MANAWATU HIGHWAYS BOARD.

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 48, 16 June 1880, Page 3

MANAWATU H IGHWAYS BOARD.

RTYERTRET TELEIGERJTOKGJEOKFMGLKEFMN GREGERDFGISRUTWERK TJKFG;RKTOKWERRE RTRE TEGRET

of £fS7 , he did not think it prudent to involve tho Board still further m debt. Mr £*? m ? T had Baid that the rates ; would be m hand by the time the money for the contraot came due, but although it might possibly prove to be the case there was , no absolute guarantee of it. Mr Farmer had twitted the bush wards which had lately fallen into debt, but; they had merely made use of the money ii^cbTbthermie been lying j idle at the bank: The wardr m fuiids \ were unfortunate m not having spent the money while they .were m credit, and as they had not done so it was generously given to the others to be, of course, returned at a future time. Mr M'Phkeson begged to differ with the chairman. There was no suchthing as leave given. The money was appro* priatdd without leave or license. . Mr M'EwBN said a great deal had! been said about hia and other wards being a drag upon the remainder. He could not well see how such could, be the case, inasmuch as he had no works undertaken m his ward for the past twelve montts. If he were not : very touch mistaken when a certain return ' was~f urnished for which he intended; to ask, it would be found that matters would be completely reversed, and that his ward would be entitled to claim a refund instead of being charged with 'de;bt.< ■;■■:•■. ;.-:;^; :.-': ,;,:;■-/:/- :■:■ .1 ■ Bmucß^said' that after thfe* mannerin Which tho Chairman had- dealt withthe subject, there was really very little li»f t; for any oixetbsay. It"-mighi be |n he recollection of Councillors .that [..Mi. : G;if£ord;S predece^ssar— Mr. Rockell T-had done nis best when f ?aming a resolution Jagaihst incurring further liabiality to make it as;, stringent as possible. The Chairman had stated that t;he bank, overdraft was oyer £700, beside which there were soma, £000 liabilitias, and with a responsibility ;of £ 1300, staring, them m. • the face, it behoved them to exercise an extreme caution m increasing that responsibility: Therfr were £400 which would Be avail; able, r but every penny, of that -would be absorbed for maintainanoe of roads and-bridgesi ; > : .'" ;. [''■ ■- -'-'■] ■ ■'/ Mr. Farmbr retorted that he' had been twitted with rallowiijg the. funds ,of hia wards to lie idle, and had b ee n toldtliatit was m pure generosity that | the pthep wards hadjus6d it: 5e did not swallow that statement) for he had a very distinct- recollection of making several applications for work to be carried on, but had always been met by a. very presssng request from the Chair-man to postpone it from, month to mouth. Another thing he could not well see how; the money could have beon left idle, as 'stated of. the Chair* man,, for although he might have, a credit balance at the commencement of a sitting, it was generally " melted " before the close, Mr M'Ewen would wish tb warn those members of the Board who imagined that' they were only responsible for t^eir own particular iivard, that they were much mistaken ; no member could, shift his- ; responsibility; md ' erer^ warden was accountable for; the liabilities of the Board as a whole, quite irrespective of how his credit or debit ba» lance stood. , The amendment was ther put to the meeting, when the ■ Chairman declared that the victory had been won by the " noes/' 1 but a -«how of hands having been tak>n, the same- effect was the result. The following is the voting:— For the amendment— Messrs. Farmer, Gifford, and M'Pherson; against itMessrs. Bruce, M'Ewen, and M'Eenzie. The Chairman intima.ted that, he felt called apon to give his Vote against the amendment, which he then declared 'lost.-; : ■'-. ; :,/-' . ;: ■. \ ' . :■: The motion^ having been next put, was carried on the yoices. Mr. Farmer asked if that would affect the tenders for the bridge on the Feilding-Halooinbe roadP The Chairman replied m the negative. The motion did pot affect mainten n nee, nor constructive works for which • the County Council furnished the funds. . ,qjwn>ißß. Tenders were then opened for the Feilding-Halcbmhe Road, but; a.B they were all considerably m excess of the estimate of the Engineer, it was determined that none should be accepted; but that fresh tenders should be called for. ;■■■■;■■ ■■-■■■. '■• -..■■'■- ■- ■■;■:■■-/■ -■:!■■ Bridges and culverts on"Ifiol?ford f s Line, Carnarvon.—^ There were ■ only three tenders— -;Munro (accepted) £58 19s: j SchUger, £60 ; and Law and|Co., -£140^: -:■;';• '::•:-:■-'-'-: ■)■■ : : ■'■ ■ ' IRINOIPI/H V. INTBRBST. Mr. Bruce said that m rising to refer to a matter wb,ich had taken place at the last meeting, he felt somewhat ashamed on account of the apparent triviality of the interests involved, and he would certainly not have followed up the matter were |t j\ot thai he considered a very great principle was involved. It had been contended by Mr. Farmer '; that those wards whicn were now out of funds { should be deWited with' 'the^^ whole of t^ interest to be paid upon the bank overdraft. Perhaps it might be thought the matter ■was a rery small one over which to differ; but he claimed to be influenced by the same xaotires which, i>o doubt, actuated- /Mr., Farmer— ?a desire to get what .was &ir *»d j^tt. As Mr. jkf 'Eifeii' had said upon a previbus occasion, it was indeed an extremely difflcult matter to' deal justly with the matter of. pveridraf t. There was^ no > dbubt?'ttat:;.»4 : --^tfe" : ,^rosent.: :^time the Board as a whole was liible for a yery large overdraft, but the, was, how could' anyoae fairly estimate or adjust the r responsibility of a particular ward.. One month some wards had large sums to their credit, and at the next a, debit blaiiance was substituted. Even with Mr. Farmer's own ward an instance of that fluctuation bould be oblerved,as a.t that time it was only some £17^ to/the good. He h^d before referred to the advantages possessed by those wards which had money a.t command' for constructive works-rthey had the full use of the professional services of the Engineer, while the wards which had no, Necessity for- . suo^ a^ outlay paid v »n equal proportion of His salary and r the administrative expenses- . Hfe thought the set-off a very fair one, and • certainly if they were not satisfied, and determined to go into minutiee, they would Ijave the member for Carnarvon ' patting m a claim for a rebate, upon the grounds tkat^the sand. hills of his ward were not so destructiye on the shoes' of the' Engineer'* hfifM :$& other portions

