MANAWATU HIGHWAYS BOARD.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 168, 22 October 1881, Page 2

MANAWATU HIGHWAYS BOARD.

Wednesday, October 18, 1881. The usual monthly meeting of the Mar awatu Highways Board waa held on Wednesday m the Board's Rooms, Town Hall. Present :— M- ssrs. Brnce (Chairman), Row, Edwards, Skerman. and Knight MINUTES. The minutes of previous meeting were Tead and confirmed. The Chairman then read the following correspondence : — THE KAIRANGA DRAINS. The Surveyor-General wrote with regard to the drains m the Kairnnga Block :— " Pamasje is likely to accrue from a con* siderable number of trees left on the woiks by settlers bush falling, which choked the drains. Mr. Row explained tha* come time ago the statement of the Surveyor-General oould be borne out, but since that time the evil had been remedied. No doubt the letter had been written when the evil ex> isted. INFORMATION WANTED. A Wter was received by the Secretary from 51r. Thomas Munro, of Bulls. a?king for a list of the ratepayers m the Kiwitea Ward, tog -ther with the number of votes. AN UNFOUNDED CHaEGE, Mr Mathew Hamilton . w ote to call the attention of the Board to the fact that the sqasou for bush falling would soon be over, and he wsr m hourly danger of beine closed jm. Mr Hamilton concluded his letter as follows : — ; ' I have to apply m this manner, as for many reasons (some of whi^h cannot have reaped your notice; I expect nothing but ill-will from the. member for the ward m which I dwell." Mr flow protested against the falaity and injustice of the accusation, and pro* duced staHetirg to. prove that his first care was for Mr Hamilton's int r»et B , and that the greater bulk of the money of the ward available hat£heen spent upori hi- road. The Boar-1 was unanimous as to the falsity of the statement m Mr Hamilton's letter, and Mr Pkerman. moved and Mr Edwards seconded — " That Mr Hoe be instructed to inform, Mr Hamilton that Mr M'Ewen h*s been authorised by the Board to fell the bush on his line, and that the Board considers the statement charging Mr Bow with ill will is entirely unfounded, and ought not to have been made."— Carried unafaimously. ACCOUNTS PURNISHBD. - Mr. James Milbrick forwarded an account for bush falling. — "Received. From Mr. Phyn, demanding a settlement of an account for £!£,! From Mr, Paul, intimating that he had teen forwarded a cheque far £9 m excess of his claim, and offering (to make the refund. It appeared that the mMaVe had been occasioned by the want of care on the part of Mr. Perry, thewarden for Kiwitea, who had signed a vouoher that Mr, Paul's claim ,w« $13, whenlt wa* only (£4 10s; and

