MANAWATU COUNTY COUNCIL.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 73, 30 June 1877, Page 2

MANAWATU COUNTY COUNCIL.

The County Council held its monthly meeting in the Council Chambers, Foxton, on Wednesday last, at 7.30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT. Messrs. Thynne (Chairman), Snelson, McDonald, McNeil, Liddell, Sanson, Gower, and McArthur. The Chairman said he was sorry to inform the councillors that the Secretary was unable to attend on account of having the scarletina. He had received a certificate from Dr Hewson to that effect. He had also received a letter from Councillor Halcombe, saying that urgent private business prevented his attendance. MINUTES. The minutes of the last meeting were read. The Chairman said before passing the minutes he wished to ask if the Council would grant Mr Bellain a slight advance on the price paid for the map he had done. He had received a letter from Mr Bellain, asking them to do so, at the same time stating he would not undertake another of the same sort under £50. He (the Chairman) knew what it was to do a map of that description ; the work would have to be reduced from other maps of various kinds, and he thought it was worth more than the price given. No further sum was granted, and the minutes were confirmed as read. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT. Gentlemen, — I have the honor to place before you my monthly report : — Since last meeting the ferryman at the Gorge ferry informed me that the wire rope across the river had " chafed "in the centre and was unsafe ; a fact Mr J. T. Stewart corroborated, and I took upon myself, so as to keep the road open, the responsibility of ordering a new one. This had only just reached Foxton when I received a telegram that the old rope had parted and all traffic was stopped; but little hindrance fortunately would be occasioned, as the new rope was immediately forwarded on. I have received replies to my enquiries re advertising, and have the following offers to submit to you : — The " Advocate "—2s 6d per inch for first insertion, 1s 6d per inch subsequent ; " New Zealand Times " — 1s 6d do. do.; "Evening Post "—2s 6d do. do., 1s 6d do. subsequent ; " Manawatu Times " — 3s do. do., 2s do. subsequent. I would venture to suggest that the reduction now made by our local paper should be accepted, as by the "Advocate's " letter it appears to be the rate charged to our neighboring county, and our local paper will soon obtain a larger circulation from the fact of our advertisements appearing in it, and even now I believe it is more generally seen than outside papers, and it offers the fullest reports of our proceedings. I regret to have, upon excellent authority, to inform you that the new punt at the Lower Gorge Ferry is practically useless, both from its make and size, and before any accident happens it would be as well to consider the advisability of providing a new one, built on the principle of double pontoons. I learn that upon any extra rise in the river the punt drags end under, and the strain becomes more than any wire of that span will bear. I have the Engineer's certificate for payments on road contracts, and for maintenance.

I lay also the report of the Committee on the two ferries upon the table ; also, conditions for leasing the same. I beg to inform you that we have had a payment of £538 11s 3d, paid into our account by the Government on the 15th of this month, apparently being the amount of subsidy from January to June, the previous amount of £528 being a sum belonging to the Highway Board. For the purposes' of furthering the separation movement of the Manchester and Kiwitea ridings, certain letters, evidently by the one hand, have appeared in the local papers and the "New Zealand Times," and, after quoting the figures which I annex below, conclude by remarking that, "It will be rather hard for a resolution of the County Council to convince people that believe in such figures as these that the Manchester and Kiwitea has had its fair share of expenditure." This is the correspondent's statement : — 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 sixpenny county rate in 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 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 expenses for these ridings the whole expenditure that can be fairly charged against them 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 of Government subsidy to June 30, 1877, £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. Proportion of expenditure applicable to the Manchester and Kiwitea Ridings : One-fourth of the 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 5d ; do. printing £47 12s 6d. Total, £557 13s 7d. And I should certainly say it would be extremely hard, if such were the correct facts. But taking the sums as being so far correct for the receipts, less £40 for difference between the real and the supposed value of publicans' licenses, they being £30 a year instead of £40, the total of revenue received would be £1655 13s 9d ; but in calculating the deductions, one-fourth and in one case one-tenth only has been allowed. Now, seeing that there are seven ridings in the County the proportion lies at two--sevenths. And further, as an instance of the intense localisation of this separation movement, the advocator has utterly ignored the amount set down in the estimates for the maintenance of the roads from Awahuri to Feilding and from Stoney Creek to the Gorge, also the ferry at the Lower Gorge; the expenditure. therefore would stand thus : £ s. d. Proportion of Executive 2 - 7ths 85 12 6 ,, Engineers ,, ... 100 0 0 ,, Dog Tax ,, ... 12 0 0 ,, Micellaneous ,, ... 68 15 4 ,, Printing ,, ... 54 8 4 ,, Hospitals ,, ... 29 7 8 Roads Formation ... ... 300 0 0 Awahuri to Feilding ... ... 179 0 0 Stoney Creek to Gorge... ... 110 0 0 Gorge Ferry ... ... ... 40 0 0 Do., do., contingencies actually required ... ... ... 80 0 0 Proportion of Maintenance of road from Palmerston to Bulls, 1-4th ... ... 44 16 6 Total ... ... £1,104 0 4 Instead of ... £557 13 7 And this, within what at present is in no such urgent need of work as the remainder of the county. Besides which, within the past year the Government have spent £2,481 in forming roads within these two ridings. Another matter been alluded to, viz., the heavy expense per cent, on the management of the county compared with the Manawatu Highway Board, placing the first at 25 per cent. and the latter at 7. To show how easily statements are accepted when they appear to coincide with one's desire, you have merely to look into the above statement. The county's average, less the Engineer for the sake of comparison, if they raised the full rate, would amount to 12 per cent. Taking Engineer, printing, offices, &c., and now what are the facts regarding the Highway Board? First, the Secretary's salary on rates and subsidy (£2,112) is 10 per cent., seeing his salary is £200 ; then office rent, say £20 a year, printing, stationery, &c., much the same as for the county, say £190, making a total of £410, brings their percentage to 20. I think then we have hardly need to further to learn economy. It is only just to this Council to show that it was the member for the Manchester riding who proposed the resolution not to accept the futher sum which had been placed at the disposal of the Council by the Government towards opening up the access to the Kiwitea Block ; and that the Chairmen of the different Highways and Local Boards in the County refused to work with the Council to retain between them the skilled direction of their works by the employment of a qualified Engineer. I have entered thus fully into the matter, believing, this statement will receive as full publicity as the correspondent's have done, and as he has quoted my

