Public Meeting at Waiorongomai re Proposed Borough.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 385, 17 July 1889, Page 2

Public Meeting at Waiorongomai re Proposed Borough.

A publto meeting was held in the Public Hal!, WniorongoraHi, on la^t Saturday evening, for the purpose of discussing^ho question of local self government. The hour appointed, according to the adver. tisement in the TeArgha and Ouinemuri News convening the meeting, was 7.30 p.m., but it was nearly eight o'clock before a start was made. Some difficulty was experienced in getting a Chairman, several who were aeked to act declined to do so, ultimately, . however, Mr James Munvo, under pressure consented. , , . The Chairman opened the meeting by reading the advertisement in the Nkws convening same, and called upon Mr B. Montague, as convener, to explain bib views to the meeting. Mr Montague then rose and Raid : At the la«t meetinar held at Waiorongomai re^peo^ing the Borough question, it was aereed to adjourn thefmther consideiation of the matter for mx months. It was now twelve months ago since that meeting, and it waß thought advisable by some to open the question again. With these few remarks he would leave the matter in the hands of the meeting. Mr M. W.D. O'lveefe said : To test the meeting he would propose the first resolution, viz., That this meeting is of opinion that the time has arrived for Waiorongomai to join with Te Aroha in petitioning Government to be constituted a, Borough, under the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1886. The resolution wa seconded by Mr D. K. Young. Mr A. Jamieson proposed as an amendment: That Wnioiongomai do not join Te Aroha in petitioning for a Boron srh, but remain as part of Piako County. The amendment was seconded by Mr Gapes, Mr Jamiepon said Te Aroha and Waiorongomai were too far apart to be worked together satisfactorily as one Boiough ; and when they wanted a Borough at. Waiorongomai it would be best for (hern to have one of their own ; but for his part he believed in sticking to Piako County Council, which had stuck to them. Mr D. McL, Wallace pioposed as a further amendment : That the Borough question be shelved till that day twelve months. Seconded by Mr Chas. Duncan. Mr Dennis Murphy rose and said : He was there that night to support the petition for a Borough. The Te Aroha goldfield was opened on Nov. 20th, 1880, and up to the present Piako County Council had never spent £d of goldfields revenue in repairing the streets within the rateable portion of tlja County, althoug h he had brought the matter up in the Council, meeting after meeting. For the last financial ye;ir the goldfields revenue amounted to L 632 ; and at the last meeting of the Council, when the question of repairing the streets and, roads in Te Aroha Hiding catne up for consideration, during the conversation some of the Councillors suggested they would go in for suing the Companies who hud so cut »ip the road by carting machine) y, etc., in fact they were all Uiirtuunous to do oo but Or Mills and himHolt', It had been pointed out to them liuie alter time the great things Piako C'Minty Council had done for them. To his way of thinking, however, Piako County Council had not Horn any more for them than any other local body would have done. Since Mr Tim Dnnovnn completed his contract the amount Council had voted on the Te Aroha district wa* as follows: Shine.'s contract, Uppei llill Tmck, LB5 10s; R. Burke, Upper Hill TizcU, L8; J. H. Emett, Lower Hill

Truck, L 4 4s ; F. Pnvitt. purvey of pro* pi)pe<l i lot JSpi inert Tiack, LH ; work in connection with afire on the hill, and repairiny Knnie Rlipn, two sunra of a Wont L 5 each, LlO ; repairing the tniclc to Fergusons Battery, £20 ; nnd at last Council meeting a mini of L2O whs voted to keep the tiaclr to Fergusons in iepairfor (ho next three months'. Total Ll5B 14s. That was the total amount of revenue hoassured them Pinko County Council had voted for expenditure in Te Aroha Riding during 1 ! the ptibt tluee years, or close on three years. Hinihelf and Cr Mills at the last Council meeting agreed to L4O being voted for repairing the main To ArohaWaioronyomai road ; but ho would have opposed it, v only that he was afraid if he did the Council would pup the Companies who had invested capital in the goldfield, for cutting up the roads by heavy itaffic. At a Council meeting held at Morrinsville, Mr Ba9kctt went o^er to ask for Rome improvements to be earned out nt Waiorongomai, and he (the speaker), told the Chairman he ought to grant it out of the pub'ifan'n license fee they had just received, and tho answer the Chairman made him was, "■ If y>u talk like that we'll give you nothing." He might tell them further that during the last fouiteen months the Council woiked the tramway there was a clear profit of L 258, and ail that was tuken away from thorn. Some people at Te Aroha wore opposed to a Borough because they had an axe to grind, and he would tell them that he was pretty correct in stating 1 that