MANAWATU COUNTY COUNCIL.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 96, 19 September 1877, Page 3

MANAWATU COUNTY COUNCIL.

, .. . ;: t . (Continued from our last.) ■ > .The Chairman read a letter from the Ferryman at; the. Lower. Gorge Ferry, requesting that about four! chains of gravelling on the approach to the ferry on the Palmerston side might be put on, ana 1 that tjie two rises be reduced to a' proper grade, slb a light vehicle -with two horses could not get up the rise m bad weather ; and 'stating that the estimated cost wohld be, about £25, also stating that, he required for the safety of the County prbper'ty} .60 fathoms of 2| inch ; Manilla r.ppe ; the i rope on hand not being reliable. Also 2 14 inch iron blooks toreceive the wire 'through, the present purchase being useless. Councillor McAbthub said he would either go himself or _ get a man to go to the ferry and See what was required, and report at the neXt meeting] The Chairman redd a letterlfrom Mr Bryce, . je.questiiig; that- culverts &c, might be made on the continuation of the Kiinboltpn Road. Councillor Sanson asked Councillor j McArthur what ;he . thoughj; the cost ' Would: 1& 1 .';":'. ; , ' ! -..^.' ] ,". „,7,; Councillor Me Aethite said they had been paying from 30s to 38s i chain for clearing. He thought it would be a good ithing if 'the Council' could see their way ; to vote the money.■i^ Propbsed by* ? Councillor Sanson and ; seconded -by ■ Councillor TkEcArthurj that the sum of ,£2lO be placed dh. the estimates to be expended on the Kirn. bolton Road beyond ; the Manchester Riding, and-' that Mr Barton be requested bto jinfqrmt the Council at its next sitting as to how this sum can be laid out on jsaid road to the best advantage. ■". ' '*;■■-" : . • ■ :-i v CpunciUor-GoWEB said he intended to iVpte for thdV. motion but would like to kiiOw ; the ;yitlue ioi -thev rates -from; the Kiwitea Riding^: ias 'there had^ been so . much talk about the Council giving so much more than their proportion to the r 'other ,riditnLgs, ; t _ f;;^;* jv, x ; T j,..,-. .:..-,- ''" . ? ;Gpunctilor jMc^thub said the valuation Si'as ' ' ■■*'■'"'■ The/ Chaibiiait. said. 'Councillor McArthur ' wasj not; quite right there, the :sum i'jirasj £f,Q£3 not (; dei;so7. ; .He had. been against taking over that road ; the 'council had taken over too, many roads, th^y were like the dog m the manger. They could not 4p it themselves, and did not like' others'to doit. V 5 ' \-\ \ The motion was; put' abd carried; . CounciUdriiGrowEE said Hewould like ( to know w.Kat li^td taken place, with - withiregard:ito tlie road between' Mr ; Simpson's arid Carnarvon." It was a most darigerotts rpad; ; - ■■'-_ ; , ; ThelCH^RMi^fsaid he was glad that- ; tlie.quesdpii nadbeen asked asit had -taken a , great; < odium : off. the Councjl.. . Councillor- :Mci^BiL had, after a letter from tta' Government,^proposed that . the Coutity Council should take over * the ToaHvf He; jas Gkairmari of the CouneihHiad objected ''to proclaim it a County; road! 'Untii-^ the i Government had formed it There was-at presenta private f enoo» vvithin feet of the 1 railway . which liad^hb rigM to be.' ! No provision liad; beenJ made "for the railway, and the Government had encroached oft the .original road.- He had- written a letter to th e.j Blinkter. of- Public. {Works, ; • who- sdid lie wo'uidV, haye.it surveyed. Mr Stuart ; had told him thatj Mr A GrafE :had«uVve'Wdihei : rp'a^;. : V. '-\ .'■''' I i Mr = iSimpipQ! -wbuM'iiot'gell su^ffidi^nt, land .totm^ake^ther'roadytvT^ Chairman said . Jit'waV&M^^ i A^CouricilfeGafnEE said he did not un- ;?; derstand ; the Ajmiitter thdrpughly^ for * f; nearly k' mUe^'alpngthe r6afd; at* places c .'it was quite impassable, without,' 'goirig^ : ote". the ilinerA-Aiiybnfe; riding along at the time;* train - warcomiiig; must jump into ifie swa£ap T - :^i :^'6' ; )bp*g'liiriiprse : tQ n j save^his lifei !(Hef'th6^ht : a 'much ; larger^ siiny than? the I£3o theyhad voted * ;w&8 required! '^li; would* more!, likely take &3QO. Tw^- boards ought to be put iup ito: *warn iJ paSsiengers " v or a i J vf'prUman; 1 jghouldi bef'kept working tK6l*e! ;'; •iv:^Ee<oHiißW^ißr; ;Vj sai'd 'thy ; .iG<)vernment i admit that^th'ey. ,are: wong,;atid he thought they had- better leave the inat-,-^atir,y--^ ;.«'-- -;-A--;-' v ;-'=-» ■•'_;■-.... , > CouncUldr Gpwee 'thought Ithfet1 thfet it the(Government a l ndteil ( them that passengers lives were endangered' by' 'going along the rpad<; ; ><. i vO ■■"-,.:>,: **"'■ Tf; . ;i - ! ■'■ '" " ■ TheMinutesof the last Special Meeting were read and confirmed. The ;epun'cil-*hen resumedl ' ■ ' = ' •' - ; --. The '.^following a«cpunts r were passed: — -Fpiton-CMaiti Toa*d iformation, £10 18s ; A Jensen.- £6 10s ; Robert Stanley, liower Gtorge Ferry I ,' -£l6 8s lOd ; Mcjlfeit: and ;Dunh; £7 16s ; 6d ; Richter : ,&hCo. £81', IA; J. ofEce rent, £j9 16s; A. J. Whyte,; tables and chairs, [ £14 4s ; carting ifor Eoxton main road, ;,m i ■.