PUBLIC MEETING.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 44, 21 March 1877, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

The adjourned public meeting to consider matters of importance affecting the welfare of Palmerston and surrounding district was held in the Foresters' Hall on Saturday afternoon last. Mr Snelson occupied the chair, and in opening the meeting, gave a resume of the business transacted at the previous meeting. The Chairman further said, without going into the question of forming Palmerston into a municipality at any length, he would say that he was sorry the County Council had been dragged into the discussion at the previous meeting. They had got their members in the County Council who would work for the interests of the district. As a Municipality they would have full control of all moneys raised within the Municipality ; they would have fully £1,000 more to spend as they liked; and the beauty of it was they need not tax themselves one halfpenny more. At present they had no control over license and other fees. There were many other matters to consider, but it was impossible to specify them all at once. He thought the best thing to do was to form a committee of eight or ten to urge upon the Government the desirability of forming Palmerston into a municipality. Mr Owen did not think there was any necessity for importing any discussion about the County Council into the matter. The question they had to consider was whether they should take the necessary steps to form the township into a municipality or not. He believed the borough form of government would work well in Palmerston. It was in force in Hokitika, at the present time, and when there recently he had held some conversation with a friend of his concerning that system of government, and his friend had informed him that it was the best form of local government that he could think of. The borough form of government would not check the operations of the Road Board or anything else conducive to the prosperity of the district, and in its working would give very little trouble. He would, propose "That a committee be formed for the purpose of taking the initiative in getting Palmerston formed into a borough." He thought the committee, when elected, should begin to work as soon as possible, and hoped they would prove worthy of the trust reposed in them. Mr Linton begged to second the motion. He thought the object of the present meeting had not been clearly stated in the report of the last meeting, or many more of the adjacent settlers who would be affected by the proposed change would have been present. The borough would embrace an area of three miles or mor, and he thought that if many of the outlying settlers had known this they would have been in attendance. He believed the revenue of the municipality would amount to a larger sum than that estimated at last meeting. It had been estimated at £1,500, but he thought that it would be more like £2,000. The Chairman said that the Committee should be careful not to take in too much area. Perhaps it would not be wise to take in all that the Act allowed. Mr Bruce thought the matter should be left optional with the Committee. He thought that if possible it would be well to select some natural boundary such as a river. Mr Linton thought it would be well to take in all the area they were entitled to. People would settle around the town, and if included in the municipal area would contribute to the revenue of the Borough. Mr R. Leary said with regard to the relation of this place to the County Council it might be said that as a Municipality, Palmerston, would be less elegible to become the County Town. He thought that it would be years before the privilege of being the County Town would be worth anything, and when that time would come, Foxton would very likely be a municipality also, and would be, therefore, on the same footing with ourselves. The inhabitants of Masterton were like the inhabitants of Palmerston, making a move to bring the town under the Municipal Act, and one of the main arguments used by the local press in favor of the measure, was, that with municipal powers, they would be able to check the itinerant or pedling trade that prevailed to the great injury of the local storekeeper. In Palmerston, they were not much troubled with pedlars in the strict sense of the word, but if they could as a municipality make the clauses in the Municipal Act relating to pedlers, fit the backs of those gentlemen who came periodically from Wellington with their cheap sales of rubbish that had been rejected from the Wellington market, they would benefit both storekeepers and townsfolk, and retain money in the place. It was conconsidered necessary to protect the country against foreign capital by imposing an import duty of 10 or 11 per cent. He thought it was equally necessary to protect the towns against the flying visits of outside tradesmen, and if the Municipal Act would enable them to do this, by all means let them adopt it. The arguments already adduced by other speakers had gone to show that as a municipality they would have control of a much larger revenue than at present. They might, therefore, look for many local improvements, that the Local Board cannot compass. The Square for instance, which is now unsightly with its heaps of old timber would be planted with shrubs and transformed into a pleasant park. He thought that any disadvantages that might accrue from the acceptance of the act would be more than counterbalanced by the solid benefits they should experience. The