more money had been paid to Mr John Holt for advertising than had been spent on the roads in the past three years. Ho had s^en him take as much ns Ll9 in cheques off the Council table at one go. (Loud cries of " order," "order," "Chair," "Chair," "No personalities, please.") If a Borowgh was formed lie would advise them to have two wards, with the present southern boundary of the Te Aroha Town District (Stony Creek), between them, and a line continued from that to the Trig Station, on the top of the Te Aroha mountain. Each ward ought to elect three member*, and then both to elect the Mayor. Each ward would hive its own revenue to expend, except v\ hatever small charges there would be for general expenses and things. The boundary of tho Borough south ought to be as far as the Act would permit them to go. By carrying out this arrangement they would then keep the revenue within the Borough. They would also he able to carry out works of impor~ tance to the district, such as extending the Lower Hill Track, and making it into a good road to the Premier hopper ; and also he would support the making of a tiamway round the foot* of the mines to tho Tui, to be connected with the railway at Te Aroha, and enable tho Company at Waioiongomai to get Tui quartz. They would have the spending of the goldfields revenue amongst themselves if they had a Borough Onlythemeetingbv fore laßt when he had asked for some work to be done, the remark was passed. " a sop for Te Aroha." It was in fact positively sickening to be in the Council and hear the snubbing a man got for asking for a bit of money. What had the Council done at all for then., why even the footpath in Kilgour Street, at Waiorongomai, had been made by private contribution. The Council were only giving them a bit of a sop to keep them quiet, and he assured them most positively again that the whole amount voted by the Council for Te \roha Riding, out of the goldfields revenue and publican's licenses during the past two years and nine months was Ll5B 14a ; in fact they acted moie towards the place as if it was a charitable institution than giving its right*?. A meeting of the Piako County Council was held on December 20th last, when a Finance Committee was appointed, and this Committee brought up its Report at -the Januaiy meeting of the Council, and in the Repoit was a clause recommending that thegold'fieldß levenue be allocated to the five Ridings in proportion to the rates they pay, the result of that would be that out of every LI OO Te Aroha Eiding would getLB 16«; Waitoa, L 37 ; Patetere,L3l ; Matam;.ta, Ll4 ; Taotoaroa, L8 10s. He was prepared to state he was not 5s out. To put t l ie thing to you in as clear alight a1?a 1 ? possible itwasfor all the world like this ; Compare the five Ridings to five men who agree to spend a certain sum, say £2 an acre each on their land. Well, one man holds 50 acres, and therefoie expends £100 ; another with 40 aciea expends LBO ; another 30 acies, L6O ; another with 20 acres, L4O • another 10 acres, L2O. Ihey invest the lot, but the whole e>£ the traffic comes over the unfortunate holder of the 10 acre section. That's just what its like. [Cr Mills, Hear, Hear.] The man who will not go in for a Borough is making a great mistake, fo< he assured them they were not liable for one shilling, beyond their fair proportion of any monies owing by the Council , They could not be charged anything for the tramway, if they took it over, and it would be optional with them whether they took it or left it on the County's hands. Besides there was nothing whatever to prevent them from merging back again into the County in a y'earortwo if they wished to do so. Mr Sruardon : Have not all the other Ridings contributed towaids the cost of constructing the tramway ; and how much more has Cr Murphy paid towaids maintaining the roads than anyone else, he did most of the carting ? Mr Murphy : I carted many a hundred tons of material for the tramway and battery, and we were rated for it, and now the Council give Te Aroha Riding L8 16s; whilst they are giving Waitoa Riding L 37. The Council struck a |d rate last year on the Te Aroha Riding, and the same the year before j they have taken £d of the first mentioned rate away and put it into the general fund, and credited us with a |d only, and of the rate levied 31st March they have not credited us with anything yet, The Chairman ; I think someone should rfive us u reason why»the members of this Riding have not protested against the way the funds have been appropriated, as they now say has been the case, Mr Smardon : Some time ago L 1650 was borrowed for this Riding to extend the road to the Gordon Special Settlement, does Mr Murphy mean to cay that money was misappropriated. Mr Murphy : I don't mean to say any money was misscvppropriatcd (/) Chairman „• I think we liave a perfect right to ask Cr Murphy how he and Cr Mills have allowed such injustice u$ he haß ;old us of. Mr D. Wallacp ; What liabilities would we have to take over if w© formed a S B< rough.

