Patea Public Meeting.

Patea Mail, 20 January 1881, Page 3

Patea Public Meeting.

A public meeting was convened by the Chairman of the County Council on Tuesday in the Council Chamber, to consider the propriety of changing the official name of Carlyle back to the original Patea. Nearly forty persons were present, including principal business men in the town and several settlers in the vicinity. Mr Dale presided, and called for a resolution on the subject.

A pause ensued, no one rising to “ open the ball.”

Mr Sherwood : I will move a resolution, as no one seems prepared to do so. But I must say I came here without any intention of speaking. I move “ That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable that the name of this town be changed from Carlyle to Patea, and that the Government be requested to make the alteration.” I believe there is a general desire for this change back to the old name of Patea. The principal reason has been that the Post-office and Telegraph-office are not Carlyle, but Patea ; the river is Patea, and the port is Patea. No one outside knows where Carlyle is, and a great deal of confusion has arisen from time to time. If you go for a few miles outside this County, you will find very few individuals who know of such a place as Carlyle. It seems only logical that as the Post-office, the Telegraph-office, and the port are known as Patea, the township should be Patea also, I regret to see comparatively few residents present, and I think this meeting should be followed up, by one convened by the Town Board in the Town Hall, to enable residents in and near the town to express their views, as the changing of name is really very important to them. I am aware that the Chief Surveyor is very strongly opposed to changing of the name, and I think*we ought to back up the County Council in bringing this matter before the Government in its strongest light. There was a proposition carried by the Town Board some months since to take steps to have not only the name of the town altered to Patea, but also to alter the main street in the town to Egmont-street. That resolution has not yet been submitted to the public. I think it should be. Mr Horner : I second the motion because it seems absurd to call a place by a name that nobody knows. Everybody seems to know this place as Patea, and I say let us have it Patea if we can. Mr Tennent: Do you not think that if , the Surveyor-General would have any objection to the name of the town being changed now, the same objection would not hold good if this town were made into a municipality ? In a short time it is almost certain there will be sufficient houses to form a municipality ; and I think the Government would raise no objection at that time if the people wished it. If so, this meeting being held might lead to no result. Chairman : I should suppose that if they would object to the name being altered now, they would also object on the town being made a municipality. Mr C. F. Barker: You can name it anything you like when you make a municipality. Chairman : If so, I don’t see why the Government should not alter the name now, as has been done in other towns. If it is only a question of the SurveyorGeneral being opposed to it, I should think other influence might be brought to bear. Mr Taplin : I think if the matter is properly explained to the Government, there will not be the least difficulty. Wairoa was altered a short time ago because of confusion with other Wairoas. Mr Milroy : I should like to make a short statement. It has been said by the mover that the Carlyle Town Board had passed a resolution to call a public meeting for altering the name of the town ; and it has appeared in a local in the Patea Mail. I must say that no such resolution was passed. The resolution says that the opinion of the ratepayers should be taken. I asked how it was to be taken, and it was said that there were drainage works and a water supply to be brought up, and these subjects could be taken altogether. I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without challenging the writer of the local to produce from the minute book any authority from the minute book. A short pause ensued. Chairman: As there are no more remarks, the mover may wish to reply, Mr Sherwood : Imagine this place becoming a municipality, people at a distance would not be able to find, from the Postoffice directory, any such place as Carlyle in the colony. What would they think of a place having no existence being made

into a municipality ? Mr Milroy has placed his own construction on a resolution passed by the Town Board. 1 say most emphatically a public meeting was to be called to consider the two questions of changing names, in connection with other questions. I can only say that this question ought to have been ventilated long ago, and that a public meeting ought to have been called long ago. The motion as to changing the town’s name to Patea was then adopted unanimously. Mr Sherwood also moved that the chairman be requested to forward the resolution to the Government, together with a letter. Mr Taplin seconded, and the motion was adopted. Chairman : Another matter was mentioned to me to-day ; that is the question of altering the name of the main street through the town. I consider the County Council is not the proper body to interfere in that matter. (Hear, hear.) Mr Sherwood : I shall once more endeavour to move in the matter of getting a meeting of ratepayers called for the objects stated. Unthart£s-road is another street that should be altered to Victoria-street or some suitable name. At the same time the Government do not care two straws about the names of places. Manaia township on the Plains has Maori names for its streets, and some streets perpetuate the names of chiefs who were great disturbers. There is Tauranca Ika street as a specimen ; and I think the only name that is not Maori is Ricmenschneider street. (Laughter.) When the Government get such names as that for a new township, they cannot care much about names. A vote of thanks to the Chairman closed the meeting. It was large and satisfactory, considering the bad weather.