MEETING OF RATEPAYERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 239, 8 October 1880, Page 2

ME ETIN G OF RATEPAYERS.

Afajrly attended, meeting" of ratepayers ! was held in the Provincial Hall last night jfor the purpose of discussing the proposal of jthe Council to raise a loan for certain works iin the town. — I The Mator, having taken .the chair, read the advertisement calling the meeting, and jsaid that it was proposed to_ raise a loan of. meefc the interest and linking fund |on which would require* a special rate of IJd ■ Sin the pound.*-, v The question: for them to dejcide waV whether, if th^y , wished 'fo J have the ' ibridge, it should bec'onVtrubted out of a loan i ior from. the ordinary rates. To give ontdeaof how they were likely to stand at the end of

the financial year' in March next, he would read the following figures : — Receipts: rates £1400; back rates recoverable £100; licenses., dog tickets, &c ,£295; subsidies £718. Total £2513. Expenditure: ordinary expenses £2818; overdraft £220; total, £3038, showing a deficiency of £525, In reply to a letter asking the amount of subsidies received since 1876. he might state that it was £4910, and they expected £718 more this year. Mr J. A. Habley said that in |be absence of the person who had most wa'i*ffily "'advocated the building of the bridge ho< felt called upon to say a few words. What the Mayor had justdone in reading those figures was exactly in keeping with the whole action of the Council in respect to the bridge, the construction of which they had tried to thwart by every means in their power. The Mayor showed that at the fend^ of the financial year tbey would be £500 in debt, and nobody who had watched the proceeding of the Council could ever bave anticipated anything else. The only wonder was that the deficiency was so small after the way they had been going on. One of the greatest calamities to the town, not merely to those living in the neighborhood but to the community generally, was the closing of the Collingwood bridge, and' the Mayor tried to stop its' being rebuilt by reading those figures. Why he bad only made astttement to the end of the year and had said nothing about the next y.e'ar when the licenses and other receipts would be Coming in and there would be at least £1000 to the good. Let him look twelve months hence and not Bit, and the picture would be ati entirely different one. It was rio uSe to talk about the probable financial position in Maroh, as by that time little more could be done than getting the tenders oufc. The verdict of the people had already been taken against the loan, and he hoped they would not upset it now, as by iudicioui economy, aud dealings it was quite possible to get the necessary works done without it and without injuring any individual. He respected the Mayor in his business capacity, but as Mayor and a Councillor he protested against him. He hoped that at tbo next elections the ratepayers would record tbeir votes like men, and put into the , Council those who would exercise their powers properly. ; Mr FiutD Atkinson would like to know if it was in the power of the Council to publish all the salaries paid to the Corporation officers. [The Mayor : Anj ons can see the books at the Council Chamber at any time, and Mr Gully wiii be most happy to explain them.j For his part ba could never make out those balance sheets, there was too much " roiscelr laneoua" and "ditto" about them for him. (Cheers and laughter.) There had been great reductions all through the colony, an d ten per cent wm flying around everywhere^ and he Bhould like to know what the Corporation officers got, for it appeared to him tbat they received as much now aB in days of prosperity. So far as he could see reductions always commenced with poor Joe the porter instead of at the fountain head. (Applause.)

Mr. Graham amd that this was a meeting celJpd by resolution of the Council fo consider cerium proposals, and he had certainly expected that, the first two or three speakers at least, would have been Councillors, to urge aoroo reason why there should be special taxation for building tbe bridge, and yet not one of them bad come forward. He did not think that was quite tbe way in which to treat lhe Dublic. He quite ngreed with Mr Harley that by the exercise of a judicious economy in other matters, euflicicient funds might be available for the work without resorting to special taxation (cheers), though if the Councillors had Bhown logical grounds for it, the ratepayers would have been quite reasonable enough to support their proposal. Works had been entered upoD, the coat of wbich would have been qiite sufficient for the construction of the bridge. He referred specially to ■what was being done at tbe Port. It was certainly a great improvement to the town, and would have been a perfectly justifiable undertaking if there had been funds enough for it ; but, as it was, it looked very bad that the widening of the rood at a part where nearly half the Councillors resided should have been carried out, when other far more important works were neglected. He had heard one or two of those Councillors who were benefitted by it say that they really did not care whether it was done or not. If so, it would have shown far better taste had they voted against it. It was lor the ratepayers to show their disapprobation of the Corporation revenue being expended in that WBy by voting against the Council's present proposal to increase the taxation. He would move That in the opinion of this meeting it is unnecessary and undesirable to levy a special tax upon the ratepayers for the object proposed by the City. Council, and that a new bridge (tbe necessity of which is reoognised), may, by judicious and economical management on the part of the Council, be erected in Col-lingwood-street without special taxation. Mr. Clarkson seconded the resolution. Me. Trask said that he was no speaker, and had not intended to address the meeting, but since he had been challenged by Mr Graham, he felt bound lo cay a few words, It was he who had brought forward the resolution in the Council, and he had done so because he considered the proposal to devote a very large portion of the revenue to the erection of tbe Colliogwood bridge to be a one-sided affair, as the other works for which the loan was ssked were of quite as much importance to the ratepayers in other parts of the town bb was the Colling wood bridge to those in its immediate vicinity, and besidee, it would give the ratepayers an opportunity of expressing their opinion on the proposal. If they did not raise tbe loan they mußt have an overdraft, and the interest on that would be 9 per cent., while a loan might be obtained at 6 per Cbnt. He had no desire to be specially taxed, and personally was indifferent to the result of the meeting. He wished also to protest against the eff- handed and scurrilous manner in wbich his brother Councillors had been spoken of. He could tell them they were as independent-