authority, I trust the above explanation will show that though certain items may be correct, yet any conclusion may be arrived at by omitting what portions may be deemed obstructive to the end desired to be obtained. The Chairman laid on the table the following report by himself and Councillor Liddell, of their examination into the claim of John Hillary, late lessee of the Foxton Ferry, in which they stated that they had found his claim for improvements and gear, but without boats, amounting to £75, fair and reasonable. The Chairman also laid on the table the following reports by Councillors Snelson and McNeil regarding the value of the property at the Lower Gorge ferry: — "In accordance with a resolution passed at the last meeting of the Council, we have valued the buildings and improvements of the ferryman as follows— Ferryman's house, £100 ; paddock and fencing, £30 ; small house detached, £6 ; blocks, ropes, etc, £8 ; gate, turnstile, etc, £12 ; stab fencing, 12 chains, £8— Total, £164. We also inspected, the new punt, which we found faulty in construction, and almost useless for the purpose for which it is intended. We saw a coil of new wire rope 3 1/4 inches instead of 3 1/2 inches, which the ferryman informed us he had ordered. We found it badly chaffed in several places, and gave the ferryman instructions not to have it stretched until after the meeting of the Council. It is our opinion the use of it would be a great waste of money, it being but little stronger than the one already across. The paddock is very suitable for the ferry, and the accommodation on the whole is good. The approach to the ferry on the Palmerston side is bad." The following accounts were passed : —"Advocate," advertising for clerk, £1 10s; Patrick Collins, one month's pay, £5 16s 8d ; Clerk to the Council, salary, £12 10s ; wages maintenance — March, £6 4s 6d ; April, £37 10s; May, £55 7s 6d ; June, £53 19s. Maintenance contingencies— McDowell, cartage, £10 16s ; Henry Hughes, cartage, £1 16s ; E. Read, £1: Road repairs — Henry Hughes, contract and deposit, £214 15s ; Edward Read, contract and deposit, .£199 11s ; Nathan, contract and deposit, £88 19s 6d ; Lucas and Desmond, contract and deposit, £165 19s 3d: Ramsfield, at Otaki, £4—Total, £859 14s 5d. The Engineer's Report was read, in which he said he would suggest that on the road from Palmerston to Bulls, the overseer should be given authority to employ two extra men should he find the present number insufficient to keep the new metal in order, and in the matter of the small bridge, near Sandon mentioned at the last meeting of the Council as requiting repairs, he had furnished a drawing shewing the plan of repairs he would suggest should be adopted to make it a thoroughly permanent and workmanlike job; but if possible would recommend that the work be postponed till the summer, as the traffic would have to be diverted while the repairs were in hand. At the Lower Ferry he had inspected the alterations in the river bed, and submitted a sketch showing these, and the means he would suggest to make a permanent approach. It would he thought be better to avoid as much as possible cutting down the natural bank of the river. With the exception of the iron bolts the whole of the material required for the groin was within 30 chains of the river bank, and if it was offered for contract the accepted tender should not exceed his estimate. He also enclosed conditions for leasing the ferries. In the matter of the estimates for the repairs of the roads, he would suggest that the Council decide as soon as convenient the extent to which it intended to adopt them, so that whoever might be placed in charge of the roads might know how to regulate the expenditure in necessary contingencies and extra labor. Up to the present time none whatever had been incurred without the sanction of one or more councillors, and if that was continued it would often cause delays in matters that might require immediate attention. A telegram from the Government was read notifying the payment of a larger sum to the credit of the Council than was expected. Letter from the Colonial Secretary's office readm in which he stated in reply to a letter from the Chairmand for an extension of time to prepare the County Rolls for each riding, that he was directed by Dr Pollen to point out that under Section 42 of the Counties Act, the rolls had to be made up on the 15th April. The twenty-one days allowed by Section 211 of the same Act for the Governor to extend, expired on the 6th May. By Section 43, the time for preparing and sending in lists was the 1st April. The Governor's powers of extension expired on the 22nd April, and no further extension was possible. Letters were read from the proprietors of several newspapers, stating the amounts they would charge for advertisements for the County Council. Councillor Snelson proposed, and Councillor McDonald seconded, That this Council adjourn until Wednesday the 4th July, a 7.30 p.m. Councillor Sanson said he should oppose the motion. He had come forty miles to do the business, and he did not see why they should now adjourn for the sake of a concert which might have peen put off for another night. Councillors got no pay for coming, and it cost them a large sum of money to attend. It always cost him at least 10s. He thought that the Chairman might have telegraphed to each Councillor adjourn for week. Councillor Gower said he should sup-

port Councillor Sanson. He came also to do the business of the Council. The Chairman said he should have also to support Councillors Gower and Sanson. On the motion being put it was carried, and the Council accordingly adjourned.