Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 14, ?889. FINANCING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume VII, Issue 266, 14 May 1889, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, MAY 14, ?889. FINANCING.

i — ♦ The report of the last meeting of the Manawatu County Counoil is very contradictory, and it is difficult to ascertain the real financial position of that body. In one place it is stated that the chairman reported on the finances and that they were very satfefsetory, yet in another portion we read that the Council had become liable for contracts amounting to £1000 in anticipation of loan, and the Chairman said that they had not a thousand pence. The report i$ evidently wanting in preciseness. What we desire to draw attention to is the peculiar manner the County adopts in negotiating a purchase. For the last two or three months they have been endeavouring to' \ work an engine out of the Government and the Railway Company. The former lapsed, as while the Council were considering, the De* partment sold to a cash, purchaser. They have since been trying to buy on terms from the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, and lat the last meeting, a letter was | read from the Manager, stating i " that the offer to purchase the Weka at £100 cash, and the 1 balance of £350 in bills of equal ainount at 3, 6, 9, and 12 xnontgiß had been accepted " and in spite oj£ their offer be- | ing accepted, they passed a resolution to offer £50 lets and payments of balance, to ;be made differently to what they had previously proposed, and also inserting other provisions If this is not trading in a peculiar manner we do not know what it is, and will certainly lead, as Mr Beid, the contractor for working the line asserted, to their getting no engine for some time. No business men for* one moment would dream of playing fast and loose with the business interests of a large district, and the whole of their action affords an instance of how unfit ,tae persons in cbarge are, to* have the control of macbineiy/ effecting tie welfare of those who haveiembarlted capital in industries, dependent! in a great measure on the even and regular working of this tramway. We may be wrong, but the delays raised on the eve of completion of a negotiation signifies that, notwithstanding > the exceedingly satisfactory state of tho County finances, that a deficiency in the Banking account causes the delays, and if time is gained, they will then be able to meet the point of a first cash payment. We hold that this is the most charitable view to take of these complications, or they would deserve to be designated by much stronger terms, as the quibble as to the engine being in a satisfactory state could have been ascertained at the cost of a couple of guineas long before now. The Borough has met the County in every way they were able to enable them to obtain a better motor* foregoing lor a time their share of the rolling stook and material sold. It is then extremely unsatisfactory to the Borough to witness so much hesitation m making provision to

carry on the much increased trade that the flax industry has brought to the line.