BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Kumara Times, Issue 1749, 9 May 1882, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

A special meeting of the Borough Council \vn& held last evening at the Town Hall, for the purpose of considering certain resolutions of which Cr. Seddon had given notice, bavins; for their object the merging of the Borough int the Westland County Council. Tinhall was crowded, notwithstanding the thoroughly inclement weather. The following Councillors were present:— His Worship the Mayor (J. O'Hagan, Esq.) in the chair ; Crs. Barnett. Seddon, Home, Campbell, Pollock, Rudkiu, Anderson, Burger, and Dove.

The minutes of the previous meeting been read and confirmed,

Cr. Seddon 6aid a deputation was in waiting who wished to interview the Council. He moved that the deputation be asked to explain their reasons for soliciting the interview.

The Chairman thought that the proper course would be to postpone thn business of the Council till after the deputation had been intet viewed. Cr. Barnett would second Cr. Seddon's motion—Carried.

Messrs Hannan, King, Killeen, Spindeler, Brernond, and Barff were then introduced by Cr. Seddon. Mr Hannan thanked the Council for suspending the business of the evening in order to receive the deputation. A meeting of publicans had been held at seven o'clock that evening, and a resolution passed asking the Council to assimilate the license fees as paid in the County. The amount of the license fee was very heavy upon the publican. He hoped the Council would take a favorable view of their case and help them in theiv difficulty.

Mr Barff said a second resolution was also passed asking that a rebate should (>e made. There was nothing in the Municipal Corpotations Act forbidding such a proceeding.

Cr. Seddon asked if the deputation had male any calculation of the amount to be paid by the publican? in the Borousjh, compared with that paid by publicans in the County. MrHannan stated that it was the difference between £25 and £io. Cr. Seddon—That would make a total difference of about .£420 which the publicans in the Borough would have to pay over a corresponding number of publicans in the County. Cr. Barnett asked whether the publicans thought if they could not get a rebate it would be better to dissolve the Council.

The Chairman considered that was a mutter for the Council to consider. C.\ Campbell would like to know from the deputation if the Council had no power to reduce the license foe would it be iu favor of a dissolution of the Council.

Mr Hannan replied that if the Council could not reduce or make a rebate then the deputation was in favor of a dissolution.

The deputation having thanked the Council, withdrew.

Cr. Seddon said he would now proceed to move the resolutions of which he had given notice, and which we e as follow:

"That inasmuch as Kumara, being a Borough inflicts considerable hardships upon a large section of the Burgesses, inasmuch as the licensing fees are £ls more than they would be if it were a county, and moreover that very expensive alterations to premises are required by a large section of the publicans before section 38 of the "Licensing Act" is complied with ; and seeing that the streets are now fairly formed, also

that the moneys accruing would be better expended in developing the resources of the surroirwdiHg district, this Council therefore, desire his Excellency, subject to the approval of the Westland County Council, to issue a proclamation dissolving the Borough of Kumara. That in accordance with the powers conferred by section 354, Municipal Corporations Act, 1876, and the laws amending same, the Borough Council of Kumara do hereby petition His Excellency the Governor to dissolve the Borough of Kumara, and that such petition shall be drawn up, signed, and forwarded to His Excellency the Governor in manner as provided by law. That the terms and conditions upon which this Council do agree to have the said Borough dissolved are as follows. Ist. That the County Council of Westland shall at all times keep the roads, streets, and footpaths within the limits of the boundaries of the Borough as at present defined in good repair. 2nd. And shall within such limits expend in repairs and improvements no less a sum than that received from fee 3 andlicenses under the Licensing Act, 1881. 3rd, That the said County Conncil of Westland shall take over all assets and liabilities of the said Borough of Kumaia. 4th. That in the event of the County Council of Westland demurring to these terms, then that a conference of the two bodies be held so as to decide on what terms the Borough shall be merged. Copy of this resolution if carried to be forwarded to the Westland Council.