nmi'Vi! v U>l of mm as any in tha' [J*!'. Mr FoWifi £ said if Mr Hurley find Mr Graham thought the Port was oyerrenr'sented in the Council let them take a walk down to that pert, an<<" hetween the Albion and Commercial wbnrves they would see as blnehguardly a piece of road as would be found apywhere in the town. There was no footpath, and a certain large firm were allowed io run their drainage and rubbish on to the road, which in wet weather was knee deep in mod. He had often points it out to Cr Harley and Dr Little, but nothing was done to improve it. He had afc one time kept on agitating about tbe boat landing until with good friends to help bim ;he had got the work done- The Council would not do it, although be believed they ought to, and the General Government refused, until at last he tock legal advice, and was advised that he could bring an action against the Government, and now he was seriously thinking of entering an action against the Council on account of the state of the road. We tried to persuade strangers to come here, and told them it was a pretty little place and nicely kept, but when they came and saw for themselves they all agreed it was disgraceful. Steamers steamed in and out of here on tbe same tide, and visitors had not time to go up to town, so they wanted a walk elsewhere. They could not walk on the town side of the wharf without the risk of being run over by Crewdson'a bus or the railway— (eheerß and laughter)— and on the other side there was only that beastly road, wbich for a few pounds could be put in good order. There must be no more taxation. He wondered at the people paying as much as tbey did ; if they were all of bis mind they certainly would not. He looked upon the people of New Zealand as the biggest fools under the suh. (Great laughter.) They thought, of nothing but how they could borrow money, and one-half of the people were always scheming how they could tax the other half. (Loud applause.) He would use all his influence to stop this loan, for if once the rates got over the shilling, tbey would never stop, until tbey got to two shillings. Me. Little said they had been called together to sanction a loan of £3000 for the upkeep of three bridges, when Mr Akersten had offered to do the lot for a very moderate sum. He felt confident that for £250 or £300 Collinglingwood bridge could be put in such a state of repair that it would last for five years, and that for £200 the other two could be made to last tbree yearsi He was very glad to see the meeting opposed to additional taxation, and hoped that all would go dead against the loan. Mr. Burn thought that Mr Akersten's proposal was a perfectly feasible one, and was certain that if the Council followed in the steps of the General Government and cut down the expenditure upon the Corporation staff, they would in a very few yearß save enough to put up a new bridge. What had become, he should like to know, of the Government subsidies, which were given especially for bridges and keeping open the Queen's highway? He thought the public should bring an action against the Council for stopping tbe traffic over the bridge. (Mr Roweil : Humbug.) He was sorry Mr Graham's resolution referred to Collingwood bridge only, as he would like to see all of them put in repair. The ratepayers living near the river had. put their

hands into their pockets nnd raised special subscriptions fbr that bridge, and then they were rated more highly because it had improved their properties. He hoped the meeting would set its face against any more borrowing. Mr. Graham, in reply to Mr Trask, said that it was far better to have .an •overdraft for a few months, even though, the rate of interest should be higher, than to be burdened with a loan for 80 years. Mr Trask said lie brought forward the resolution in the Couucil toi test the feelings of the people, hut it was only a few months since the same process was gone ( through, ahd the people 'expressed their feelings pretty plainly then, and it was not likely they had altered since. A practical man had told him only the other day that a bridge could be built over the Brookstreet stream for £1.50. Tlie resolution was then put and carried unanimously, and after a vote of thanks to the Chairman the meeting broke up.