MOUTOA DRAINAGE MATTERS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 483, 21 September 1909, Page 3

MOUTOA DRAINAGE MATTERS.

[To the Editor.]

Sir, —I was amused t o notice by your report of tbe meeting of the Moutoa Drainage Board that Trustee Hammond thinks I can’t see a hole through a ladder. Now, if that is so what possible chance have I of seeing through him, and yet that’s quite easy. With regard to causing trouble when the Board was constituted, I did not oppose the scheme, but the unfair advantages some ratepayers gained over others. The manner of going aboil 1 ; this matter of clearing the diagonal drain by some of the Trustees allows little shalts of light to filter through that ladder, for more than one of the Board have told me that they are unaquainted with the legal position, and I begin to believe Mr Easton might lie right when he says one or two might affect the votes of others. Trustee Hammond put his position to me in a nutshell when he said to me in Palmerston recently, “my idea is, clean the drain out and if the ratepayeis don’t like it they can bump ns out next election !” Yon see, sir, what a chance the outside ratepayer has under those conditions, and what a lot can be done in the time. Its there it and can’t be undone, the ratepayers are committed. Trustee Barber will remember that I told him when discussing the cleaning of this drain, that, from my present knowledge of the matter, not having seen the drain for some time, and in consideration of the precedent, I did not consider the Board had any right to do the work, especially as the relief is only temporary. In conclusion, whether the ratepayers, all or none, can see a hole through a ladder or not, certain promises were made by the Board and by the promoters of the scheme, and your report will show how many of the trustees are considering the outside ratepayers as they should. —I am, etc., Waptkr S. Carter,