also certified to the correctness of Mr. Pnyn's account, although tlie latter claimed anoiber £13. It was proposed by Mr. Skkbman, and fleconded by Mr. Knight— '• That the accounts and letters be forwarded to Mr. Peiry, and that he be re« quested to have the matter rectified by next meeting of the Board." Carried. CIRCULAR MEMORANDUM. A circular letter was received from the Assistant Undersecretary for workß, with reference to 'he taking of lands for roads. No action necessary. EXTBN3ION OF TIME. Edward G'adstone, the contractor for the bridsre over tfiV Maugaine, wrote making application for an extension of time. Mr. Row, the Warden for the district, snpporte 1 the application. * He said that upon several occasions lately the river had been hank high and it was impossible to proceed with the work. He was quite satisfied that the delay had not been occesbned by anything on the part of the contractor. I Under the circumstances the application was granted. APPLICATION FOB BRIDGE. An application was received from Mr. fquires, of titoney Greek, asking th« Board to make approaches and make a small bridge over the creek m the gaily fronting section 39 «toney Greek Road. Upon the motion of Mr. Skerman, seconded by Mr. Knight, it was resolved — " That the matter of the formati-in and bridge applied for by Mr Squires, be left m the hands of the warden." AN APPLICATION. Mr. Munro of Fitzherbert, wrote stating that the< c was a small piece of swamp, about three chains long that barred his passage along the road. Hitherto be had had a right-of-way through some private" property, but that wa* now blocked up. He asked for some assistance from the Board to remedy the evil. r The Chairman said he was pretty con. I versant with the matter about which the letter treated. Mr. Muoro was- now virtually marooned. in'tnfe * bush,' ass the road which he had i hitherto"* used had been closed up. He (Mr. Muriro) a man who had done, a deal of work, ■, which he. might have applied to the Highways Board to have done. The sframp to which the letter referred would' require, corduroying-, and as Mr. Munro w,as willing to do; it at. a very low rate, he* (the chairman) had m structed him to proceed with the work, trusting the Board would endorse his action. is it was considered that the work was a most necessary one, and would cost but a trifle, the Board gave the necessary sanction. WITHDRAW At OF VOTE. The following letter was received from Mr. Hohsworth, the Commissioner of Crown Lands :— I he Land Board has withdrawn, by resolutfrn, the approval entered unon its minutes of July 28, sanctioning the expenditure of £29 Ila 6d on the road within the Kiwitea Block, that block having beori sold prior to the passing of the Land Act, 1877. Section 5:) does not apply. From enquiries made at the Treasury I learu that £120 12s 2d is available by your Board within the Oroua District on account of the Deferred Payment see- I tions Nos. 304. 305, 309. 308, 312, 312. 316, ani 317. m tin terms of Section 59 of the Land Act, 1877." VALUATION. The following letter was received from Mr. Ward, the Judge of the Assessment Ccurt:— 1. That although "The Rating Act, 1876 " has been m operation for fchs past four ytars, the valuations of properties hy the assessors, m a groat many instances, are still but imperfectly performed. 2. Apart fioin the question, as to whether, m all cases, the most suitable persons have been appointed valuers, it has been shown that m noroerons capes, the persons so appointed, have not visited and fully inspected the properties, to give them data, upon which to base their valuations, not have they taken sufficient pains to ascertain who the owners or occupiers are, and m very many of the latter cases, as to the nature of the occupations. 3. It is feared that m many cases the so* called valuations, are simply copies of previous assessment lists, su perpetuating grievous errors.. It is submi'ted that this }■* neither the intention or spiritof the Act 4. That a though persons who wish, may " objec ," at the sittings of the Assessment Courts, it is considered that people ought not to be put to the expeneeand trouble of doing this, m cases wherein it might be saved by the valuators pr periy doing their duty. A* indicating how some vain* tions have been made, evidence before the Assessment Court has disclosed bow m one case a block of more than 15,000 acres was.in* specied ( ? )by canale-light ; m another, a raupo swamp anl toitoi flat were returned a9 standing crops of grain, as indicating that the property was m a high state of cultivation, and v.ilued accordingly ; again. perpons have been sch n duled as the occupievs of propety. m cases m which the occupation was only that of a weekly tenancy ; and mother caseß, where the persons whose names were, placed on the lists hare never owned, occupied, or heard of the properties till ca'led on to pay rates. 5. Mr. Ward expresses a hope that Local Bodies will not receive this communication as tendered m any carping spirit, but rather inasmuch for the timefor appointing valuators f.ir the ensuing year is clone at hand, as the reasons why they may consider it deßirable to r make^it an instruction to. the officers^ so to be appointed, that the valuation Hb*s be made m strict accordance with the letter, and spirit of /. the " Bating Act, 1876," and so save th« risk of needless expense by the list being " thrown out " or allowance by tho Court to 'thesucceßsful objectors. o; 1 : The Chairman said he hearfflf agveejl with the circular of the Ju^ge, jand felt quite certain that up, to the - nrgsent; time, neither m Manawatu, nor m : a.ny other county, had there been « legitimate valuation. The.r could hot expect* to have the work done m a prop? r manner unless a sum equivalent to the time and labor expended were granted. ' ' • ; Mr Row asked if it would not b a . competent for the Board to appoint Mr Hoe the valuator without calling; fur tenders. The Chairman thought so His own opinion was that the better way would bo to specify the exact manner m which the work should have to, be done, and then call for applications. . :,..,. Mr Skerman thought if Mr Hoe would conscientiously perform, the work, the Board could not do better than appoint him to the office. , Mr Hoe m reply said that if he received the appointment, he would, to %he best of his ability, carry ont its duties. Mr, Knigjit asked if he would be willing to visit every section upon which improvements had been made^ Mr. Hoe having replied m the tiveMr. Skbrmax moved, and Mr Knight seconded— " That Mr. Hoe be . appointed valuer;to the Board for the eoßtung year, at a sal**y of £20. Carried. MrOTATrox. ... Mr. Bassett appeared on behalf of a number of settlei s on his line of road, m. order, to have some necessary work done. The Warden for the district, Mr. Edwards .informed Mr. Bassett that he had already trough^ .the. mMff un,dtr gffi

notice of the Board, and the work applied for should be done. It was proposed by Mr. Edwards, seconded by Mr. Skehm an — " That tenders be called for the formation of thirty five chains on Bassett's ro.vi. the tenders to be m by next meeting." Carried. ' : „BXPLANATION. Mr, Skibman explained at some considerable length the reason of his not being present at the conference between the Manawatu and Sandon Board «;,which was occasioned by a mistake on the part of the Chairman m naming the daj. Mr. Bruce acknowledged his mistake, and reported that he hnd agreed to accept, from the Sandon and Carnarvon Boards, the sum of £75 m acquittal of allciaim', such acceptance to be subject to the endorsement of the fall Board. Mr. Edwards moved, and Mr. Knight seconded— "That the offer of £75 from tbe Sandon and Carnarvon Board m liquidation of all claims be accepted." Carried . AN UNFOUNDED STATEMENT. Mr. Skebman read an extract from the RangitlJiei Advocate, m which the fiiance and management of the Board's affairs were attacked, and naked if there wm any foundation for the accusation. . \ -'.<.' | Both the Chairman and .Secretary gave the statements flat denia 1 , and the latter most satisfactorily proved the absurdity of the statements. • x Mr. Knight said that the article"qnoted bcre animus and spite upon its very face, and considered tho Board would be yers | foolish to take the slightest notice of i<v r j Mr. Edwards agreed with Mr. Knight, for. there were several assertions which he himself was m a position to contradict. ■ . THE MANAWATTJ BRIDGE; ( It w*s proposed by Mr. Edwards, and •econded bvMfc Knight — '. ' „ „ JVThat._the_Chairtnan-be-aathorißed io f communicate with Mr, Walter Johnsto^e,asking him to use his influence m having the Manawatu Bridge vested m the Borough Council. £ TfNDBRS ACOKPTED. The tender of Charles Wiggins & Co., for .worka.on No.-7 Line was accepted •aJL.the cf oliowing ratei : —^Twenty chains of formation, at £1 Tos per ca^in': MsHrine, stamping, and formation;, at £ I Ss par chain; four culverts at £1 ids each. The tender of Charles Puck & (X, for work on -Randolph and Walker's Line was accepted on 'the following terms :— at '£1;, £1 7s 6d per chain and culverts at £2 each.