of the district. He had little doubt if he were to table a motion that the Secretary should ransack the various pigeon-holes m the office, and search all its dusty shelves, it would be found that m the past the bush wards had amply paid their share of the responsibility, not m proportion to the rates, but in t an equal share. He admitted that the amount involved m the discussion was but a trifle, but the principle contained m Mr. Farmer's proposition was odious, aud consequently he would move — That the Board rescind the resolution which, was passed upon the thirteenth of May relative to the charging of the interest of the overdraft to the wards m debt. The Chairman would claim the privilege of making a few remarks upon the matter. When he. had read of the action taken by Mr. Farmer, he felt bound to say he was completely taken by surprise, particularly when he brought to mind the fact that that gentleman had been one of the strongest advocates that no question of importance should be passed until it had been first well discussed. Such a course could not be said to have been pursued m the case under discussion, but on the contrary, advantage had been taken of a th;n meeting to rush the motion through, with-what was to say the least of it, very indecent haste. ..'.\..Mr..,-;M'Ew.Kff..said. he thoroughly agreed with every word which had fallen from the Chairman, and he would second the resolution with very great pleasnre, although he was perfectly satisfied m his own miud that it would be useless to do so. It was well known to all the wardens that to have a motion rescinded, an unanimous vote of the body Mas necessary, and he was afraid that that would not be obtained. At the 5a ne time he would warn those members who might feel inclined to vote against.or impose it, that if such were done he would not rest satisfied until he returned the compliment. Mr. M'Phebson thought the action of Mr. Farmer perfectly fair and legitimate. The bush wards had seised UDon the money and spent it, and certainly as they were not m a position to Refund it, the least they could do would be to pay the interest. He verily believed that'if the Chairman mortgaged tlie-whole of the Stoney Creek, be would be so just as to imagine that the southern wards should redeem it again. The motion was then put, but as there* were several dissentients, the former resolution could not be rescinded. ! THI BNGINHKB'B SAIART. The Chairman said.there was one little matter which he wished to bring under the notice of the Board, and that was the very large sum which it was paying for the services of the Engineer, an amount which he considered quite out of proportion with its revenue. To him- it appeared somewhat unfair that the County Council, with an expends ture of about £9000, should only contribute an equal amount with that Board, whose expenditure was only between two and three thousand, or just one-fourth. The duties of the Engineer with regard to the Council took him from the extreme of one end to the other, and as he had to attend to Otaki, a considerable portion of his time was occupied m travelling, whereas both Qtaki and Manchester had engineers of their own. Mr. M'Ewßif quite agreed with the remarka of the Chairman, but as it was more than possible that there would soon be a fresh election on aocount of the secession of the Awahou Ward, he did not think it wise at that stage to disturb existing arrangements. At the same time, he freely admitted that the proportion paid by the Count; Council was out of all reason. The Chairman said he could not recognise the grounds upon which Mr. M'Ewen proposed a postponement. It was true he had heard sorqe rumor of a division of the Board, bnt at nothing officially had been received, aud the new high war had not been gazetted, he did not see why they should recogniio any outiide action. - Mr. Brucx took the same riov of the matter as that taken by the Chairman. The work performed for the two bodiea was absurdly disproportionate to th* remuneration paid, more particularly for the past twelve months, during which time at least three of the wards had had no constructive works m progress. Mr. Farmer said there could be no question as to the manifest injustice and onesidedness of the arrangement. He would therefore move — " Xh&t the Chairman be requested to communicate with the Chairman of the Manawatu County Council, and bring under his notice the very great disparity m the amounts paid by the two bodies to the Engineer for his services when the expenditure of each was taken itto consideration, and to suggest that the amounts from each bodj should ha'based upon the amount of expenditure representing his services." Carried. NOTIOI O* MOTIQX. Mr. M'EwBN, at the next meeting, to more — "■ That from the orst of Qotoher, 1875, to the 51st of May, 1880, tho aacounts of the Boar 4 should b© adjusted, so that the executive expense be at a per centage, and not as at present, each ward paying alike." •■■-.•:--. POSITION OI THB WARDS.

No;lWar4 .., ... „.- Qv. £17 8 6 I*o. 2 Ward ... ..'.'- ... Dr. 219 10 9 No. 8 Ward Or. 168 16 3 No. 4 Ward ..,,... ... Pr. 19 17 3! No. 5 Ward .-,",' ... ... Dr. 245 19 10 No. 6 Ward ... ... ... Dr. 188 4 6 No. 7 Ward ... ... ... Dr. 185 2. 7