Before proceeding farther he would ask that the 4th resolutiou should be excised, as he found that a conference of Councils could not be held. The question was one of great importance to him as well as to every one in the Borough, and it might be thought that in advocating the dissolution of of the Borough that he was committing suicide. But he would ask them to take into consideration the various surroundings of the case. Instead of getting larger the Borough was getting smaller, and so were the places outside of it, and under these circumstances he considered the time had arrived to make a chance. The Borough was necessary at the time it was created, and it had done well.' The streets had been made and drainage attended to, but now the grass was growing in their streets and no reproductive works were being undertaken. A-oin there was the question urged by the deputaion that evening, namely th=!t of the difference in the publicans licenses inside and outside the Borough. If something was not done the number of public hoiitttw would he reduce-1 and shanties opened in their place. Would this benefit the community. He contended that publicans could not pa> the large sum demanded from them. It had been stated that the difference would amouut to about £420, but he would tell them with 3(1 licenses it was a difference of £750. A ten o'clock license was no good, and if a publican expected to make a living he must take out a twelve o'clock license. It might be said that the reason he wished to dissolve the borough was that it pressed on the publicans, but he differed from that. They were all ratepayers, and what pressed heavily on one section of the community pressed upon all, an( j if the publicans suffered, all other tradesmen suffered in common. It might be asked what good would be gained by dissolving the Council and merging it into the Westland County Council. His resolutions provided that the price of their joining the W. Council wps that a quid pro quo should be given. The resolutions provided that the amount received from publicans fees should be expended in the borough. He would ask where were there any new works being carried on. There was none between the Tereniftkaa and the Arahura. If the borough was merged into the county, they would he able to make new roads and tracks which they could not do now. They could make a road to the beach. At present they could not get to the beach except along a road formed by a private tramway company. When the people of Dillman's Town were asked to join the borough they refused, because they argued that the whole of the revenue would be expended in Eumara. The Municipal Corporations Act gave them power either to extend the borough, to merge into another County, or else to form a new county. If the Westland Couty Council threw them over they could re-form and he had no hesitation in saying that a new county from the Arahura to the Teremakaw would be one of the richest in New Zealand. (Mr Seddon here quoted from section 354 of the Municipal Corporations Act bearing upon the formation of counties or the merging of boroughs into counties.) An I offer had been made by the Government some time ago to hand over the water-iaces to the County. These | woiks should be under local control, for if they were under local control they | would be better managed. These pro- I posals he had made were not new ideas, ! as he had contemplated the change for I years. He was opposed from the first' io the creation of the borough. What I 1) d be n jjained. Why they were in ' debt. With all their revenue, were >

thete any new v/otks undertaken. There were none and yet they wore in debt. The borough must get smaller and their revenue less. Their population was getting smaller and empty houses were in their streets. He saw no difficulty in passing the resolutions lie had moved. Mr Seddon having a<;ain read over the resolutions asked permission to withdraw Clause 4 This having lieen agreed to—

Cr. Barnett seconded the motion. He had "one into the matter fuliy, and al- I though opposed to the motion at first, was now convinced it would be advantageous to the people. They had all lost money more or less, and with regard to the increase in the publicans' licenses, they all suffered through it, as the money that would be used for other purposes had to go to pay the increased fees. If the Westland County Council refused their offer, they could have a county of their own, and would be able to take over the water-supply. They coald not carry on without an increased water-supply. Public works would also be carried on in directions where they were needed. For himself his all was at stake in the borough, and he was prepared to say to say mer<re or form a new county. Either of these would be the salvation of the place. The Chairman said he would not detain them long, as the matter had assumed a different complexion to what it had some time since, still it was a matter that should not be acted on hastily, and he proposed that the consideration of the motion be deferred for one week. The subject was so important that it required grave consideration. The notice they had received was too *hort, and in acMng with precipitancy they were committing suicide. If the matter was so urgent steps should have been taken earlier, and it was a great pity this had not been done. He admitted that the licensing fees were a heavy tax on the puMicans, but the opposition should have been made before the Licensing Act was passed. This should been urged in Parliament, mid should have b-en opposed, which hi contended had not been done. Be--8 des, Mr Seddon's motion came too Lte, for it required three months at 1 • tst before it cmld be brought in'o working order, and before that time all the license fees would have been paid. Me was prepared to give the deputation any relief if it could be legally done. The resolution of Cr. Seddon was to the effect that a certain sum pliould be expended within the limits of the Borough by the Westland County Council. Supposing that the present Council agreed to those terms it could not bind its successors: No doubt the Westland County Council would be prepared to take over all the property of the Birough—reserves aud all. It might be urged that these reserves were not at much valiv just now. but they would become valuable shortly. As to the empty houses which had been spoken of, he did not know of any. He strongly recommended time for consideration and condemned hasty legislation as they might be sorry for it. They knew how the Westland County Council had acted in the past, and bow Ross had to form itself into a borough to protect it from the Council, and what had been done in the paet might be done again.