-. James #Prisky £55 13s 6d ; {Stephen Rogers, £35 -12s ; Petty cash, <£5;; Clerks, salary/ £l2 10s ; Metalling, township of Palmerstbiyi £70 17s '6d, ." :The' Chaiemak said he r orfld hiaye to ask: their attentiojy f'his' evening to strydng a rite and ; wbMd first call their notice lo= clause,' lo7 of theCbiintiies Act, which provided that Sfefore. a^y rate . ;could be struck,- it wdfs TV§&es* . sary that an r estimate of the proposed shewiug auy siiuw aTreaiy Available, the additional sum required, -. ithe.total rateable^ value of rateable property ijriVthe rpll; knd the ratV necessary, i .td raisethemoney^req^uiredi'shouldbeap- ; proved by the Council;. Before entering fßati>the-parti(Sulars of theseestimates.he wiished to point ou^that when they were first laid Ibeforfe 4 the Councili the new valuation rolls had npt been preparedj and that the estimated rate of £1044 had been calculated-. on. the amount 6i general i»tes u actuaUyiieceiiyed by thje different Boards up to the 31st March,

1877 and that it was feared that by the secession of Palmerston a serious deficit of nearly £1000 would have to be met, but remembering that we have received a six months' subsidy on the rateable property of Palmers ten amouiting to £40, and we have also received the various licensing fees within that area, and that the return of rates collected up to 31st March 1877 is only £81, it appears that the deficit for the present twelve, months will only be the small items of £40 from the subsidy ; loss of rateSj about £160.; and the dog tax £10, thtts making a total of £210; but as the new valuation list has now been passed by the Assesment Court the returns excluding the area of the Palmerston Municipality, shew a good rental of £56,028 which at a sixpenny rate would give Us a sum of £1400. As it had been bruited abroad that a irate of '-. only siipeiice m the £ would probably be raised, and as all were pretty well prepared to pay. such rate it would be inadvisable on the part of the Council to raise any higher rate if it was 'possible to avoid doing so, and m his opinion it was not necessary to do so for though we might have certain incidental expenses npt calculated for yet we .were guaranteed an over-draft of £1000 by the Government any item not covered: by such rate could for the present easily be paid by such- over* draft for it' must be remembered that our next years subsidies will shew a much larger increase than what we havei received for this past year, and therefore he would impress upon them the advisability of only striking a sixpenny rate, ' He proposed that the Council do adjourn for half an hour for the purpose of looking over the estimates. The Council: adjourned for half an hour. Af tei* the Councithad resumed, , : i ; Councillor, ; MoAETtnjE said it was his, opinion, that the Council ought to meet again . shortly so as to enable all the, members , to be-preserit— say meet m a weeks time; he was sure that the member; for the Manchester Riding would have something to say regarding the rate. If they, the anti'separationists, wished to quell ( the desire for separation their, most effective course would be to give to each riding the revenue raised within it, less a fair share ;of the working expenses of. the; county. Councillor Sanson said he was very pleased tp hear what Councillor McArthur had • said about the i present questibri; he was sure ?he reason why the Manchester and Kiwitea Ridings had not had more, Was -because they had; not asked for more: if it was shewn that they were entitled to more, he would vote for more. "A great deal had .been said m the papers about the Counties living on tije Government subsidies i which was. the ..Provincial sys(em over again, . r They had just voted £^10 to be ■ spent partly m the Manchester and .^Kiwitea Ridings if there was~ a further ; claiin he" would not . inihd making the vote 7d or even a little more. In preparing the valuation roll a mistake had been, made ; m one copy of the jKiwitea rbllit was 30s and m ahotheir copy 15s. He would move that the Chairman give the necessary notice,, that a rate of sixipence m the £ oh the 5 annual value of properties m the Manawatu County will ; be' levied m accprdaricei-withl clause 107. -of 'the Counties Act 1876* Ht the next meeting of this\Gbuhcil. , Seconded by Councillor Gower. Councillor ;MoARTHURrsaid after the remarks that had just fallen from • Councillor Sanspn about the Manchester Riding he would like to show that that Riding biight tbhave inor'ei Cbuncillor Halcombe whb7 was now absent, „,was: the member ifor' that .riding ; he would ask th§t the Council adjourn '■ for a week to gijTej-hiin* an opportunity of being present ; 'if they had been, wil-4ing-to -give the Manchester Ridiiig a fair ratio of the taxes and subsidy, less working and office expenses, the desire for separation! woiild^ probably not have