Kawhia County Council.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 227, 22 September 1905, Page 2

Kawhia County Council.

COUXTY BOU.VDARIRS.

The question of the boundaries of ■ the County was mentioned to the • Minister at Wallington, thadeputatiou , string that dissathfactfou existed at > the Southern boundary, wbest-by a i certain lot of settles were left out who ’ desired to be included, and they were i v ry disappt'ifited.—lu reply, the Hon. Hall Jones said that be was waiting tar a petition from the set* Mw-s, and: when that was pnr* beibiy the feouhfiftries wotild be alteredDISTRICT ROAD ENGINEER. IjtWhen in Wellington recently, the deputation from Kawhia touched ' upon a subject of great importance to > this locality. They asked that %,C9ad - engineerjbe appointed, solely for the 1 Kawhia dfetriot, as they felt that greater justice would be raceUedl — The Minister promised to consider the ! proposal. ACCOUNTS. ' The following ’acc Hints were passed tor payment:—G Hartman 7s 6d, stamps and telegrams, 121 31 ; Imperial Paper C0.,£04i; clerk’s salary, _ £5; Kawhia SmLEE|, £2 13; deptfla-i ■ Hob expenses, £8 18s lid. Total, m&i si. 1 .« <■., THE HOADS. . Xu referring to the recent visit la Wellington of himself and Cr Babbage the Chairman (Cr M Cardie) stated that when ha found that he could not go to Wellington as early as he would have liked to, he had written a long letter-to the Minister for Lands advising him that if he wished to immortalise his name he must bring in a progressive road policy. He ah j pointed ( out that in tbe evidenca given before ' the Land Commission, the opinion expressed from one end of the colony to , the other was that the black mark ’ against tbe Governmant was the slow ! manner in which roads were Constructed ; an alteration was absolutely necessary in justice both to the settlers audio the colony. Further, he stated that no part of the colony hud been so ’ badly treated as tbe Kawhia district, ’ where settlement was rapidly progres-j- > ing notwiihstandiLg the great bard • ships—settlers who were entitled to ’ dray roads not even having a track, i The Minister, in replying to the letter, I stated that be was pleased that the i county had come into operation, as the | works would now gat greater justice, - being under the Council’s supervision. ■ When the schedule of urgent works 1 was laid before the Minister, he stated that.he favoured giving all r>he settlers tracks before any widening and metalling was undertaken. The Estimates had been prepared, but he would do bis best to place them upon the supf plimentary. He (the speaker) thought } that instead of asking the Government to widen the roads it-would be better to go in for loan?, and get the Govern- [ meat td give a £ for £ subsidy, which } was really the only way to get pro- } gross. Under the Council's control } the expense ot spending the money would be far less than at present. Cr Armstrong said that he was rather disappointed at the result of tbe visit to Wellington, as he thought that at least something would" have been done relative to the loan tor theOknpatu road, for which the ratepayers ware prepared to rate themselves. The Chairman said that the idea t was to first see what could be obtained j without-a"loan, and then come forward ’ with loans. If the settlers intended raising a loan it was useless asking - for a grant; that, he thought, was the i feeling of the Council until they knew 1 whait the Government was going io do, ■ not to float a loan and ask for a £ for ' £ subsidy. I Cr Armstrong said that the Oparau i settlers wanted to raise a loan to widen an<4 metal. r , The CtiftirhiMi f It is much betted to widen and metal with a £ tor £ i grant. Or W. Shaw: And much cheaper, provided the Government grant it. : - Or H. Shaw: Yes; I tbiak it wfeuld be ■ J U (J 1 ) [ & j | „ iCr Armstrong: But we want It at oqce._ It is no. use waiting. SaJhM? we bßWgot little ftom the Government. - . r ' ’ Or Norton : W»y ttiirhnrry ? The Estimates are not out yet. Tbe Chairman suggested that the Council should wait and see if they got anything from the Government. Cr Armitrong ; Th© Oparau settlers waiit tbe Council to immediately take preliminary steps for the raising of a loan. r r ; The Chairman : There are a lot of urgent works to roads in other parts ot the district where dairying is likely to jbo taken up. Lat us go in for a loan half -the 7 amount , quired, Wd* ght • ttie* Government to subsidise the other halt. ? . Cr W. Shaw suggested writing to see if a loan qoqld be raised, -■.Or ArinsttaagL I 'would likeMo'bee this matter pushed forward at once. In reply to a question, the Clerk said that tbe County could apply for £6OOO in one year. He suggacted applying for £12,000 for this year and next. Each of the councillors stated that their respective ridings were prepared to.go in f.ir loans. : ‘ The sooner we go in for loans the sooner we derive the benefits, and the longer the thirds will go to pay the iiUereot. The resolution re a loan (published last isme) was then carried. THIRDS. t The Chairman remarked, relative to the matter- of third?, that he could speak with au hority, as be had had a lot.of experiencs in gs’.tiug them f ir other local bodies with which he bad beau connected. The mones shoakl ba.spent on roads which gave access to

sections from wberu sfe© thirds war©; derived. Ttp be eon suited as to where tbe iajrds were ta-' be spent. Thera was no doubt &at' the Auckland Board hal been expending money illegally, "The third© did not belong to that body, nor the County Council, but to the settlers themselves. Mr Burd, Governmet t District Engineer, had been spending the thirds where be had no right to du,. and the Faction holders did not know where their thirds bad bean expended. A latter bad . been forwarded to tbe asking for a schedule of thirds, where they hid been spent, and the balances left over, but no reply had been received. Some twelve months ago he had brought this im portant question under the notice of the Auckland Lind Board by tetter, asking tbe Board to hold the third which had accrued ic the Kawhia County, and not hand them over fdr expenditure, as the C mnty would be iu active operation shortly. But, he believed, the money had been banded over, and a sum of £BO2 12s 4d :«x pended—illegally expanded— a© it was not ftpent for tbe benefit ot the seoiioß holders where tbe thirds had occrued. He would ask the Council to support bito, and in tbe interests of the settlers to make a test case of the whole thing and show tbe Land Boards and tbe Lands Department that cannot deal loosely with this matter.' fHear, hear.) Tbe whole question wanted ventilating. Cr Jonathan : D ) you contenl tba' the expenditure of the thirds ba-> been illegal ? Tbe Chairman: Y*a Cr Jonathan: Do you knov the dates ? The Chairman . It has bee a going on ever since the lands around here have bien settled. Cr W. Sbaw : There is a ©urn of £BO2 12s 41 gome somewhere, and we should leave no .stone unturacd to have this amount refunded. Cr J mat han suggested getting a legal opinion on the matter. The Chairman : Those in authority have been ignoring the Council and going their own sweet way. lf they do not give the inform&lijn asked for we should go further in the matter. We have a right to ask to have the expending of any money that belongs to the Coun. 3’l. A motion was then carried dealing with the subject, as published in our last issue.