CORRESPONDENCE.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 98, 26 September 1877, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

tOur eprresporiclence column being open, no responsibility 6an,,be accepted ih. respect iti opinions expresßedby correspondents.]

. TO THE .EDITOE. " Sib,— At' the/ meeting of the Manawatu County Council, on the 12th inst., there were two or three remarks ma'd^e' \fy various' speakers on the amendment propo^edfby ' me to ' Councillor Sahson's resolution which, m the a b'seace of Mr ; Halcombe, to whom these remarks | more particularly refer, I cannot leafe unanswered;. .. As I hatt aifeiif spoteif on the amendment/JE did not have the opportunity^to^reiufte these i remarks at the Council, and therefore bfeg to trespass upon your space to' do* so. ; ;; It was asserted/- tha4;no\m©re tn'an the £300 voted for the Matte-hester Biding, had ever been 'tfs^ed for by Mr : Halcombe and this assertion is true as ! far as it jjfoesy but being only pairi of the truth, it really misrepresents Mr Halcombe's action m the 'master? .: A very determined attempt T^as made, And was nearly successful to cut down, Ithe referred to/ to d8275j and it #is iwith considerable difficulty, that the full atnopfftt^waV allowed to remain on the estuhates.I put it to any .man of common sense. i T^hat wotfM h^^ifeen-iilie tfse of asking fbriSve or six. hundred pounds m! the face :of the difficulty we experiencedin getting £300? , '' . Oiir. requiest for' more would then have Been simply laughed a4 although Councillors are very 4 re^dy to' use fair^ words and to mifKe fsir now I that they #fe"- tlie v effect of the opposite' course. ~^e did what the weaker party .m the Manawatu Cpunty Council has to do, took whal we could get and were glad to get it, even thougjh it might not be our full rights, and if there ■ had been the chance of getting ,mpre for thie^Manchester Biding & ; the then temper ofe thei Council, ft wpiild have; been taten advantage of.— l am, '.:&e^ ■'■:.■-; ...■■■■ '.:.■ , : . :^c :'.. ■;.• ■ ' ... . „,.'-- i , , D. H. Ma^tMi.

TO THE EDITOB. '"'■,. Sib;— tn your issue of Sept.' stbJ there is •a letter hekaM "A Tbice from i Otaki," which attempts to give your readers an account of certain- prqeeedings m connection with the Hoadßoafcf; : and : 6f tHe feelings ■ and aspirations of the residents ,qf Otaki 1 and its^ieighbbur;liood, tfifcli'ye'gard tp^roads iand'cbminer'cMrelationsi ' ~ • It is rather late m the day ..tp answer •-" Adieu ; " iowever. I did, not see tlie letter ; unt^l w two j diq'8 i ag.p, oil I should have replied :to a™ dtan' earUer date.. _ . V , 'jAdieuV is so wide of the mark that I muon cFoubt if he hails from Otaki atall. , It appears to me that he is" more likely a .resident at the other end of the county, who^ by attacking Fbxton and 1 the County Ohairmani' uni!Br r doVer 'of our ; name, is trying to produce'- *a split between the two placesi who are natUraHy more closely con- : riected' tnariiparts of the: County farther away., : „„.• •.:--..,.> ;■■ „-■ I quite^gree with^'^Adieu " wHeS ; he' says , we have reaped no b^rieftW from local selfgovernment ;'" but I totally disagree with him as to the' Manawatu Road Board being able to relieve us.. "1$ was only whbii ihe : Board stepped m that, our difficulties began. 'Before the Eoad Board rate was demanded ■ we were jogging quietly on, knowing that : i(rthWg could be dove until the laiid was acqiHj^ed 1 from the native owners, or 1 that those: iyoStk wer& liable to pay v rate's" as well as th'B ! European settlers, and until distri^ roads' were aid off. Under the cirpiimstances we j riafiuVaily, object to* pay a v rate, whifch cannot be dpent m the ward, and will^ have, if colleote% to be locked up m the " Board's chest, or uhfairlyvspent oiftsidis the: wardj a. proceeding that 1 dp not think the members of the Bbai'd : f o/ one minute entertain. Sir^ail the i; otaki' settlers ' have a)sked of the Board is to be let alone utitil^they have ceased'to be {& native district, and ftieh I' hopeiwiEi'.shaU" prove ourselves as energetic and go-ahead as " Adie'd " describes the Palnfelfttbri' aettiers to ber Perhaps he • will allow mS to add the residents in' the irfesfcvdf tK« county. "Adieu" next refers to a\petitibii' for merging the road board into- the cdiintysent to Qtaki, arid insinuates (rn'at*BO^i'friend/in Ffektoif wished to cufc us off frpw/thf Highway;. Board; I think if * Adieu " ha' 3. considered' a'little he would rieVer have written such nonsense.' Otaki is at" present a wWrd of -the" Manawatu High-' way/district,- and; unless the whole district merged^ she would riot do so alone, and I takeritthat the petitioa for merging was sent

