THE AROHA AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 297, 8 September 1888, Page 2

THE AROHA AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

' This above all —to thine oyrn self be tru And it must follow as the niglif. the day 'Jhou canst not then be false to any flr>an, - — SItAKESrEAItii/ «-''=■

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, TBBB.

Within the next couple oF weeks the duty will devolve uposi the ratepayers of Te Arohn of electing a new Board of Commissioners for the Te Aroha Town District for the ensuing two years. It is a matter we are nil much interested in, and that affects ns all, directly or indirectly, as the wise administration and application of the powc»"? of localGovernment conferred upon the Bonrd by the Town Districts Act. will do much to rtdd to the general comfort of local residents and the general progress and improvement of To Aroha ; whereas, on the other hand if those are elected who are known to have no sympathy with the present form of Government, and have no desire to work amicably with o f -her members to make it a success, (until the time hns arrived when it will \ c desirable to adopt the more complicated and comprehensive form of Government conferred by the Municipal Corporations Act). tli.Te can be no doubt I the liberty an 1 conveniences of local residents can be very seriously and unnecessarily interfered with, and the progress of the place retarded. | As vc have previously stated in ! these columns, we are of opinion the i Town Districts Act confers all the powers required by Te Aroha with respect to'i local Government at present. By it the Board lmve identically the sainepowers i as a Borough Council with iG*j»Acfc to the framing of such Bye-laws and other ni;iltersrulatii»^to«()C'i;dt'cono,myi»simiyl)e d.'emednecessai-y. SertirmSsoftli<*To\vn DisLiiuia Act tends asl'olovvs : " Every Board febail Jnive all (ho powois granted to a Borough Council by any enactment

relating to auctioneer, cattle trespns- I cemeteries, dog nuisance, fencing, fir prevention, lieens'ng publicans, mnnici pal police, public pounds, roads or high ways, an«l any other matter of social economy." Section 35 of the same x\ct states : The Board shall have the power to make By-laws in manner provided with respect to Borough Councils, and iv rclationlo any matters com prised therein." So" that ample powers are granted to I own Boards with respect to framing and enforcing a stringent code of By-laws when it is considered necessary to introduce them. But we are of opinion that the timo has not yet arrived with vegan! to Te Aroha to make it advisable to place restrictions on the people, beyond what are absolutely necessary, and consider tl.e time has not yet come for framing and enforcing a stringent code of By-laws, (ho enforcement of which Tvould prob. bly occasion a lot of bitter- I ness and inconvenience, and put local residents to unnecessary expense. If tiny By-laws are thought necessary, they should be as few and simple as possible. Cambridge, all the years it was a Town LMstrict, and up to the time of its being constituted a Borough last year, had no By-laws. Wo fully recognise the neces- ' sity of steps being taken for the suppression and removal of any existing nuisance, and bringing to order any who might persist in doin? that which would be prejudicial to the health, safety, and convenience of their fellow townsmen, as regards sanitary matters or otherwise ; but in onr opinion existing Acts fully meet all present requirements. Every Town Board has all the powers of the Public Health Act (1876) and its Amendments, conferred upon it ; and this Act provides amongst other things for : The suppression of nuisances and enforcing proper arrangements with respect to all sanitary matters, and also to compel the house owners or occupiers to have the necessary work done. Section 102 provides for the punishment of those riding on footpaths, and numerous other offences with respect to roads, including that of pcrnitting any horses or cattle to wan ler at large, etc. The Police Offences Act (1884:) provides for the punishment of persons offending in almost every conceivable way relating to q;ood order ; also as regards nuisances, obsti notions in public places, etc., etc, inclu »ing the permitting of cattle and horses, etc , to be at large in a public place ; and section 39 of the last mentioned A«t states that any Constable who does not use his best endeavours to apprehend and convey before some Justice any person that lie shall find offending against this Act shall be deemed guilty of neglect of duty, etc. Sgction 46 of the same Act further provides " that any police officer in any district, although not the informant or complainant, may appear and act in Court on behalf of the prosecution in all proceedings under this Act."' From the foregoing it will bo seen that there is already in existence ample le<?al machinery to meet all requirements fora township like Te Aroha, without introducing a stringent code of By-laws. It will also be seen that in the ordinary course the police areoxpected to take action with refipect to offences ; at the same time it is provided that the Police Offences Aft shall not interfere with tbp powers of local bodies with respect to By- Laws they (the local body) may frame, etc., so that the local boly can, if they like, introduce a series of ByLaws, and do the work themselves above referred to, at their own expense. With respe.ct to water supply, we may here briefly state that Town Boards may borrow suni3 of money for such work in exactly the same way as they can be raised by Iduis by Borough Councils, and alsolevy special rates for there payment of such loans in thi; same manner as Boroughs can do (see Section 18 and 19 Town Districts Act, 1888.) With cspect to cattle and horses being allowed (o roam at largo within Te Aroha Town District, we Are decidedly of opinion they should as far as possible be kept off the more public streets, and we do not see how any person, being the owner of cows and horses allowed at large, could reasonably object to assist in maintaining good law and order by taking steps to prevent them from frequenting the principal streets, etc. Were this carried out we think it would suffice to meet all present requirements ; and that to enforce any stringent By-lavr on the subject would be a great mistake. Kept off the principal streets the animals do no barn), whilst the privilege of free grazing in the immediate vicinity of the township is a very great one, which we should be sorry to see unnecessarily curtailed so long as it is not carried on to the inconvenience of others, or to the injury of public footpaths, etc. It should be borne in mind that owing to the land ai'ound Te Aroha being so locket] up as native reserves and by other restrictions, it is not "possible for local residents to purchase or rent paddocks to keep their cattle and horses in, with the same facility that this can be done at Cambridge or Hamilton ; therefore those who own them at Te Aroha should have all possible consideration shown them, consistent with the maintenance of good order, etc. There is one other matter wo desire to refer to h to, viz., that of Piako County Council, handing over the control of the main road within the Te Aroha township to the Town Board, and saddling them with the whole cost of the maintenance thereof. Now there appears to be a very erroneous opinion abroad on the subject," viz, that the Town* Board a^ked the O-mMt-il to ,i>ive them control of the main loal. The B-Kirii u^vcr did'anything of the sort.

