WESTLAND COUNTY COUNCIL,

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1547, 21 July 1873, Page 2

WESTLAND COUNTY COUNCIL,

Wednesday, July 16. [condensed from the west coast times.] petition. Mr Dungan presented a petition from about 100 residents of the Greenstone protesting against the application of Mr Naticarrow to be allowed to purchase 6000 acres of land on the west of Lake B'runner, the land referred to being payably auriferous. The petition having been read, an objection was raised by the Chairman to its reception, as the. first sheet was not signed. Mr Dungan, to meet the objection, signed himself the first sheet of the petition, which was received. COURT HOUSE AT MAORI GULLY. Mr Dungan asked — " If it is the intention of the Chairman to take any steps for the erection of a Court House at Maori Gully,. Arnold district ?" The Chairman said that a sum had been placed on the Estimates for the work in question, HANRAHAN AND PARTY'S PETITION. Mr Barff moved—" That a Select Committee, consisting of the Chairman, Messrs I)ungan, Smith, and the mover; be appointed to consider and report upon the petition of Messrs. Hanrahan, Molan, and party, presented to this Council during its last session. 5 ' Mr Kennedy seconded" the motion, but suggested that the matter should be referred to the Public Works Committee. Mr Barff accepted the suggestion, and the moti®n, as amended,' passed without dissent. \ ROAD TO LAKE BRUNNEK Mr Dungan moved — "That the petition of the people of Greenstone, relative to the construction of a road to the Lake Brunner district,^ be referred to the Public Works Committee." The motion was seconded by Mr Bonar, and passed without dissent. Thursday, July 17. Mr Kennedy presented a petition 'from J. R. Brown, in reference to his sudden dismissal in March last, and other matters set forth. The petition was read and received. BRIDGE PVERJPHE ARAHURA RIVER. Mr Barff. moved-*?'' That there be laid upon the table copies of all correspondence

relating to the construction of a bridge over the Arahura river, or to the purchase by the Government of the present bridge froragthe owner, Mr Thompson." He (Mr Barff) said that he was of opinion that the offer made by Mr Thompson for the sale of his bridge to the County was a very fair one, and he considered that the sooner ihe transaction could be concluded the better. The motion was "seconded by Mr Cuming, and passed without dissent. THE PUBLIC WORKS ACT. , Mr Barff moved— "That the Chairman be requested to lay upon the table, for the information of the Council, a report showing the progress of the works undertaken in the County by the General Government, under the Immigration and Public Works Act, 1872. " He would remind the Council that on the delivery of the Chairman's address, he (Mr Barff) had expressed his regret that there was no information in it as to the works in progress, under the Public Works Act. He thought that even- if there were any necessity for the secrecy maintained in respect to projected works, there was no reason why information should not be obtainable as to those already in progress. Mr Dungan seconded the motion. Mr Bonar said that the motion could not be objected to, but he might point out that the fulleat information on the subject would be laid before the General Assembly. The Chairman said that the officer representing the Government here, the District Engineer, had been restrained; by the General Government from giving any information whatever, either to himself (the Chairman) or to any member of. the Council respecting any works in course of construction, or which the Go-i vernment had determined to construct. This might seem to partake something of; the secrecy referred to by the mover, but there was possibly good reason for the course adopted by the Government. At all events it was very clear that without some check of the kind upon revelations as to "what was being done, considerable inconvenience might ensue. He (the Chairman) supposed that the information sought for would not be complete without; a statement of the estimated cost of the: works, and that would be hardly desirable,, as tenders for them were about to be invited. He would, however, apply to Wellington for the information required. The motion then passed without dissent. THE ONE-MILE LINE OF ROAD. Mr Bonar moved— "That effect be given to the report of the Committee re the construction of a bridle track along the onemile line of road, which was adopted by this Council on the 32th February, 1872." Mr Kennedy seconded the motion, but suggested that the matter be referred to the Public Works Committee. There were several reasons for that course. In the first place the question had not been previously before the present Council ; secondly, it seemed to be understood that it was undesirable to pay for works of the kind in land, if they could be constructed otherwise ; and besides, amongst the roads to be made, it might occur that the track in question would not be needed, and that the persons interested might be better served otherwise. Mr Bonar agreed to the suggestion, and the motion was, by leave, amended accordingly. The Chairman said that with respect to one of the points mentioned by the member for Greymouth, Mr Kennedy, he (the Chairman) felt convinced that the system of payment for public works in land was very unadvisable. One of its evils was that it led to propositions being less strictly scrutinised than they would be if the works were to be paid for in cash. This might not, perhaps, matter so much if it could be ensured that the persons receiving the land would settle upon it, but when it happened, as was almost invariably the case, that the land passed into the hands of capitalists and speculators, it had a very serious effect upon the value of land for sale. He considered that the price set on land under the Act should be. its minimum value, and that it was injurious to lower that value, as was done by the land given in payment for public works being sold at lower rates than it could be purchased from the Waste Lands Board. Another objection was that a much higher price was paid for the work when payment was made in land. The latest instance of the kind was a track between Marsden and Cariboo, for the construction of which as much as 547 f acres of laud was given, the survey of the land costing the County LIOO. The Chairman then mentioned several instances where large tracts of land were given in payment for works of little or no utility, particularising two of the kind in the southern district. He acknowledged that in some cases needful work had been done in exchange for the land, but in all cases he maintained that the value of the werk was. ! not in any degree commensurate with its ; cost to the County. Mr Barff and Mr Dungan both pointed ou that, however desirable it might be to pay for the works in cash, if money wasnot available, it would be better to pay in land than that the works should not be constructed at all. Mr Bonar, while agreeing with the Chairman as to the evils of the system, thought there would not be so much objection if the land given in payment were fixed to be in the vicinity of the works constructed, so that the persons who received the land settfed upon it. as in the case of the farmers at the Kokotahi. . The motion referring the question to the Public Works Committee then passed without dissent. ;