change therefore was a safe one to make. It was then proposed by Mr. Abrahams and seconded by Mr. R. Leary, That the Committee consist of Messrs Snelson, Owen, Linton, Keeling, J. P. Leary, R. Leary, King, and the mover. Carried. The Chairman said he would take the opportunity of introducing another matter affecting the district. It was a very general impression that the Government intended at some future time to erect a bridge at the Lower Ferry. He had spoken to Mr Baird on the subject some time ago, and that gentleman had informed him that the Government had not actually decided that a bridge should be built there, and that they had thought of making a road on the opposite side of the river. He (the Chairman) thought the construction of such a road would prove of immense benefit to Palmerston, and to the Fitzherberton settlers. If this road were not made the bridge now being constructed would really lead to no where, but the making of such a road would open up a large tract of country and facilitate settlement, and he did not think that it would injuriously , affect the other end of the township, or the Stoney Creek and Poanghua districts. The Committee appointed by the meeting might take in hand to point out to the Government the advisability of setting aside blocks of waste land on deferred payment along this proposed line of road, which for the sake of convenience they would call the River Bank Road. The matter at all events might be suggested to Mr Johnston, pointing out to him at the same time that it would be a great boon to the district. Mr Bruce said that perhaps some present did not clearly understand what was proposed. By the making of the road in question, the contemplated bridge at the Lower Ferry would not necessarily be done away with. It was certainly a nuisance to have only a ferry crossing on a main trunk line of road, and a bridge at the lower ferry might perhaps be found to be necessary, but the making of the road ought not to hinge on the construction or otherwise of the bridge. The road would benefit a large district, and land would be sold to settlers all along it. He did not say that the Lower Ferry should be done away with. It would be convenient for settlers in its vicinity to use it, and whilst it paid it would no doubt be continued. It would be greatly to the advantage of settlers on the Fitzherberton block to have this road made. In advocating its construction he was not merely looking to his own interests, for if no action were taken concerning the road there would be no toll on the bridge leading to his property ; but if a road was made on the other side of the river leading to the Lower Ferry, and brought under control of the County Council, he as well as others would then doubtless have to pay toll. Mr Knott said he would like to know what the settlers on the Gorge road would do if the Lower Ferry was done away with ? Mr Linton said they could not do away with the crossing at the Lower Ferry. He believed the road on the other side of the river was much wanted, and a bridge at the Lower Ferry on the main line of road leading to Napier was wanted also. He did not see why the district should not have both these conveniences. The Provincial Secretary had been sent down two years ago to examine the river at the Lower Ferry, and he believed it was the intention of the Government to build a bridge there. To advocate the making of the road in lieu of building the bridge would be to inflict an injustice upon settlers on the Stoney Creek and Gorge line of road. Mr. Owen thought that the settlers on the Gorge line should not stick out against the making of the River Bank Road as against the building of the bridge. He thought there was no possible chance of getting a bridge at the Lower Ferry at present. In urging the matter upon Mr Bunny some time ago the gentleman had asked him if the district required two bridges across the same river within six miles of each other. The Chairman thought there was no chance of getting the bridge at the present time. If they could get it well and good ; but as he had before stated, the road was a necessity to the settlers who had already purchased land in the Fitzherberton Block ; a large area of country would be opened up by it—at least some 12,000 pr 14,000 acres would be made availabe for settlement. The fact of having a road leading to Stoney Creek and the Gorge could not be urged as a reason why they did not require the Rangitikei and other lines of road: and the having these roads was no reason why they should not have one made on, the opposite side of the river. The bridge would be a matter of time. Had the Government intended to build a bridge immediately they would not have put a punt at the Lower Ferry. There was now a fair prospect of getting this road made, and its construction would be of great advantage to the settlers on the other side of the Manawatu as well as to the township of Palmerston. Mr Bruce said that if it were a question between the bridge and the road, he would not feel so inclined to advocate the making of the road, but as the matter stood, there appeared to be no chance of getting the bridge, and he would therefore say "let us have the road." Mr R. LEARY thought that the formation of this road would not ultimately clash with the interests of the StoneyCreek settlers, but undoubtedly its immediate effect would be to put off indefinitely the erection of the Lower Ferry Bridge, and in this way their interests would be for a while affected.

They should try and act justly towards all the settlers, and: if benefiting those in one direction would injure those in another, it would be better to wait a while. He thought it, therefore, better that the meeting should not take immediate action in the matter. Mr Linton did not quite agree with the remarks of the previous speaker. The bridge now being constructed was a connecting link between Palmerston and Wellington, and it would become a necessity to open out roads on the other side of the river. If the matter were properly moved in he believed they would get the road made and the bridge built at the ferry as well. Mr Francis agreed with Mr Linton's remarks. Re did not think there was any danger of the Gorge road, as a main line, ever being done away with. He had observed that about the Gorge there was much iron stone, and where that was found there was generally coal, and perhaps gold, close at hand; so there was a prospect of an important industry springing up in the neighbourhood of the Gorge. Mr King thought they might take for granted that a bridge at the Lower Ferry would not prejudice the claims of the Fitzherberton settlers to a road. If the road were not made, some of the settlers would have to cross in canoes. They might grow crops, but they would have no proper means of removing them to a market. Mr Richardson thought it was questionable if they would get the bridge if the road were asked for Mr Linton did not think so. The settlers across the river were entitled to the road, and the Gorge settlers were entitled to the Bridge. Mr Bruce said the settlers on the Gorge road could easily come to Palmerston with their produce, but without a road, the settlers on the other side of the river, would be locked up, whilst others would have free access to the market. Mr Owen said if it was a question of road versus bridge, he would feel inclined to vote for the bridge, but as no such question was involved, he would vote for the road. He would move, That the Government be requested to appropriate a sum of money for making a line of road on the opposite side of the river. Mr Abrahams, in seconding the motion, said he agreed with the remarks made b y Mr Owen. The settlers on the Gorge line had got their land on deferred payments, but not with the idea that they would get a bridge. The road ought to be asked for at once, as it was necessary to the welfare of the district. The motion was then put and carried, and it was proposed by Mr Linton, and seconded by Mr Keeling, That the Committee before appointed be requested to act in this matter. Carried. The Chairman said there was another matter which he would like to bring before the meeting. The Manawatu has never had full justice done it by the Government. Some have said that any amount of public money has been spent in Palmerston, but in spending this money the Government were but carrying out the Public Works Policy and suiting their own convenience. He would say that the district of Manawatu as Manawatu had not been fairly treated. Large blocks of waste land in the district were kept locked up. He thought that a block of land in the vicinity of Fitzherberton should be setapart on the deferred payment system, and that the Committee already appointed should be empowered to write to Mr Johnston requesting him to urge upon Major Atkinson the desirability of setting apart a block of some eight or nine thousand acres on the other side of the river on the deferred payment system. There was such a block as he described to the right of the Fitzherberton settlement. It was set down as swamp, but was good land, some of it being high and clear. Mr Owen proposed, " That this meeting, is of opinion that a block of land on deferred payment in proximity to the Fitzherberton settlement should be thrown open for selection, and that the Committee, already appointed be requested ta take the necessary steps to secure this object. Mr Nelson seconded the motion which was put and carried. After a vote of thanks was given to the Chairman the meeting separated.