The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1884. COUNTY AFFAIRS.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 59, 6 February 1884, Page 2

The Telephone. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1884. COUNTY AFFAIRS.

Rejoice, ye settlers and propertyholders in Poverty Bay I for, a few days since, the very large sum of £l,OOO was granted by a paternal Government to the Cook County Council—for what ? for the carrying on of road work under the " Boads and Bridges Construction Act." Have ye not cause to be gratefnl to the worthy association of Ministerial muddlers ? Do ye not feel proud of the very concientious Government that hoists the liberal standard at the main P Verily, ye have cause to rejoice that the much-eared-for district of Poverty Bay is ever the favored locality that has long had cause to bless those choice creatures who fatten on the emoluments of office I The district of Poverty Bay is, of course, without the pale of political intrigue,—that is, there is little or no necessity for an odice-keeping-at-any.risk Government giving a thought to the requirements of a locality that cannot bring representative pressure to bear on the powers-tbat-be ; consequently, we must be grateful for small mercies. But, let us see how far the Poverty Bay District merits the treatment it has for some time past received. The area of the Cook County is no less than 1,800,000 acres ; the rateable value of the land £1,632,900 ; and the area of land taken up, 550,000 acres ; while the value of wool exported last year was £32,527. Then, there is the export of grass-seed, coastwise, which may be estimated at a good round sum, besides other productions. In June last, the Cook County Council, in its simplicity—naturally believing it had to deal with respectably heads of affairs, —applied to the Government for £32,000 for the construction of roads, &c.; but the Act of 1883 provides that no Council shall receive more than £5,000 in any one year for the purposes of the Act, and, on the local body becoming aware of that stipulation, it reduced its application, in October last, as follows :—Patutahi roads, £1,310; Boyal Oak Hotel to Makaraka, £1,310 ; Pipirohaka road, £227 ; East Coast road, £1,500 ; and Waimata road, £653. The Council was, it appears, warned that if the other Counties of the Colony required bridges, this County might be left without anything ; yet, unfortunately, the public body of this district decided in favor of roads, as being of the greatest benefit —and what is the result ? Why, the grant of the insignificant sum of £l,OOO. What the Council will do with this bountiful supply is the next difficulty. The East Coast and

Waimata roads have had no part of the £lO,OOO of last year’s grant ; the Patutahi metal scheme is out of the question ; and the Matawhero road is quite good enough for the next two years. In common fairness, then, the division of this money between the East Coast and Waimata roads seems about the only thing the Council can do. The Arai bridge could be made the subject of application next year, and would take precedence, it being a work destroyed by flood. Then, next come the Waikohu, Kaiteratahi, and Turanganui bridges; and the only course open to the Cook County Council now is to undertake the work of bridge-making, that being the sole means, it appears, of procuring money from the Government for public works-—however necessary the construction of roads may be, The Waikohu bridge, not being on a County road, can be made the subject of a special application under the "District Works" provision of the Act ; the Council, in that case, having to repay in fifteen years the whole of the money advanced. It is entirely useless to look to the General Government for aid for anything it cah shirk out of, as subsidies have been ruthlessly torn away, and Crown and Native rates are to take their place — for how long? The “Boads and Bridges Construction Act” was framed, it maybe presumed, to preVent impecunious and other neglected districts making begging applications, and for this purpose £20,000 a-year is provided 1 The first year, seventy-five County Councils applied for the total sum of £680,000 ; last year 115 of the two bodies wanted something over £2,000,000; and now the Cook County Council gets the extravagant sum of £l,OOO 1 Beally, so large a grant must have the effect of impoverishing the generous Government that finances for the carrying on of “reproductive works” on the loan principle, and we are curious to know how such a vast outlay is to be met ? It is very evident that Government favors are rare dispensations now-a-days, and it cannot be expected that a district like Poverty Bay—with its intelligent and influential representation—will have much of a “ show” in the scramble for the public funds that are at the disposal of a righteous congregation of place-hunters. It is, however, the duty of the Cook County Council to allow no opportunity for seeking to gather in a fair share of the public funds to pass unheeded, and we would suggest to that body the advisability of protesting against a continuance of the neglect with which this part of the Colony has been treated, as well as adopting the course open for securing the small amounts likely to be obtainable for the construction of bridges. It would be useless for the public bodies of this district to depend at present on any outside or representative advocacy for a fair recognition of the requirements of Poverty Bay, and they should not “ rest on their oars ’’ while an effort can be made to obtain what is justly due to one of the finest Counties, prospectively, in the North Island. Let the public bodies of the Cook County work unitedly, and take active measures, without delay, to secure a fair recognition from the Government of a district that the Ministry has hitherto almost ignored the existence of,