AWAKINO COUNTY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 572, 31 May 1913, Page 2

AWAKINO COUNTY.

MEETING .OF RATEPAYER.?. Own Correspondent. A meeting of ratepayers of the North Riding of the Awakino County was held in the Marokopa Public Hal! on Saturday afternoon for the purpose of discussing what steps settlers should take as a whole or whether She northern part of the County should be merged into Kawhia, The attendance Wag not very large, and general apathy apparently prevailing aa regards the issue. The meeting was presided over by Mr P. C. Rose. Mr A. Scholes, chairman of the Waifcomo County. Council, and Mr P. Mora, clerk, were also present. Mr W. J. Shaw, chairman of the Kawhia County Council was unavoidably absent.. Mr P„ W. Bell, in opening the proceedings, stated that the tendency of backblock settles was to discuss such matters ss they were there for the day around the firesides, forming their own opinions as to what should be or should not be done, without any data. The meeting that day was to go into the matter minutely, and from a commonsense point of view. The first thing that had to be considered was the formation of the county, and he thought the u;ai:: principle in so doing should be the seeking of an attractive centre which would serve the district at large. He was a merger, and favoured going into Kawhia County. The County o£ Awakino consisted of some ve/y rough country, i which would have consequent results in heavy roadiag expandiiurs and heavy cost nii administration. He was certain that the northern portion o-t the County was the pick of the land, with its comir.unity of interests in Kawhia. IS did not matter what southern Awakino thought of their action. Tha position was that the northern portion was foreign to tns south, and the people tit the north alien to thest; of the south. ThAwakino County as a whole was not butterfat country, and a considerable quantity of the land was held in iarge areas. Ha contended that the com-nu-icial interests of the northern Awakino wen; in Kawhis, as it had a parI ticulai- attraction for this portion of ! the country. He considered that the : various ridings of the Awakino County | had their own attractions, and thcught | that if the county continued a= at I present constituted it would lead to | unending strife. Ea was convinced I that Kawhia would be a very rich county, for it had the iitsjbour, which was s:> a?Het that would be hard to | f:va;:e. Mr Bell went en to point ' t.Ol 'he r-xpenditcra thai v. ould ih* .i;:eu : .-red :in scrincl Initial * crlr. ! which f.'nlc oil be i l:;;,instsd if the f. ; st? ; f-'. inij Or.'. Stwhia r-ii-1> ::v; lirali'.vly >.i- ej ■:? lh? coui;'-iea |nf Kawhir, anr; Waitonw, ting j cut that Bt uf ih- ?'. v;r a .:ntio3 in ; !:• c Tacmrvrui ? ectorofe Kawhia : was the moat ehar.piy adminis'--rsd. ' Kawhia he was certain, would he a I county of strong financial standing, I and he considered that it y&3 their : legitimate ouilet. The opinions of I these residents in iba southern portion | was nothing t>; them. In farthering ' his advocacy of Kawhia, Mr Bell said | it was nr;r gefvraJly known, but that j there ,wei3 petitions in hand by i settlers in the northern' portion of | Waitomo County to go into' the Kaw- | his County.

1 Mr Scholee in desMng with ths administration of thf; Wsitotro County, ( pointed out that Mr Bell had not men-" i ioned the figures of expenditure when dealing with She various items for carrying out the work of the Council. The cost of administration of the Waitomo County for the past year was about 4 per cent, and do not want any gentleman here to run away with the idea ihat we ara extravagant, for I venture to say the Waitorao County is a? cheaply administered as any other in ths North Island. The questios] or tHfii'ging various portions ofthe Awakino County had been before his Council on several occasions, but ihey had been unable to do anything until the county became operative. As far as he could judge from what he had seen and heard, Kawhia was the natural outlet of this particular part of the district. He thcught that if the various parts of the County were going to separate that the best plan would be for the whole county to merge into one, after which the boundaries of the various counties could be readjusted. He considered that all th-?ir interests wre identical, and that was to o-ptn up the country with roads. In that direction he would be glad to give any assistance possible. With regard to the Awakino County, he thought that it should bo cut up. He made reference to a letter which had appeared in the Taraaaki Daily News under the name of Mr G. Leech, chairman of the Awakino County Council, urging the carrying on of the as a whole, and asking the ratepayers to hold the bridging of the Mokau River in view. He was sure the Waitomo County did not want the bridge, and neither did the people of northern Awakino. He thought this was a Very poor argument. The letter also referred to the extravagance of tha Waitomo County —a matter which was entirely erroneous. He thought the people of the district were fortunate in having the Marokopa waterway, as it relieved the roads of heavy traffic. J. Wouldes was in favour of going into Kawhia, and thought that_ undue force should not be used in forcing any settler to go where they did not want to. If Pomerangi settlers wanted the Waitomo County, let them have it. Mr Wouldes W6nt on to deal with the wharf and shed, and how it would be affected by the ounty. He would like to know what the position was as regards the £SOOO borrowing limit of a county. Mr Mora explained that the £SOOO borrowing limit was as far as the State Guaranteed Advances Office were concerned. Local bodies could horrow irom the Public Trustee if they liked to pay the it;' "est. The £SOOO restriction had now been removed. After a considerable amount of

desultory discussion the following resolution was carried: "That the settlers of the Marokopa district take steps to merge into the County of Kawhia, subject to adjustment of boundaries."