'Mr Miuphy : I should my L2OO or L 300; there would be some sort oi: arbitration iibont the tramway. Mr Smardon ; If u Borough was formed are you certain we should have the handling of the gold Gelds revenue ? Mr Murphy ; Most decidedly you would. Mr Smardon : Would not the Pinko County Council oppose the Borough getting control of the goldfields revenue in that way, seeing they had expended the money in constructing the County tiamWiiy ? Mr Murphy ; The Piako County Council would get snuhbed by the Government, the same as they were before when they tried to prevent it. They got a letter .from 'the Government stating that if the population and petition was right it .would' have to be granted. IF the petition is light wt'll get the Borough. Mr Hadfield : When was the goldfield revenue allocated amongst the various Ridings as you state has been done. Mr Murphy : In December or January the report was adopted — ithasnet beenquite decided at yet though. Mr Ilott : Whut have been the receipts and expenditure of Te Aroha Riding for the past financial year, and from 31st Match last till now, Mr Murphy. Mr Muiphy : I cannot say whatimiount has been collected. The goldfieid revenue for the year was L 632, and Mr Mills tells me theie is only about LlO uncollected of the general rate, that would make it about L 265, and two publicans licenses of L 25 each ; total L 947. Mr Ilott : What amount has the Council expetided in the Te Aroha Riding in the fame period. Mr Murphy : They spent two sums of L 5 each on the Hill Track ; Shine's contract, LB5 10s ; R. Burkes contract, L8 ; Emett, L 4 4s, and for survey, LII. In reply to another question Mr Murphy said the To Aroha separate rate account was some L3OO in debt last September. Mr Ilott : Will Mr Murphy tell the meeting how the Te Aroha Riding account stands in the County books. Mr Murphy : Oh ! pretty heavy, some L3OOO or L4OOO in debt perhaps. " It is in the books and there it will stop though. Mr Mills said : After the last meeting on the Borough question at Waiorongomai he and some otheis had written to Mr Button, solicitor, Auckland, for his opinion as to the probable indebtedness if a Borough was formed, and the reply they got was that according to the statement sent him the Kiding owed LI 4OO for debenture?, L2OO or L3OO on sepawte rate account. We at Te Aroha do not want to pledge the goldfield revenue for water works, we've property of our own. In two or three years I bolieve each place will bo large enough to have separate Boroughs, and in the meantime yon at Waiorongomai had better join in with Te Aroha. The Auditor would probably saj : You can have thetiamway or leave it, just as you like. Anyhow Mr Button's opinion is that a Borough would only be liable for its share of the Ll4OO refeired tr.. Mr Ilott : When mentioning a lawyer's opinion it would be only fair at the same time to show the letter sent to that lawyer, asking nn opinion. The reply sent must necessarily depend upon the way in which the matter was put to him. The matter c^uld be put in such a way aa to get an answer favourable to the end in view. Mr Ilott next addressed the meeting and said : Hewassorry Mr Murphy showed 6uch bad blood towiiida him, However, he was well aware for a long time back he had been doing his best to deprive the local paper of County advertising of even local contract^, but he had not succeeded in his design in that direction yet ; and surely the working men would not tt.ank him forgetting woik, to be done at Te Aroha, Waioiongomai, and the Gordon Settlement etc., advertised in a Waikato paper, in older to vent his spleen against him (the speaker), and thereby tiy and bring in Waikatc labour to compete against those out of employ in the district where the work was to be done. With respect to the LI 9 paid the News for advertising, that had made such a deep impression on Mr Murphy, he would simply say about L8 of the amount was for the'publication of the County balance-sheet last year, and the rest of the account extended over several months. With this brief explanation of what Mr Murphy had tried to make so much capital out of, he would now proceed to make a few remarks with reference to the Borough question. Cr Murphy had informed them the revenue of the To Aroha Riding for the past financial year amounted to L 957. He did not think Mr Murphy had been very accurate in his figures and statements during the evening, but to save time he would let his estimate of receipts stand as it was in the meantime. But he could not allow Mr Murphy (who as a member of the Piako County Council must be well aware the statements be had made were far from coirect), to tell that meeting that the whole amount expended by Piako County Council in Te Aroha Riding for close on three years p«st, amounted to only LISB I4s, but would prove to them within the past year the Council had expended far more than the sum mentioned in Te Aroha Riding. Those of them who were present at the public meeting held in that same Hall, respecting this Borough question, a year ago, would i ©member that Cr Mills on that occasion told them the Council had only voted LI 12 for road wcrk, etc/in the Ridingduring the previous year, whereas he (the speaker) then showed them the amount voted by Council for the previous two