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Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 20 March 1912, Page 3

"by a copy of March from Mr Bridge. I with the admit bit thick cannot frequentdo with will leave to the he says, that they necessary *°wn" jSjjpshQuld "havWpredbmiirating; • ccMtrol of the brftge, no matte]* what site it is on. He goes on to' say:" If there were no Hot Springs or they were vested in the Council, it would be ' different." Surely, Sir, this a most remarkable statement. Firstly, does Mr Rea raally think for one moment that /the whole of the i Baoylon Flat Aeitlersj who estab . lished themsdflfes there before any bridge was feuilt, and for whose convenience it was .built, should hand over the Control of the bridge to the Town Board, because the Wa.itemata County Council has generously waved its right to •. the Springs in favour of the Town ■ Board (which Springs are situated in nearly the middle of the Mairetahi Riding)"and is the only Do-' main Reserve in the County not controlled by the Council ? Why should the settlers, after waving their right to'the Springs, also Hand over the control of their only access to Helensville, and, be at the sweekmercy of the Chairman of the Town Board, who, if you remember, read a letter the Board had received from the County Engineer at that notable meeting he called, asking if the Board were prepared to join in and lift a grant of £200 for the Bridge. The Chairman did not tell the. meeting that all he proposed and • carried was that -the-letter be J received. -I would like to ask Mr Rea/if he thinks that was the proper way for one local body to treatanother when their Engineer writes on a matter that interests both bodies. Is that the sort of head for a controlling body over the Bridge ? If the bridge carried away to-morrow should the settlers be at the mercy of such a head? I am sure the ratepayers of Helensville will agree with me- that they should not. Again, if it is carried away, who is |in the best position to replace it, the County or the Town Board? I say the County,that has a revenue of £15,000 against the Town Board with £350. It means that if such a, thing did happen the ratepayers of Helensville would require to have their rates about trebled. I would ask Mr Rea if an accident happened him at the bridge whereby the local body was liable, which one he would sue, the one with £15,----.000 or the one with £350 ? Mr Rea next states "'Let the people of Helensville not forget that Mr James McLeod is an able and enthusiastic battler for the best interests of the Waitemata County Council every time and all the time." I must thank Mr Rea for his flattering remark, and if I were not, I am afraid.l would not be representing Mairetahi Biding, but, although Mr Rea has done me this great honour, I-feel that at the same time he is trying to show the Helensville; ratepayers that I 3# —a..m not working in their best int\ terests. That will be for them to -', decide in September next. I was "i also twitted.t>y the Chairman of X Town Board at his farce raeet-: fdng, that I only Teased enough ; "**"" property within the Board to qualify me for a seat on the Board. I freely admit the charge, I have no property built on the public road, nor am I making use qf my position on the Board ' to crowd two houses on a section where there should only be one. I am there to help the ratepayers to the . best of my ability'in the township I was reared in. ' I give my time freely for the benefit of the ratepayers without any axe to grind, and I hope Mr Rea can say the N same. Mr Reaiiext tells us what Ms ideas were some years ago of what was required in Helensville : (1). Revaluation of the towhship. —That was decided upon when I was Chairman. <2): Change in the incident of rating.—That I proposed and 'Mr Beoroft seconded, and we carried \% against the j present Chairman. (3). Water and Drainage Scheme.—l was thg first to advocate water from Mangafcura and took the members of the Town Board to1 see the place

■■is now proposed to bring ■r from, and when GhairpheJßqard, I took Dr. Me-: istrict Health Ofneet/out and got him to anaiyse the water 'and report to" the Board. I .also took Mr Mclntosh, District Railway Engineer, out to get his opinion of it. Up to that time the Town Board had no power to borrow enough money to : bring water in, but at the present time power has been given to Boards to borrow for such purposes, and the scheme is in hand. ;Nos. .1, 2, and 3 have all been adopted, but where Mr Rea comes in, I fail -.to', see. Now for the Waitemata .County Council. Mr Rea and the Chairman of the Board would try to make the ratepayers believe that the Council was against the interests of the Board. Such is not the case. For instance, when I was Chairman of the County I got £80 from the Council for the Technical School at Helensville: Had it not been for that the school would hot have been there to-day. The County Engineer drew plans and specifications for the road past Sullivan's to Hand's property, the same for Porter's Avenue, specifications for lifting £150 grant for inlandroad to Bennett and Green's nursery. (This grant was for County work,.but I got it handed to the Town Board). He took the rough levels of Mangakura to see if the proposed water ■..supply was high enough to gravitate to Helensville. He also made i a large plan of the Hot Springs reserve, showing all baths, buildings, pipes, valves, and drains; also plans and specifications in duplicate for the Bowling Green, supervised the work, and taken all the levels connected therewith. All this 'has been done free of charge to the Board, so I think Helensville has a little to thank the Council for. . I only refer to

this to let the ratepayers see tHat I am not quite as Mr Rea puts it "Waitemata County every time and all the time." Had I not been in the, Council as well as the Town Board, the present Library would not have been erected, because it was through the Council that I found out we could get the grant, and I advised the* Library Committee to collect the L for L required to lift the grant. I would ask Mr Rea whose duty it was to have seen to this matter of the grant, the Chairman of the Board or mine ? Why did he not bestir himself? Was the Library the same as the Swing Bridge, at the wrong end ? I asked the Minister for Railways when here, if he would erect a small goods shed at Helensville South. Why did not the Chairman of the Town Board give me some' assistance in the matter if he is in sympathy with Helensville South Station as he told the ratepayers he was at the meeting? Actions speak louder than words.

. Thanking' you in anticipation for encroaching so much on your valuable space.

I am, etc., James McLeod