FEILDING.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 70, 20 June 1877, Page 3

FEILDING.

(From our own Correspondent.) A» this district takes a lively interest m our County Government, the County Estimates, which were published m your issue of the 2nd inst., attracted attention here, and some calculations have been made to see how far the County Council's resolution, passed some time 'ago,' ".That the Manchester and Kiwitea ridings receive their fair share of the County expenditure," was m accordance with facts. I suppose everyone has heard of "Jedburgh justice;" which is to Jiang a man before ' the completion of liis trial. The Jedburgh man was tried and acquitted after he was hanged by order' of the judge that presided at his' trial, so the term " Jedburgh Justice " became proverbial to express" such a resolution as the Manawatu County Council passed some time ago, before they had the full evidence before them. You have already published the County Estimates, showing an expenditure of £4357 16s 7d, and a revenue of £4353 19s 7d. With the aid of a sixpenny county rate m the pound, I beg to submit .to you the share that the Manchester and Kiwitea Ridings contribute to the County revenue, and also the amount returned to them as their share of the expenditure : They contribute £1695 13s 9d, and all | the money that is expended on road j making within the two ridings out of that large sum is only £300, and after making a very liberal allowance ,;to the . County as its share of the working ex-*| penses for these ridings the whole expenditure that can' be fairly charged against £hem is only about one-ninth of the County expenditure as against its one-third of contribution to the revenue as follows : — Manchester and Kiwitea share o^ErOvernment subsidy to June 30; 18/7^£377 10s; ditto, being equivalent to nine months' rates collected on valuation rolls of £810 8s for Manchester Riding, and £75 7s 6d for Kiwitea do., £665 6s 3d ; four public-house licenses, £160 ; quarter of ; dog tax, £50 ; Manchester and Kiwitea Ridings proportion of County rate at 6d per £, £442 17s 6d.— Total,. £1,695 13s' 9d'. of expenditure applicable to the Manchester and Kiwitea Ridings : One-fourth of cost of executive, £75 ; one-tenth of engineers' department, being amount proportionate to works, £35 ; road formation from Awahuri to Kiwitea, £300 ; ferries, nil ; roads;maintenance, nil ; quarter dog tax, £10 10s ; do. hospitals, £29 7s 8d ; do. miscellaneous, £60 3s sd ; do. printing, £47 12s 6d. Total, £557 13s 7d. It will be rather hard for a resolution of the County Council to convince people that believe m such figures as these, that the Manchesterand Kiwitea has had its fair share of expenditure. There is an item of £1,600 set down m the estimates for maintenance of roads which shows that those parts that have the voting power m the Council are already m possession of roads-ready' made, and they might therefore have assisted those that have no roads to their properties at Kiwitea. Is it not very ' unfair towards the recent purchasers of property- from the Crown m the . Kiwitea Hiding to have their xates expended m maintaining the roads of the old settled parts of the County while they cannot get a bullock dray on the County road m their own riding, and yet while there are roads m the County requiring £1,600 to maintain them m the old settled partis of the county, these two ridings nave no less than £1,138 0s 2d of their money drawn from them that ought to be spent on the construction of roads -within them. The Gouaty Council passer" Jedburgh. 1 " re-

solution instead of making roads to the outlying distfct of ihe County: This is the very e^vil that the outlying districts had formerly to complain of against Proyincialismj and as Provincialism opposed separation, so the Chairman of the County comes down to the Council with a proposal to resist the. injured people of Eawitea m their- attempts to get separation. A great Essayist said that " conflicting opinions correct each other," and as .there seems to be a desire on the part of the majority of the County not to let us go, they should hear and consider our petition, before they strike a blow against us m the matter of separation, but instead of hearing the just com-; plaints of this district— Firstly, as regards the unequal representation, and secondly; as regards the expenditure, we. only receive "Jedburgh Justice" from the County Council m both instances, and now the Council seems disposed to refuse us, if it can, the boon of Bfcparatipn which is all W;e now ask for. 'It seemsrather singular the difference m the proportion of the working expenses ,, of the ,M*anawatu County Couucil as compared with; that of the Manawatu Highways Board at a time that the boundaries of both were co-terminus, as was the case before the separation^ of the Manchester District. ;At that time, as now, the proportion- of working expenses to the amount expended^ pn works m the Manawatu Highways District was not more, if I am rightly iifformed, than 7i per cent, of the amount expended on the construction and maintenance of roads, <but the following figures will show a .very different state of things as regards County- ;Counpil expenditure as now constituted, and; Highway Board expenditure: ;— County Chairman and Clerk, £300 '; Engineer, £350 ; printing, &c, £190 ; total, £840, Amount spent on roads, £3,002 2s ; femes, £115 • total;.; £3,117 2s. ; This shows over 25 per cent, for working expenses on the kmbunt expended, on roads as against 7^ • per cent^expended by the Majoiiwatu Highways Board; : To enable ! your readers to test the correctness o^ the figures given above, I append the_ amount pf the valuation fbll of the Manchester riding, which is £1^620; Bs, and for Kiwitea riding it is : :.jv-V: / •'-,:;:■_ .• . . -.