At Fial«o County Council moeting on Thurs-lny next the matter of leasing the right to run a punt nt Murphy'? Landing is sure io l>6 discussed, and we think the Council will do well to consider how far circumstances warrant their continuing to allocate £3G a year From the revenue of Te Aroha Riding as a subsidy to the owner, lessee, Cr Murphy's son, nephew, Mr James Stewart, or whoever may he put forward in tiie matter tin's time. So far as we remember no one ever asked the Council to provide funds for the maintenance of a punt at Murphy's Landing- except Cr Murphy son No pet'tion from the ratepayers — who have to provide the subsidy — has ever been^ presented on the subject ; (although possibly cne might bo worked up yet if the subsidy is considered in danger). Briefly sUted the facts are as follows :—: — Cr Murphy (we presume for his own convenience and also as a speculation) asked for and received permission to run a pnnfc and to levy certain charges on those making use of ft. This went onup to Sept. 1 884, when a letter was read at the Council meeting from Cr Murphy stating he had sold the punt to his son, nn-1 requesting the transfer be sanctioned. This was granted. The next step was to get a road leading directly to Waiorougomai from the Landing secured, and this Cr Murphy agitated for until the Council ! consented to take it under the Public Works Act ; and in November 1885 resolved to invite tenlers for fencing and repairing this road. The new road to the Landing Jjaving been settled | satisfactorily, certain other littlo ar- | rangements follow. In January 1886. the Council received a letter from Mr C. Murphy (the son) stating the punt was not paying, that it cost him one hand red pounds, and he would sell it for fifty pounds (by the bye the price has been lately raised to £75 — no doubt after two years and a half more wear and tear, the timber is more fully seasoned, etc.l) or would continue to work it if subsidised to the extent of two shillings per day. The subsidy was granted and has been paid ever since. Could anything have worked out more admirably. And then we have the sequel, via., a months notice, punt to cease running ; bridge must be erected ; bridge scheme does not go of! ; punt subsidy must be retained whatever means are adopted in order to secure it. Now if Cr Murphy htd much rtal regard for the Riding ho represents he would long ago have moved in t!»e direction of causing Waitoa Riling to contribute at least half of the subsidy. Exc^pi for Cr Murphy and his family, those who make use of the punt are principally the settlers at Te Aroha West (Wditoa RMino;) ; who could eu&ily arrange as to crossing at any time by boat But few horsemen tnako use of fc he punt, preferring to ride round by Te Aroha. //"the punt is i public necessity, it will surely be patronise! sufficiently to make it worth Mr James Stewarts" (a la 1 of.iboufc fourteen we believe) while to look after it without any subsidy. We certainly are of opinion Te Aroha Riding lias been saddled with the payment of two shillings a day for this affair quite long enough, and that the expenditure of this money in maintaining the Te Aroha- Wnioron»omai tnai" 1 road, over which there is likely now to be much heavy traffic, would be far more widely appreciated. At all events if tho subsidy is continued let Waitoa Riding now do its part, and contribute the amount for two and a half years. Let the liability be fairly distributed at any rate.