to all the other wards to test the opinion of the ratepayers m the matter, and that nothing was intended against Otaki alone. I ratter jibpe that the merging petition -will yet be carried, or else that ail roads will be proclaimed county mads. I cannot see the necessity of a double rpte m this county, while m the Hutt a single rate of one shilling is sufficient, and I may add of double authority over the roadß, It appears to me ""-that we Lave too m'^dh, laoa) self-gorei'n-menh and too mahy.po|d ofeciak, and that if .au townships had their local boards or municipal councils, that the -.county system would be sufficient for the femainder THth" the addition perhaps of a 1 committee m each •w&rd to advise the council. Surely " Adieu " m'ußt be ignorant of distances, or he would 'never talk of OtdSi being commercially connected with Palmerston. Does he expect your readers to believe that if,, goods art' sent by sea' from 1 Wellington* to 2Tox£on, t#at any practical, man m Otaki would pay the Railway freight to' Palmeristo'h I,'1 ,' merely to enjoy the pleasure of carting them a longer ; dist^nQe by road frbtri that plaice' than from Fojtp'n.. P.a)merSt<i(tf .can! only supply us frith, timber, of Wmbhy, when the ; bush, here Is out of riative hands, we shall have an ofm'ple su'ppfy. Foxtpn has long been thie shipping port of the district between Ma^ia-' watu and Otaki, before the northern part of the county had a European, settler m it. It is no use "Adieu ".or i -a;ny,otfe l elße fighting against such a position l^ .May I remind him how Wellington thatf be^ni and yet m spite of .all, through her central position, she is getting the trade of the country. Fpxton and Otaki settlers are fully alive to tn'elr own wants, and have already peiitib'neft thre Ghovernment to connect theni tyaroad. If " Adieu "is an Otaki resident* how is, it he has noV mentioned this : the thing was not doffe in' a borxkst. 130 iiot decry the steps, that havei, been taken by Palmerston settlers' to obtain & railway, and believe if they had invited co-operation down here, their list of signatures would b§ longer ; but roads are also necessary, and looking at the time it will take to get the fine through the hiDs to the ooast; we" believed that a road -will be for the present the best means of getting our produce away I iiiid of inducing settlers to come on the land. I was not present at the meeting m Otaki to which " Adieu " alludes ; but I attended a previous meeting, at which it was' resolved to resist the road j)oard rate if possible, on the ground ;w°e haa no 7 district roads to make, but no resistance to be made to the county rate ; and it was also agreed to obtain separation from the Manawatu highway district/ flo^ because -we" , have been' badly treated, but oh account; of ourpißc'uBar position, and the distance we are .from the head-quarters of the board, making it afttroflt impossible to obtain a warden who would gd' so far. I am, however, informed that the meeting did 5 not resdlVe to v pay the rate, and as a fact it has not been p°aiot • bit that it was resolved ■to separate, and that Mr Linton promised to send down some accessary information to enable us to proceed with a petition for that purpose. Ido not think Otaki was particularly anxious to na^e' a' warden now they intend to separate, but as Mf Linton came down N and as it Mght help us to obtain the object Tf£ljad; m tieW, rt was agreed to elect one ; but had" the gentfemair' how elected refused to act, I don't bflieve Jmyoiie else would have conffenteaT, on account of the distance. There is nothing more m. "Adieu's" ietter' tp answer ; I have' staged: as shortly as I can what I believe, to be the 1 tiife state of the case, and I trrist your readerff^rflf now see why we object to pay the rate, and what we intend to do. ..__,.. Our position is this : that although, we have' been a part of the Manawata highway district for' spine years, the. board recog;^ nisin'g our peculiar situation, has never hitherto v levied & rate, but this year to' get the rate fo^ six. wards passed,, they Wer^ compelled to rate .No. 7, but now, having legalised the rate/ 1 apprehend it rests the board whether they will enforce, it or not. The, settlers of the. Otaki ward hope and expect that the Same cdhsideration will now be shown them that has been given m former years. In conclusion I beg^ to apologise for taking up so much of your' space, but '•Adieu " displayed, so much ignorance on the. subject, that I felt it my duty to enlighten him, and hope for the future he will refrain from addressing you until he is better informed. Should he reply, I hope he will favour us with, his name ; we shall then know if he is really a voice from Otaki.-— lam, &c., „ . J^ohk Kebbem, Junr. ©Tiau, M .Sept., 1877. -.