Pahiko Drains

Horowhenua Chronicle, 16 October 1916, Page 3

Pahiko Drains

A COUNTY COUNCIL BURDEN. When the settiers who purchased the blocks of the divided Pahiko estate, near Te Horo, took possession of the new holdings they soon agreed on one point—that Nature had made a bad job of the drainage, and with the aid of the county county council to put in culverts across roads, set out to improve matters. But apparently the inciting cause to disagreement is not confined to intoxicating liquids and soon there were arguments as to which way the water should flow, nnd the disputants have spent much of their spare time- between the digging and cleaning of drains, in writing to and making personal calls on the county council, which has the difficult part of peacemaker. It is many months now since there has been a council meeting at which the. drains have not been brought under notice, either by means of corrcspondenoe or deputation. Sometimes the correspondence is limited to one letter, at other times there i 6 a bundle Sometimes the deputation is as great as a crowd at a free show; at other times one would think an admittance fee of ten shillings was charged nt the door.. Saturday's council meeting was no exception to the rule; the correspondence was in length nearly equal to a day's jotir*ey for a typewriter. and there was a deputation consisting of one person. The written matter was dealt with speedily, and it was arranged that tho councillors for the riding and the engineer again visit the district on Thursday and hold further •onfereneo with the dissatisfied settlers. Tn view of this decision the chairman of the council was-in doubt as to whether it was worth white receiving the deputation, but after consultation with his colleague (Councillor Catley) it was decided to hear what the settler had to say, and' shuffling in their chairs to try to ease the points of contacrt, councillors, who already had been sitting for over two hours and a half, prepared to receive any hew light on the trouble. The deputation was piloted into the chamber by ffre engineer and taking a stand at one end of the council table, began a discursive review of the whole position. He (the deputation) went on in this vein for some time; then

ho was interrupted bv the chairman who drew attention that he-was going over old ground ; that the council's fimo wa* limited, and requested that he be brief and to the point. The deputation spfiit some time explaining that ho knew the council's time was valuable : that he held no die sire to waste it; that he would bo as brief as possible; and then stra.igTita.way wandered off into the mazes of the position, while some councillors sat back resigned, and others, who remembered the lunch table and their appointments, stirred uneasily and ostentatiously looked at their watches. It was no use: the spoken flow of history went on until a statement directly questioning the. goodi faith of the council in the matter wok made. Instantly the chairman eat upright and called the deputation' to order, telling him in severe tones that he f^OW.—The CaOk"> news appearing in this issue accredited to the Times ha* been pnblisbed in that journal, but only where expressly stated is sach news the editorial opinion of the Times).

!(the chairman) was not going to sit thero and havo councillors' honesty in the matter called into question. They A were earnestly desirous of solving the difficulty. No other matter that had come before them had received so much,,attention.' They had tried to get the settlers to form a dlrainage board. They were quite willing to r _ help him (the deputation) and- had y offered previously to put in another culvert across a road if he would open a, drain to it, and ;give an undertaking a to indemnify the council against any action for damages that might be brought for putting in a culvert. That offer still held good j. The disputation became apologetic and expressed sorrow for having cast any reflection on the council; none had been •intended. As for the Council's offer he declined to accept. Was it usual with local bodies to seek indemnities when carrying out such work P The chairman: It is not usual, ibut it is prudent The deputation again resumed the , even tenor of his way, while councillors sat silent, and at intervals the engineer wandered into the chamber, surveyed! the scene over his spectacles, and walked out with thoughtful mien. Presently the chairman hazarded a question: Was the present state of Cameron's drain better than before the council took it over. , The deputation : That has nothing to do with ifc. ' The chairman: Answer me, yes or no. Avoiding a direct answer the deputation in a few sentences was Back on familiar ground, when the cli-airman again broke: You have not answered my question, yes or no. The deputation: I cannot say yes or no. The chairman: Well I eay it is better. The deputation went on to say that if the council dad not clo what- he would have to take the council before a magistrate. The chairman: Why don't you sign the agreement? Yon told me at the Waikanae saleyards that there was no danger of trouble. The deputation denied having said this. What was said must have been misunderstood. The chairman: Well I must have misunderstood you. Continuing he once more told; the deputation councillors would do all they could for him. They were visiting the place on Thursday nest between 2 and 2.30 p.m., and would be glad to meet him there and go over the ground with him. The deputation paused at the door to say ho did not think it would be any use. nndi he was suffering from sciatica. The chairman said he was sorry to hear that and the deputation withdrew.