arisen. ' Councillor . ,Mclsp'|iAiiU vSaid; he was quite willing ito inieetV- their 'vieWs'and ; he hoped, that Councillor Halcombe wpuld/moye Ja irresolution that each . Riding after paying proportion to the County Council 'should spend its own m the Riding. Councillor Loudon said he had heard" the remarks of Councillors McArthur and Sanson, .and he vdid;;not why they should not proceed to Btrike a sixpenny rate, at this meeting, for, m the event of there" being any deficiency, there was, an overdraft at the Bank which they could fallb ack ■;Uppfl.jCouncillpr McArthur' said "he w:o»ld move as aruendment to Councillor Sanson's motion, ,**, That Councillpr Sanson's resolution re. striking, -a rate' be adjourned to next sitting of the Coun* oil-" . . Seconded by Councillor McDonald. Councillpr GoWbb said it Was : his, dtntj nd to let this* pass. He was surprised, at Cbuncillpr McArthur ; they had- never been, a^sfeed' to spend nlore money m the:Mawcliester;, Riding than had beerf purt do.wn m the estimates for ; thaft riding. He would have given it hfs ntosi; careful consideratioß if ihey hSd not received their.f air share ; he had an^dea^hatthey^neyer intended tp ask ' forf mbre til t3ie":.had Tieard it- to-nightj aridfeQm what the correspondent of a paper had , written, who expatiated so fully on the conduct of the oouncil,^e would be very glad if .the, meeting, was putenv thpugh^^ ne 'might; nbt tie a;|rle to . attend ; he should 'muidflMifee to See every riding spend its- own money. It. had been hurle.d ; a/t them from one end of theCbuntyt'o the other they had not done justice- to the Manchester and Kiwitea Ridings ; he would be willing that afrate of 9d m the £ should Be struck, if such were necessary to do^jnstice to , those ridingsr The Chaieman on, rising to speak

to the amendment, said he wished to state that every publicity had been given to the estimates, and that the motion of adjournment could only be agreed to as an act of courtesy to the absent member whom private business apparently had detained from attending the present meeting. But , the good that it would do m meeting Councillor McArthur's idea of amending the estimates, appeared to be small, as the votes already shewn, had been carefully agreed to by the whole of the Council at previous sittings, and no . further sum had . been asked for by the members for the Manchester Riding = but £300. It was really Councillor McNeil who had urged for a larger sum for the Gorge Ferry, and not the member m whose Riding that Perry was situated. He did not therefore see how Councillor Halcombe could now injustice ask for a further expenditure, necessitating a heavier rate, to supply his requirements, when he had so far negledted the interests of his constituents whilst other members were urging their claims. Councillor Sanson said he should be sorry for the adjournment. Coining to the meetings was expensive; and if they met m seven days they would have to meet again m fourteen after. He had, now been away for five weeks dn public Business. He thoiight it would be better if they now adjourned for an hour and then went into the. estimates or formed themselves into a Committee. He did not think that Councillor Snelson should absent himself without giving notice. Councillor McAnTHtftt said he did not urge a. long adjournment, but only time, so that the member for the Manchester Riding might be presents .: Councillor Lottdon said he should like to see each Riding spend its own money, and that seemed the wish of the Council. The amendment was put and carried; Proposed by Councillor Gower and seconded by Councillor Sanson,— That William Osborn be collector of the rates for the Manawatu County. Carried. The Chaieman said they had better have a Committee to see about getting a gravel pit. They could not get gravel for the Main street of Foxton, the Government having refused to let them take any from the Railway gravel pit as it was wanted for the line. There was a gravel pit at Awapuni and he had proposed to Mr Stewart to lay a siding but Mr Patersoti had said that after two feet o£ graVel you came to the water. A. siding would cost £300 if they, got the iron rails from the Government. The gravel was very much wanted m Foxton just now ; the dust was blowing and spoiling all the Work that Jiad been lately done. ■■■. : iftjopOsed by Councillor Sanson and seconded- by .Councillor Gower,.— That Councillors Snelson and Loudon be appointed a committee to enquire what a sail able gravel pit contiguous to railway could be purchased for at Palmerston for the use of the Manawatu County ; the Committee to report at the next meeting. Carried. -Councillor Loudon ,a.sked how long the Councils account at the Bank of Australasia was to last. The Chaieman said during the of the Council. . It wa's resoltedf-^hat.. thi s Council •* do now adjourn till Wednesday the . 19th". September, at half -past seven o'clock phzu''' .•-■■•> ..