AWAKINO COUNTY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 355, 26 April 1911, Page 6

AWAKINO COUNTY.

QUESTION OF BECOMING OPER- i ATIVE. | DIVERSITY OF OPINION. j There was a representative gathering of settlers of the lower portion of the Asvakino County held in the Club Room, Awakino, last Wednesday evening, to discuss the advisability of bringing the Awakino County into operation. According to the amended Counties Act of last session, twelve months is allowed after the 31st j March last for settlers to make their | county operative, otherwise they will | be proclaimed operative by Act of j Parliament. Mr \V. D. Thomson presided, and Mr C. Luck was secretary. The Chairman said that the purpose of the meeting was to consider whether it was advisable for settlers to take immediate steps to have the Awakino County declared operative. They had power to do so on a ten per cent, petition, after which the matter ,vould be brought into effect by proclamation of the Governor in Council. Mr Leach pointed out that according to the Act it said even at the end of the twelve months referred to the "Governor may by proclamation" bring the county into operation. The whole question rested with the matter of "may," and appeared to him very vague. Mr Walter Jones considered that if possible something should be done in the matter of becoming operative. It was necessary that they shouldbe rating themselves, and by so doing would get greater consideration from the Government. H they had a local body they would be able to bring stronger pressure to bear. The tendency was that if a county was m operation it received more funds for expenditure. There was the question of" the Mokau bridge, and he had been told by the Hon. T. Mackenzie that as long as they were not in operation as a county they could get nothing done in the matter. The Clifton County Council were affected in the matter on account of Awakino being unable to do anything. He considered, however, that the question of the Mokau bridge was an inter-provincial one, the cost of which should not be borne by the countiea immediatly affected. The bridge would be on the main road between Taranaki and Auckland. Then again there was the question of the Awakino Valley road, another very important matter. He was in favour of becoming operative. Mr E. Moore (Mahoenui) said that if according as the Act set out he did not see why they should become operative until such times as they had to. He did not see why they should pay rates and not get any more money from the Government. Mahoenui settlers were not in favour of joining Awakino. Their interests lay in the direction of Waitomo. However, if there was no reason for becoming operative at once, he did not see why they should do so. Mr L. Jacob considered that the question of expenditure wa3 one to be seriously considered. What balance would there be after expenses were deducted? He would be in favour of going into the Waitomo County if possible, and have the county worked on a larger scale. He could not agree with the forming of an Awakino County. He thought it advisable if possible to join forces with the Waitomo County. It would be impossible to work the county under a rate of 3d in the £, which was absurd. The building of the Mokau bridge was an imperative matter, and settlers had been badly treated in the matter. He also recognised the value of the Awakino Valley road. He considered that their community of interest was with the Waitomo County, and not the Clifton County, and felt convinced in the fact that if Awakino joined forces with the Waitomo County they would be better off and better served. The Awakino County would be too small, as it only comprised some 300,000 acres. To become a county would he considered be only a burden on the settlers. Mr W. F. Kelly considered that Mr Jacob must admit that his statements were scarcely as forceful as he meant them. There was no doubt but that becoming operative would be the proper thing to do. Mr F. Ire-dale produced a telegram signed by Messrs P. C. Rose, W. Bell, J. Willison and others, stating that a resolution had been passed at a meeting held at Marokopa in favour of the northern portion of the Awakino County joining Kawhia. Mr W. F. Dines stated that he had been secretary for a number of settlers in the Awakino County who had opposed the merging of the northern portion of the Awakino County into Kawhia. The great majority favoured an Awakino County, but failing {he ability to work out that their interests, they considered, were in the direction of the Main Trunk line inasmuch as the main road ran direct to Marokopa, and was the mail road. However, the position was that there was only about ninety-live ratepayers in the whole of the county,, and the majority of them were north of the Waikasva and Mangaotaki streams. Before anything could be done, the county must become operative, _and ' the community of interests defined I pefco-e anything could be done. Once ; operative, tjipn settlers could decide whether they would maintain the county as a whole or sub-divide. He was aware that the settlers in the | Mangaotaki were awaiting something ; to be clone in the matter in order that I they might petition to be attached to I the'Waitomo County. The position there was that at present one half of the valley was in an operative county, and the other half in an inoperative county, and consequently they would ; join hands with Mangahoe, Pomerangi I andKiritehere to prevent the northern ! Awakino county going into Kawhia. There was no doubt a good deal of ! feeling about the matter. He knew that the county must become operative first, and then it wouid be in the hand's of settlers whether they would form an Awakino County, or after-

wards subdivide. This is what he understood from a considerable amount of correspondence that he had had with the Hon. Mr Buddo, Minister for Internal Affairs, and Mr W. T. Jennings, M.P., on the matter last year. A considerable amount of discussion had been going on in northern Awakino for fully a year, and the result was that they had been unable to go either into Kawhia or Waitomo, no matter how much they wished to do so, until the county had become' operative. He did not think the meeting could do anything definite in the matter. Mr W. Spencer (Waikawa) said that he had'been aware of the position in northern Awakino, and thought the meeting could do nothing in the matter. After a series of resolutions and amendments and withdrawals as regards becoming operative at once or deferring the matter until a later date, it was eventually, agreed to set up a committee consisting of Messrs W. D. Thomson, W. Jones, C. Luck, and W. F. Kelly to ivestigate the matter and obtain a solicitor's advice.

THE MAROKOPA MEETING

A meeting of local settlers was held in the hall, Marokopa, en Sunday, 16th April, to ascertain the state of feeling in regard to merging into an adjoining county or of remaining in Awakino. Mr P. Bell, convenor, stated that he had been written to by a section of the Awakino people who intended to hold a general meeting at Awakino to consider county matters on the ISth inst., at which the subject matter of the Marokopa meeting would probably be discussed. Nine or ten persons only were present—mostly Marokopa river people—those handy to the stream, who could step into the launch and run down to the meeting as an after-dinner jaunt. Mr Rose, chairman, representing the meeting wired through to the convenors of the Awakino meeting, stating that the of those present was in favour of merging into Kawhia the Marokopa river and its adjacent watersheds - the boundaries being the same as these set forth in a petition sent to the Minister for Internal Affairs last year, leaving the Pomorangi and upper Kiritehere out, not because these places have no right to interest themselves in Marokopa politics, but that they have out-petitioned and twice badly beaten the "mergers" on then- own ground, the last well-remembeed occasion of which was at a big general meeting held in the Kairimu last winter, since which time the merging party remained very quiet for a long time. The non-merging section of the Awakino County prefers to remain as at present, rather than merge into any county. They wish the Awakino County to work out its own destiny, as other counties have done. They feel they cannot stand idly by and permit nine or ten irresponsible agitators to coolly try to transfer their interests in the Marokopa river and its contiguous districts into Kawhia. Failing ability to work out the destiny of Awakino County, settlers are in favour of petitioning Waitomo. The large areas of unrateable country in the Kawhia County would be inimical, to Marokopa interests, because almost every acre of the northern Awakino is Crown lands and would therefore be rate-producing.

SETTLERS' OBJECTIONS.

By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent. Marokopa, Monday. Settlers in the northern part of the Awakino County object to being merged into the Kawhia County. The majority of settlers are in favour of Awakino conducting its own admistration, and contend that the resolution passed at a meeting held in Marokopa on the 16th inst. was not a representative one, as there were only about ten settlers present.