FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Patea Mail, Volume V, Issue 490, 10 January 1880, Page 2

FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

At the monthly meeting ll tlie ;>bnvo hotly held on Monday last. a letter was read from the Engineer, stating the causes wliicii led to the MV,nut tain Hoad vote being exceeded. Flic Engineer attributed the excess to (T>, unforeseen, accidents to roads end bridges caused by the heavy Hoods; (2) no allowance having been made by the Council for contingencies; (3; damage by heavy traffic in. - connection with railway weeks ; (4) the exorbitant price of labor.; and (b) the difficulty and expense attending transit of material required Jor repairing works. When an accident happened to any one of the bridges previous to the railway ‘ being opened for traffic, ibo-wlioF of the repairing material, such as-cement, ironwork, &e., had to he carted from. Inglewood at the rate of £8 [>rr ton.; ■ the carters required the rejad to be- made passable before they wmdUi uioxlertakc the ■ work, and this involved a. conafd-erabLe. expenditure. It was necessary to- employ men during the simmer to- watch, the bridges, in order that they might notbe destroyed by fire, and had this precaution not been taken, some of the--bridges would have been burnt down. It cost nearly £BS to repair‘the Patea. Biidge, which was in danger of being swept away. The Waipriku-iti Bridge was also nearly carried away, and entailed considerable cost in repairs. The-ap-proaches to the Waipuku and Piakan Bridges were damaged, and caused extra expenditure, and had all these repairs not been executed, and precaution measures adopted, the bridges have been carried away.- Considerable expenditure was also caused by an. alteration in the railway line, which was made to cross the road between Mangarawhete ’ and Wiiipukn-iti; and consequently a new portion of the road had to belonued. The Council would also be put to extra expense through the delay made last summer, at the request of the Government, in forming portions of the road between' Waipuku and 81 rat ford. The contracts would all have to he re-pegged —nearly the whole of the level pegs having been destroyed during the winter. The Chairman said the Engineer had made the foregoing statement at his request, but it was scarcely so complete as he expected it to be. He bad spoken to Major Atkinson, and requested the Government to pay for the extra cost of maintaining the Mountain Road. He informed Major Atkinson that, although the Council had expended the money without authority, thfe expenditure was urgently required, and he thought, /is it was a Government . Road, the Government should pay for its maintenance.

Major Atkinson asked him to write a letter stating these facts, which be did, and also enclosed acopy of the Engineer s letter. Major Alkinson promised to-

bring the matter,under the notice of the 'Government. Between £3,UUO and £3,500 bad been overspent on tne Mountain Road vote, Mr Syme said the unwarrantable expenditure on the part of the Council on the Mountain Eoad was a serious matter, anil should be looked into very closely. Ho thought the officers of the Council were not the proper persons to blame. The Engineer had nothing whatever to do with the finances of the Council, ami the Treasurer could not be held responsible fbfwhat the Council had authorised. The Council had depOuded on the Chairman mid Aetihg Chairman in keeping a correct account of the finances, alul this was the result. The system of bookkeeping Was wrong, as it was impossible to find out by the books'how a contract stood. The Council had to appoint a committee to go into the matter, atul see the exact position of the Council’s finances. The Chairman had gone over 'the'accounts previously, and "had sum - marily dismissed a number ofworkmen 5 Mb it appealed to him (Mr Syme) at time to be uncalled for; but, from what had transpired subsequently, the Ciiairtuan appeared to have acted rightly. To avert'd the recurrence ofsijch a‘state of tilings, the system of book-keeping must be changed, nud the Council must, also have an officer to supervise theother officers, and that Would be the duty of a paid Chairman. That was the only way to prevent the Council drifting into embarassing positions. Other County Councils had each a paid Chairman; and he thought it would be found to be very economical in the end. The Chairman would be able to deVote more of his time to the duties Of his office-, and it would be part of the Chairman’s duty to See that all the revert tie of the Council should not be gwalloWed tip by one item like the Mountain Road. This would have been avoided had the Courtcil had a responsible officer in the shape of a paid Chairman. Other parts of the County must now suffer 011 account of the excessive expenditure on the Mountain Road,— Herald.