a more prosperous condition. In dealing with our indebtedness under the item of deferred payments on. account of the Arnold and Kokotahi roads, and which has fortunately been incurred in the construction of undeni* ably necessary roads, I trust the Council will iseriously consider the expediency of recommending to the General Government the satisfaction of these demands, or of so much of them as will mature before the 30th of June next, viz., L 6820 10s 7d out of the sum of L 50,000, allocated under the provisions of the " Immigration and Public Works Act, 1872," to be spent within the County of Westland, in sums of L 25,000 annually during the two years ending respectively June 30, 1873, and June 30, 1874. I atn fully aware that it wouicr v\3 iui\mu>\ r max, cuaooptable to this Council to make recommendations to the General Government, having for their object the construction of new works, than simply for the settlement of liabilities already incurred ; yet we are also justGed in taking this view of the case— that the effect of this proposition would be to deal with the first moiety only of the first annual grant due to the County for the six months ended December 31, 1872; that during that period these roads were completed, and further that we have the works already constructed before the money is available, being, moreover, works expressly of that class, in which it was contemplated the proportions of the loan allocated to the County should be set apart. The reference in the statement of the County Treasuser to an amount due to the Province of Canterbury on account of omission by the General Government to charge to County account since June. 1870, the sum of L 2.56 7s 8d moathly, - and which previous to that time con-; stituted a regular charge on account of Interest and Sinking Fund on Canterbury loans, is to a certain extent conjectural and unsupported by a formal demand from either the General Government or Provincial Government of Canterbury. There remain, then, but the liabilities under the respective heads ot overdraft, unpaid accounts, and sums due for current contracts, amounting in the aggregate to L 13,769 lls 9d, for the settlement of which it is necessary that, . means should be devised. It will be at once apparent that our ordinary revenues will be insufficient to meet the demand ; and beyond those our assets must be taken into consideration. The indebtedness of General Government on account of Consolidated Fund account to December 31, and of the Province of Nelson for the maintenance of prisoners, amount^ ing together to L 731 4s 2d can probably be realised at once.- Our remaining assets — the balance of Sinking Fund before alluded to — affords at the present time the only hope of any important accession to the coffers of the County, and whicfy may be realised either by urging to a con-,' elusion the protracted and complicated" matter of these Sinking Funds, or by obVT taining from the General Government an advance upon the balance yet due to the County from this source. Should our expectations in this respect be realised, the ' sum available would not amount to more than one-half of our immediate liabilities - —the satisfaction of the rema,ind > c? wquldnecessarily become the first subject of our -, most serious consideration. This-niay bg~ attained in two ways, viz., by reducing our expenditure strictly within the limit of our ordinary local revenues, and by devoting the surplus, however small, to the gradual extinction of these claims ; or by obtainingfromtheGeneral Goveenmrnt such assistance as may enable us to satisfy those claims at once. The first proposition I am convinced, however objectionible on account of the protracted nature )f the operation, is perfectly practicable.; rhe alternative would depend upon your . willingness to make application to the ien&ral Government for such aid as we- ' require, and also upon their willingness 1 ' :o accede to- our application. . i•: ; .../.■y>i«> In explanation, I may be allowed to

state that the amount of L 8493 2s lOd which appears as overdraft, represent! not the actual overdraft at the Bank which, on the 13th instant, was onlj L7OO, the remainder consisting of cheque: in the County Treasury, drawn and signed on behalf of services and engagements of various descriptions. The great and unexpected falling off ir the County revenue during the past sis months is, amongst our difficulties, tht most prominent and the most suggestive , of uneasiness for the future. In the item | of gold duty, estimated to return LBOOO, the actual receipts have only reached L 4074 6s 6d, to which may be added L 666 8s 5d of that duty impounded by the General Government, and the duty upon the gold retained by the. Banks to realise the benefit of the reduction of the gold duty which came into operation on the Ist January, calculated at LISOO, and which leaves the actual deficiency in the gold duty at L 1759 5s Id. This may, to a certain extent, be attributed to the partial suspension of operations at Greenstone and Ross, and is not, as at the first glance might be assumed, an index of the decadence of the mining interest in the County. So far is this from the fact that the introduction of a plentiful and cheap supply of water would at once increase our gold exports, and furnish employmentfor miners upon ground which would not be remunerative under any other conditions. The only other item of receipts to which I beg to particularly direct your attention, is that under the head of Land Revenue, estimated at L 2500, but upon which account the receipts have been only L 1282 23 6d. This has been caused to a great extent by the large quantity of land (about 4000 acres) which has passed into occupation for the construction of public works under the provisions of the 80th clause of the " Westland Waste Lands Act, 1870," the greater portion of which was alienated during the past year. One application to the Council during last session under the 56th clause of the same Act, to purchase 1250 acres of land at 10s per acre, was, unfortunately, not favorably received by them, and the proposed operation was not completed. In no case have the receipts reached the estimate, and the gross deficiency for the s^ months may be set down at L4OOO. I have specially dwelt upon the falling off in the gold duty and land revenue, as each of these are in its particular way indicative of progress or the reverse of the County, and I trust that the further development of our auriferous resources, and the continued construction of roads and public works of a beneficial character may enable these— the most expensive items in ou.r local revenue — to assume larger proportions. During this session, upon your recommendation, the sum of L 25,000, accruing to the County under the provisions of the "Immigration and Public Works Act, 1872," will be expended ; likewise the balances in hand of Road Boards subsidy for the year ending June 30, 1872, and the Road Board subsidy for the year ending June 30, 1873. STANDING ORDERS. On the motion for the adoption of the Standing Orders of last session, Mr Kennedy moved an amendment — "That on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, the Council meet at 2 p.m., and also at 7.30 p.m. On a division, the motion was lost by 4 to 5. The Council then adjourned. For continuation of News, see 4th page.