INANGAHUA COUNTY COUNCIL,

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 23, 1 June 1877, Page 2

INANGAHUA COUNTY COUNCIL,

The weekly meeting of tbe membeis of tbe County Council was held in tbe office, Broadway, at 230 p.m., on Wednesday last. The members present were Messrs Brennan (Chairman) Caples, Bayfeild, Davies, Byrne and tbe County Solicitor, Mr Pitt. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. Tbe Clerk read copies of correspondence forwarded since the date of the last meeting, as follom :—

To the Minister of Publio Wotks stating lh:it the Council was ia arresr for wages due to work men employed upon the Hampden road, snd requeuing that lhe promised g r aot of £500 for that work be placed to the credit ot tbe Council without delay. To Mr Stewart, overseer employed on the Hampden road, requesting (hat monthly pay- sheets be forwarded to tbe Council for workman's wage*. To the Hospital ComiuUlce, enquiring whether the CommiMee in consideration of an extra g'ant of £90 per annum, wonld tale charge of all cases requiring charitable aid' To tbe Minister of Public Works, calling attention io the condition of the lock-up at Beefton, and urging tbe neces* slty of repairs. COB* I POSDEMCE, The following correspondence leceived by tbe C'eik, since the last meeting, was read :«— Ttom the MiafcSer of Public Works, s.aiing tbat £503 for maintenance of the Hatn.-ideu toad, bad beeu placed to the credit of the Coanty fund. From Mr Pollock, County Andtlo., 1 Nelson, enclosing balance sheet duly audited, end requesting hr future that he lie furutsbed with a det?Ued statement of all money.i expended by tbe Connc ;1 . From the Geocial Gove.-uQ3"nt, stating that tbe subsidy lo the Covucll for tbe nionih of April wnoun'ed lo £107 Ti 7d, which .'U<n had heeD subject io certaiu red iici ions for advertising and wages men employed npon the G.ey road, reducing tho balance to £7 Os 7d, which amonot had beea duly placed to lhe credit of tbe County. From Dr Giles as fol'ows :— General down La ads Office. Wellington, 21*t May, 1877. r tr,— l have the honor by direction of the hoDorab'e tho Secretary for Crown Lauds, to inform you tbat a memorial has been received from reiidenis atthe Insng^.oa,, asking the Government to appoint ara Inspector of Mines for tbat district. In ordor to may out thia object, it w'll be retcssary lo proclaim a distriot un. ler the Eegulation of Mines Act, 1874> a course which the Government for its I'r.it is willing to adoptt Before doing so, however, Mr Reid desires to cr.ll yonr attention to- the fact that the expense of administering the Act is a charge upon the Provincial District, ami since the revenue for gohlSelds is now County reveune, be wonld like to be informed wbether the Coouty Council is willing that the cot of working the Act shonid be :\cuv.cd.«— I hove the h :nor tebo sir, Your Obedient Servant, J. Giles. Mr Davies moved, ond Mr Byrne sect.' aded, tbat the correspondence 83 read be received. Carried. Mr Bayfeild inquired whether there was sufficient information before lhe Council to enable (hem to deal with ..he subject matter of Dr Gi'es letter. Ti.e Clerk stated that by the date of the ne:;t meeting, Le would have all required information upon the subject in readineia to ley before tbe Couucil. Mt- 'hiv>es sr.id that in reference lo the cL ai fr travelling expenses sent into , liie C'onnci', by Mr Bnt!e*', C.E., the cLw.ge therein made was for expenses by I-ir Bailer wriie travelling open the business of I' eConncil. upon the molioi of Mr Bayfeild, seconded by Mr Byrne, the Council then went into Committee to frame suggestions for amendment of " The Counties Act." M r Bayfeild said that he had read over the Ael very carefully, and had noted t>er eral portions of tho Act which he thought required amending. The first lualter be had to b-ing forward, was ia reference to the constitution of tbe Asse*s-iteut Court. He thought it advisab'e assessors bhould bo appointed to sit wi.h lhe Judge of tbe Court. As tbe Act now stood, the entire responsibility was cast upou ibe shoulders of tbe presiding Jud^e of tbe Court, and it was hardly to be expected tbat a gentleman filling i n official position could be as well pi sted up in tie relative value of pro* petty, as the class of men who would be likely io be called in as assessors. He (bought also ibat it would be advisable to provide s^me channel of appeal from tlie A sse.sjue ut Court ; at present there could I»e nooe. Ho thought it unwcessaiy to j elaborate iLe suggestions as they would, he felt sure, commend themselves at once to the acceptance of tlie Council. Mr Pitt, the County Solicitor, being invited to express an opiuion upon the subject, said that he quite endorsed Mr Eayfeild's remarks as to the desirability of ."S^essors being appoiated to act with the Judge of the Court. He, however, dcubled the propriety of providing a right of appeal. The only Court lo which ap. peals in sucb cases could be carried would be lhe District Court and the cost of the proceedings would boa heavy handicap upon objectors. Mr Bayfeild concurred in the sugges» tion of Mr Pitt, and withdrew his suggestion relative to a Court of appeal. The former recommendation was then adopted. Mr Bayfeild said that tbe next sngges* tion he had to make was with respect to the " Eegulation of Local Elections Act." , He said that there was nothing in the Act to prevent aliens being placed on tbe '< Electoral Bolls. The Act provided that ' the Clerk of the Conrt was to prepare a \ list of persons (not being aliens) wbo had -

