Correspondence

Horowhenua Chronicle, 14 September 1916, Page 3

Correspondence

Our oorryspondmits' opinions are their own; the responsibility of editorial 0113s makes suiiicieut uallast for the editor's shoulders.] H 0 ROW HEN 1 U A LAKE ACT. (To the Editor). Sir, —In justice to Mr Field, M.P., 1 must take exception to the remarks of Councillors Retter and Kebbell made at the meeting of the Horowhenua County Council on .Saturday in connection with the Horowhenua Lake Act. 1 may state that the borough council have .not received more information from Mr Field than the Horowhenua County Council. The only letter that has come to handl is the same as the county council received r.t its last meeting from 'Mr Field, which was .purely explanatory. Mr Field lia.s in every way acted fairly and Above hoard. I feel fin re that neither Mr Better nor Mr Kebbell wish to cast the slightest reflection on Mr Field's action intentionally. lam convinced) that if they will carry their memory back j twelve months they will ;ndniit there | was no need for Mr Field to communi- | cate with them or any other local body. ; The following fact will prove to these ' gent-lemon how they wronged Mr Field. On 11th September, 1915, 1 waited upon the Horowhenua County Council in connection with the proposed amending Act, and pointed out the value of the proposed amendments. Mr Field, at the isanie meeting., wrote to the Horowhenua County Council suggesting tint tbe council confer with myself laud the chairman of the beating club and ecne to some arrangement -as to- what they wished to be inserted in the Act.' Tbe outcome of my interviewing the council and Mr Field's letter was the following motion being pa c sedi by the council: "That a committee consisting of member* of tbe Wirokino riding and the ch': i nil an be -set up to deal w'th Mr Gardener's request re the Horowhenua Lake, such committee tto have power to act." The result of this motion was that a conference took plac" on the afternoon of the 11th September, 1910, with the gentlemen named and myself, and tbe only alteration ri-nd UKViit.ion made to the amended act wa.s in connection with the drainage clause, and the following new clause wan agreed to: "The powers hereby conferred on the board shall be exercised by it in conjunction with the Horowhenua County- Council," and with this one addition the Bill was agreed to bv those present, amongst wh'om were Messrs Better and Kebbell. Tlx 1 proposed Bill was then forwarded back to i.Mr Field with this addition. Under ordinary circumstances the Bill would have passed into law during the ■session of IDIS, but on account of the session ending abruptly the Bill only passed its first reading. The promise was made that it would become law tbe following session. During the last session it was introdiuced under the heading «f "The Reserves land Other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empiw ring." A few days before the end of the .session it came before the Hoitise, at which time it.w;as found that the natives had lodged a petition against it passing on kit-count of the drai-iage clauses. To save the situation itr Field moved that it be refer-" 1 red to the Xative Affairs Committee, which was agreed to, and then rang me up tas chairman of the Lake Domain Board, and informed! .me of the position and advised me to go down and meet the committee and the natives, pointing out that delays would, be serious as the session would probably, en 1 that week. I attended tbe meeting of the committee on the Wednesday morning and fjitisfied the natives that "the clauses objected) to were to their advrnt'a.ge. and the Act passed into law. Now, >Sir. it will be seen there was no need for further communication between Air Field and the local bodies after the conference of 11th .September. 191.";. when a certain course wMs agreed to i-nd acted on with the consent of the Horcwheiina County Con noil committee. Councillor Better is therefore wrong in stating that the borough had been kept in touch with every move in connection with the passing of the Act for tbe reason that no communication had been aiecessary wince September, ]01."5, and to state that tbe member for the district- had not attended to his duty in this matter was both unjust and. unfair, and I feel sure that now the question- is fully explained both Councillor Better and Councillor Kebbell will admit that they are wrong in t-heir judgment. Apologising for trespassing so extensively on your rtUnab-le space.—Yours, etc..

B. R. GARDENER. Chairman. Lake Domain Board