PUBLIC MEETING AT MAORI CREEK.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1533, 3 July 1873, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING AT MAORI CREEK.

A public meeting was held by Mr P. I Dungan :.at Hamilton's Store, -Maori .Greeks > New 'River, on Monday, night, 30th inst., to address his constituents in that portion' of the district. Therewas a good attendance, and a warm interest was taken in the meeting; Mr P. D. Faulkner was voted to the' chair, and introduced ;. V— - Mr P. DtiNGAN, who sai|l he was^there that evening to speak of , some things of; importance to. those present on matters 1 having an interest for the district,, and I that he would also allude to the affairs of the County generally, and to what had transpired during ..the last session- of- the; County Council. He then ; entered into* a detailed account from statements made; in the early part of the session as to the: financial state of the County, with its! liabilities amounting to over L 46,00 0 ;:' the assets being LIO,OOO due to the County through Canterbury loans, and; something over L 400: for maintenance ' of prisoners, due to the. County from ; the Nelson - Government — pointing out at the same time the several items which helped to swell this ,bill ; of indebtedness. Mr Dungan next spoke of the Departmental Committee's report, which showed that it was the great- work; of the session, and that by the radical; changes made some thousand of pounds'; yearly would be saved to the County. He: alluded to the Public Works Committee's report, and remarking on the many works recommended -and recognised by the Council, 1 although in straitened circumstances. He also spoke of the reports of the Select Committees on the matter of Education, and that of the County of WesHand Act. Mr Dungan then drew; attention, to works provided for the. dis- , trict, remarking that he regretted riot being in that happy state acknowledged; by the member for -Ross, Mr Cuming — ; that he did not;require o rpads:or tracks in ' his district ; but he (Mr Dungan) did fully agree with MrCuraing when he pub- : licly stated on more than one occasion, that the districts Paroa,' from its 'extent of gold-bearing country,-large population and numerous wants, has ; entitled 'it to : two members in the Council instead : of i one ; and on this point he would say. there ; was no work that his district required \ but the best endeavors, on his part, were! used to have it carried, but-. . He took »o -nrecHt .:to himsiolf ior-oo doing-" .;> it was his duty, and! .he only regretted not having more ability to do so ;■ and further j he would ask the meeting -to-bear with him in placing a few facts before them. There was no ready money in the County Treasury to pay for the construction of Public Works, and such had to be. paid for in land. Th» amount of land required yearly for such purposes was limited to 5000 acres, and of this over one-half was for works in the Paroa district last session. The other half had been fairly claimed by the remaining districts in the; County. Such being the case, aud independent of other works, it was impossible that a most important and necessary work, the widening of Marsden and Maori Creek track could 'be attended to with payment in land. But he would state that it was placed in the schedule of works to be constructed under Public Works Act, and recommended by the Council to the General .Government to be carried out in Westland. He would further inform the meeting that he had been in communication recently with the County Chairman on the matter, and the County Chairman had telegraphed to the General Government the great urgency of having the work done. If delay followed, instead, of prompt dealing with these works, he must plainly say it was not his fault. He then: spoke' of the Clifton Camp, the Warden of the district in his last half-yearly . report having recom^ mended its removal to Marsden. .He (Mr Dungan) has already given his opinion that Maori Creek township was the proper place for it, being now the only town or centre for miles on all sides. To, shift the camp so many miles away from a part of the district . having so large a population would be a great injustice to the mining community, and, on the other hand, it was injudicious to leave so large a track of country without.police protection. Now was the time for the meeting to express an opinion, as it was business of great concern to them. Mr. Dungan then said he was ready to answer any questions put to him. The Chairman" thought on seeing so large a meeting present that some action should be taken in regard to the proposed shifting of the Camp to Marsden ; it was wrong to do- so, as Maori Creek waa the right place for it, and Mr Dungan did well in bringing the matter so fully unde* their notice. Mr Minhimett wished to know what were the grounds advanced by Mr Revel! for having it removed to Marsden. Mr Dungan. stated the chief reason given by. Mr Revell was its central posiI tion, with the consideration of the facilities for travelling. (Laughter.) But he (Mr Dungan) thought the latter argument cut both ways, and without making invidious distinctions the advantages lay all on one side, the general public having to adopt that ancient style' of travelling called. " Irish tandem"— driving' one leg 1 before the other.— Mr Sharp said it was all for the Warden's own convenience.— Mr Dungan pointed out that the Clifton.. Camp did the business of the New River up country, and the distance was many miles, to Marsden ; from Maori Creek to Marsden was between (five and six/miles, add three or four miles up the river, and it was a long distance. Maori Creek was

just as central in a sensa, being now the only town up country for many miles. — Mr North remarked that the best way to deal with the question was to form a committee, and draw up a petition on the subject. He knew their member would attend to it.. The opinions of the people had a right to be heard as well as that of Mr Revell. He therefore moved— "That a committee of the "following gentlemen be appointed— Messrs Curry, Faulkner, Minhimett, Walters, M'Kechnie, -and North — to frame a petition, praying that the Clifton Campbe not removed .to the: .township -,0f ... Marsden. "-—This, was secpridedbyMif Hr/G_BS, and passed/with acclamation, . , :: The • : Cb_ibma'n pointed but to :i Mr: Dungau that i a bridge of some kind was; wanting over the New River' at the foot; of Maori Creek. Mr Dungan. said he would do all in his power to have a bridge put over the New River to connect the' track fronir Maori Creek to Maori Gully. Wire bridges were found useful throughout the country, as in cases of floods and bad fords^to'foot travellers. ! They were a protection against great dangers, and every person present agreed with him in| the sense, in which he spoke, that the wire^ bridge- over the New River was a great service, at least for providing a similar work at 'the Greenstone, he had ; received the thanks of the people there; v Mr Minhimbtx then proposed a vote of confidence in the member for the district, ! which, on -being earned, .Mr Dungan returned thanks. He then moved a vote, of thanks, to , the Chairman, after which the meeting separated. '• A! public meeting^ ! convened -by -MrDungan, M.C.C., was held in Costigan's' ..Hall, Maori Gully,' on Saturday, 128 th; inst. Mr J. Duffy, having been called, to . the chair, /briefly .introduced' Mr! Dungan. who addressed the meeting and; gave an address similar; to the above. He; then entered into local matters, fully. ex-; plaining to the- meeting the action taken by him in causing' the withdrawal of land: applied for sale contiguous to the gold workings in Maori Gully,- and assured the . miners that his services were always at: their disposal when any attempt was; made to interfere with their privileges. ; Alluding to the StillwaterO track, he; assured them r. that he knew of its great 1 importance to the district, arid that he would see it again placed iijion the Estimates. With regard to -the sale, of the township of Maori Gully; which seemed to be strongly desired, by the residents, he advised their •petitioning the Governor's delegate, and promised to render them every assistance in his power. Mr Dungan Was very warmly received and heartily applauded ■ during thei delivery of his address, arid j Upon the motion of Mr JE*hiliips,, a vote of confidence in him was carried by acclamation. :