Cr. Seddon said adjournment simply meant burking his resolution. They might just as well postpone it for a month when he would be in Wellington. The County Council met on Wednesday, and he would have to be there, wheu this matter could be considered. As to the subject not coming on for discussion before, it was his Worship the Mayor that was the cause of it being postponed. The Chairman denied that he had opposed the discussion of the motion. Cr. Seddon—l gave notice of motion which was the same as I moved to-night. The Chairman understood from the Clerk it was a different motion. The Clerk said there must have been a misunderstanding. After some further discussion of a similar character to the above.

Cr. Burger seconded the amendment urging that no good could be gained by precipitancy. The Chairman had no objection to a deputation from the Borough waiting on the County Council to see whether the terms could be agreed on. Cr. Seddon pointed out that nothing could be gained by delay. The matter was entirely in the hands of the ratepayers, as one-fourth of the ratepayers in the borough could prevent any action being taken in merging the borough into the Council. Let them pas 3 the resolutions and let the ratepayers say "Yes" or "No" whether the Borough should be dissolved. What would be the use of a deputation going to Hokitika. They would have no power, as they went there without any. The deputation would simply be a laughing stock. The Chairman in endeavoring to postpone his motion simply wanted to burk it. The Chairman had twitted the members for the district in not fighting against the Licensing Act in Parliament. He could

tell that gentleman that if he referred to Hansard he would fiftd ihst he had opposed rt as much as he' cuffl.l—that he pointed out that although it might be anpliable to boroughs like Christchurch and Dunedin it was not to the boroughs on the West Coast. The shoe pinched them now and they should make a stir. At present with their revenue they could not make a road or track outside the borough. What they wanted was roads and notfancy streets, lne Ooiinty Council on a previous occasion did not treat them badly. When they went to the County Council, when the borough was formed, and asked for a return of £IOOO 0 f the licensing fees, the County Council did more than what it was asked to do and returned the whole of the licensing fees amounting to £I4OO. The Borough Council could not refund" the licensing fees. He should oppose the amendment. Cr, Campbell said it was a most important question and one that required consideration. When the Borough was formed it was necessary and had done it 3 duty well. Streets had been made and drainage formed. The main question was whether they could better themselves if they changed from the borough to the county. He was sorry that so much had been made of the publicans interest. He sympathised with them and would be in favor of refunding a portion of the fees, but they must go tm broader grounds. They lived as it were on one another and were compelled to spend the money in the town on the town itself. There were other works required which they could not do a with, because they were outside the borough. The time had now arrived for them to face the difficulty and the question for them to solve was which was tie most useful—remaining as a borough or merging into the County Council. Some persons thought that in merging thj/ would be delivering themselves into t m hands of the Philistines. It had be-n asked why did not the County Council make the DillmWs Town road. And it could also be urged that if they had £IOOO to spend they could as well spend it themselves as m handing the amount over to the County Council. There were certain things that required alteration and he believed that the Council could effect them. Cr. Seddon having briefly replied, The Chairman pnt the amendment which was lost by 4 to 6 Ayes—The Chairman, Crs. Home. Burger, and Dove. Noes—Crs. Seddon, Bamett, Pollock, Anderson, Campbell, and Rudkin. The amendment was lost. For the motion : Ayes 6—Crs. Seddon, Barnett, Pollock, Anderson, Campbell, and Rudkin. Noes 4—The Chairman, Crs. Home. Burger, and Dove. The Council then adjourned.