On Wednesday last Mr French, who is travelling for Messrs. Nathan and Co , was put to a great deal of inconvenience owing to a landslip about half way up the Kaliknti tiack, in attempting to pass which his horse slipped and got into such an awkward position amongst some fallen timber that it could not be extricated. MiFrench sent in word of the mishap by a Maori to Gallagher's stables, and leaving the horse, proceeded to Te Aroha on foot. In the evening a party of men went out to rescue the horse, and after falling a tree and removing other obstacles the animal was brought up once more on the track. Considerable difficulty was experienced, as the work had to be done by the light of .. lanterns, it being twelve o'clock p.m. when the party finished. The following tenders were received for the erection of Mr Edwards' new premises in Whitaker * street : — G. Basham : building £404, shelving lOd perl, ft, counter 4s Gd per ft. Mills and Co., building £378 15s, shelving, lft 3in. wide, 3s 6d ft., lft. wide, 2s 9d ; counter 2s 4d per ft. Heathcote and West : building £321; shelving, lft 3irJ. wide, 3s 6d, lft. wide, 3s ; counter, 2s 6d. Messrs ileathcote and West's tender was accepted, and they have now commenced work. A service of a somewhat unusual character is announced for Sunday evening at the Wesleyan Church, Te Aroha. In addition to an address to young people on " Using Opportunities," by Itev. S Lawry, the following special items of minic will he rendered : Cumidge's Sanctus, "As the Havt Panteth " /Tennoy), " Praise Ye the Lord" (French), "Too Lute (Tennyson and Bliss.), "This is not your Rest " (Phillips). The following tenders wore received by the Town District Engineer for tho undermentioned works : — Forming, etc., nino chains of footpath in K6luku*£>irce6 and j Koromiko-stroet ; P. Dilioq, L 6 14 ;A. Porrot, L 6 14s ; W. Hetlierington, L 6 • !Mr Hetherington's fender was accepted. Supplying pO 'yards metal on main road; P, Dillon, '6s* 5d per yard ; It. Michael, 4s 9d per yurd ; A . Purrot, 5s per yard ; Hethojington, 6s. Tho tender of Mr. R. Michael was itccepted. I

Grent preparations are being 1 made by the Maoris in fie "\\ aikato and Thames Districts for n ceremony in connection with the raising: of the remains of the chief Thomson To Waharoa, (who was buiied in 1866 nt the Gordon Settlement), in order that they may be transferred to the Maungakawnltanges ; which lie about 16 miles west of Te Aroha. The mustering of the natives at Maangakawa will commence to-day, but it lias not been definitely decided wheri Thomson's remains are to be transferred, This will be determined by King: Tawhaio, who will be present. It is expected about a thousand natives will take part in the ceremony, which will be conducted according to Maori rites and custom. Thomson Te Waharoa was a chief of high standing, and at one time was selected by liis people as King in the place of Tawhiao's father, but the honour was declined by him. He was held in great respect, and when he died there was general lamentation, and the funeral and tangi was attended by natives from all parts of the country. There is a peculiar incident in connection with this chiefs funeral, and the present proceedings have arisen from the circumstances, which have only recently been made known. It seems that tho night prior to the funeral the body, which was placed in a leaden coffin, was stolen by some hostile natives and sequestered in an unfrequented spot near the Gordon Settlement. Thn mourners, however, knew nothing of this, and the empty coffin was interred in state It was when the theft had become known that it was decided to remove the remains to Maungakawa, and for which purpose the natives have now assembled. Mr Bernard Molloy, whose name is associated with the Askham-Molloy Co., and whose visit to the Thames will 'be remembered bv many of our readers, has returned to London, and received quite an ovation in the lobby of the House of Commons on the evening of June 11th. We notice that he had been subsequently interviewed by a representative of the Pall Mall Gazeite, in the course of which he spoke very hopefully of the gold future of these colonies as being incredibly brilliant, far surpassing anything he had expected to find. In giving his experience of the peoplein thesecolonies, he said thatone fact had strongly impitssed him, and that was that Young Australia is exceedingly sober^ and temperate. The most ot the drinking is done in the towns,and eventhere it is confined largely to what may be called Old Australia. He had been told that immorality prevailed extensively in the colonies, but the only test he conld apply — the attendance ,it the church of all creeds on Sunday— did not bear out that statement. A Southern paper states th it at Lvrt»lton, where a married woman was^iifd for debt, counsel quoted law reports from wh'Yli it ippearcd that no order could be made unless it was clearly proved that the debtor \v,t^ nossoseed of an estitj to the value of £1000 or upwards. Mr IWtham said thi* matter was beyond arermnpnt, and the order must in consequence hi-* rof'is><l Tlii- information may he of intm-esr to tiadea people and others. — Daily IVlegraph.