taken out miners' right, but the Cleric of the Court was in the diffioalty that he could uot positively take upon himself to say who were and wbo were not aliens. The Act provided no meant by wbicb tbe information on that bead could bo ob* tamed. Mr Pitt concurred in this, and pointed out that there was nothing in tbe Act to prohibit aliens from voting, Tbe fuet» t»Bs which the Act stipulated should bo put to vote* by the Hemming Officer made no reference to aliens, and consequently the names of aliens bating beea once placed upon the Electoral Roll, exception could not betaken to their voting. He said tbat in the old Electoral Act there waa a special provision witb regard to aliens, and he quite agreed as to Uie necessity of the alteration suggested. The proposal was then agreed to. Mr Bayfeild said that the next matter be had to refer to waa a ratber important one being in the direction of aire! tension of tbe powers of tbe " Cou»t?es" Act. n He said tbat be should like to see the Council invested with power to deal witb, such matters as water snpply, drainage^ streets, and a bost of other'lnatters not/ provided for in the present Act. For tbi* reason he would suggest thst the more; extended powers of •* The Mnnicipal Cow poralions' Act" should be incorporated with " Tbe Counties Act" 1 Mr Davies pointed out that by tbe present Act, the Council was only give.i thr power to frame byelaws npon a very limited' number of subjects, snd all tbey required was that the power to fnror byelaws should be similar to that of iho " Municipal Corporations' Act." After further discussions, tbe Connoil decided to recommend an extension of i power to frame byelaws. Mr Bayfeild next referred to tbe question of gold doty. He said tbat under the present system, the duty was collected at the Costome House, thence forwarded to Wellington, aul after the lapsed of * considerable time, it finally made its way to the County. He thought it desirable that arrangements should be made, sothat tbe amouut could be paid direct totbe credit of tbe County, by tbe Collector of Customs. Another very important matter was tbe necessity of devising a proper system of cheque npon tbe gold produced io tbe County, for thee was no doubt that under the present system the Couutv lost considerably. Mr fravies was in favour of making it compulsory on the part of a'l gold buyers' to- keep a faithful record of all gold purchared, returns to be forwarded to the Council monthly. The Council lo provide all tbe necessary printed forms, books, &ciMr Bayfeild suggested the advisability* of compelling gold buyers to take out , licenses, not as a source of revenue to the County, but m.'rely tO'ensorc the keeping, of a faithful record of all sold porchasedlMr Davies said the safest way of en« saring the accuracy of t c desired returns was to have cl ime inserted in the " Counties Act " making it absolutely compulsory for all gold buyers to keep the desired recods— under pan* of penalty to bo re o*-ewd summarily under tbe " Justice of the Peace Act." The Chairman suggested tbat gold? buyers would still have to depend in a great way npon the willingness of persons selling gold to impart the desired infot> mation. Mr Davies would have the clause toreach gold settlers as well as buyers. After further discussion it was screed to recommend the insertion of a compulsory clause in tbe Act. Tbe Couucil then resumed. Mr Davies in accordance witb a notice of motion previously given, moved formally that the Council invite applications from qualified persons willingtoflll tlie position* of engineer and surveyor to the County, at a salary of £300 por annumi He said that the subject having already been re— ferre I to repeatedly, he would now merely content himself with moving the resolution, adding to it that advertisements be inserted in the Inakoasua Times, Grey Argus, and Wellington Times. Mr Byrne said he thooght that a good? practical man was aH they wanted for the present at least. It could no doubt bo arranged for them to obtain professional advice when requisite. That course was adopted in Westland; Mr Caples failed to see any very urgent necessity for sneh an officer as a permanent engineer and surveyor, as he thought tbat a practical man conld do all tbe work required. Hewever he would noi oppose tne mere inviting of applications, Mr Bayfeild supported the resolothnu Mr Davies said lhat his only object ia moving tbe resolution was that the Counted should have some person who would be responsible for the proper maintenance of the roads. The resolution was then put and carried. Tbe Clerk laid open the table a statement of the contemplated income of tbe County for the ensuing twelve months,, as arrived at at the last meeting of tbe Council. He said that from the state* ment it appeared that there was still a deficiency of £35 between tbecon templated receipts ' and expenditure, the revenue \ being short that sum. It was agreed that the contemplated revenue from gold duty should be farther stretched out to cover the difference and make the statement balance. Tbe Clerk reoovted tbat the ram to the credit of tbe County was £323 16s. - Mr Bayfeild then moved, tbat the statement as read be approved by Uie Cbon* ci', and published. Mr Dayies seconded the resolution^ which was pot and carried. The Council then adjourned. KSBSSaaeSSESHB