montliß alone camo to Ll9O, On that occasion he also proved to them that during the six preceding years (ending March 31st, 1888), the receipts for Te Aroha Riding amounted to L 26,943 3s lOd, whereas the Council had expended in Te Aroha Riding during the same period L 32,502 19s 2d. These figures he then defied them to disprove, and the challenge had never been accepted. Why ? Because they were absolutely correct. And being correct it proved conclusively ihat those who camo there and told them Piako County Council took all and gave back nothing, did not care what they said so long aa they could cany their point. For the six years ending Mnrch 31st, 1888, Piako County had exponded in Te Aroha Riding on an average L 420 jiyear (ox say L8 per week), more than they received from it or for it Now since March 31, 1888, to the present time what had the Council spenj; for To Aroha Riding? Well perhaps he could not give them all the items, but he could give a good many, although he Jiad not the same opportunities as Crs MPls and Murphy had of getting full returns. He cpuld say, however, {hat the followipg

suiHS were sjent : I £ 8. (]. In May 1888 they spent ... 96 12 6 Cr Murphy : Give us the items for that. Mr Holt: Certainly. I will give you all the details for that mutter, and contradict them if you can. On Main road, L 9 12s ; "Upper Track, LB5 l()s June — Gordon Settlement Road, L3B ; Do., L 2 I6s ; Do., L 6 ; Main road, L15 15s ... 62 II 0 Sept. — Main road, L 3; Gordon road, L 2 10a ; Waiorongomai road, Ll4 15s ; Shaftesbury , road, LI 16s ... , ... 22 1 0 Oct. — Main road, L 1 3:155; Lower ' ' :'' Track, LlB 12s lid; Main road, LlOlOs; Do., L7Hb ... 47 II 1 Jan., 1889— Gordon road, 12s; Main road, LI 7s; Waiorongomai road, LI ; Shafteabury road, LI ss; Upper Track, L 3 18s ; Waiorongomai, L 5 ;, Shaftesbury, L 3 12s ... 16 14 0 Feb. — Shaftesbury road, 18s ; Gordon road, LI 12s 6d ; Lower Track, LI 3:10 6 Apu'l— Lower Track, L 7 Oh 4d ; Shaf tesbury, L 3 ss ; Lower Track, L 24 Is 6d ; Main road, L 7 8s 2d ; Do., 1,12 ; Goidon road, LI ... — ... 54 15 0 June— Gordon road, LlB ; New Bridge ove-r Waihou river ... 590 18 6 Total ... 894 14 5 But there were works in hand as follows ;—; — Gordon road, L 9; Waioronjromai road, Ll6 10s ; Filling in at new bridge L 37 10s ... 63 0 0 and the following works authorised : To Aroha-Waiorongomni main road repairs, L4O ; Grey street, Waiorongomai Ll5 ... 55 0 0 £1012 14 5 Add Engineers commission at 5 per cent, say 50 5 7 brought the total up to £1063 0 0 But to this must bo added Te Aroha Riding's proportion of the Hoa. and Char. Aid expenditure miy about 67 0 0 In payment of Converted Debentures Road* nnd BridgeH Construction (L 473) say about 20 0 0 Debentures £2062) in repayment of Gordon Sp^ci il Settlement road loan of L 1650, with interest, Bay about 130 0 0 Proportion of office nnd travelling expenßea eav about 50 0 0 brought the Amount expended since March 31 si, 1888, on ac» count of Te Aroha Hiding up to 1330 0 O But although the new bridge hud been erectfd principally for the benefit of Waiorongomai, it •would neveitheless be paid for by the County as a whole, sothpy could deduct us being coniributed by tho other Ridings say 500 0 0 this would still leave £R3O 0 0 as expended since Marfh 31^, 1888; instead of Ll5B 14s as Cr Murphy had infoinvd them ; and there might be several other hums to be added on, which h< i h.id not mentioned, but he challenged either Cr Murphy or Mills to disprove the amount he stated was below the mark He held reckoned in LI 3O on account of the Gordon road loan, because, although an annual rate had been levied to meet thia expenditure, amounting to about LI BO, or for the past two years it had been levied to L 320; as a matter of fact, of this rate only about L6O had been received, but the debentures had to be met by the County fill the same, so that there was n deficiency on that count. They had been told there would be no liability to over. They had been told thpro would b« no li»brlity worth mentioning to take over if they included the goldSeM nnd tramway. Well at 31«t March, 1888, Te Aroha RiJing stood indebted in the County books to the tune of £7200. 'if from that they deducted L3OOO, tho last Government grant to the Council, made by Hon Mr Larnach to enable the Council to reduce their overdraft, would still leave 4200 0 0 The tramway and rolling stock was set down in last years balance sheet at 950 0 0 and the train wry itself (which had cost some £20,000 to construct), was now let at a, rental of £100 a year for ten years ; that alone therefore showed inferent at 5 por cent, on capital to the extent of 2,000 0 0 even if thp tramway was valued at nothing more £7150 0 0 If they found they had to take over a liability like that it would mean nearly £600 a year to pay evon bare interest at 8 per cent. Certain it waa that the Borough would have to t.ike over its fair proportion of other Te Aroha Riding debts, nuch as proportion of Converted Debentures under Roads nnd Biidges Construction Act, Debentures in repayment of Gordon Settlement Road loan, proportion of Hospital and Charitable Aid contribution, etc. The Pinko County Council had all along expended, and were still expending more in the Te Aroha Riding than they received from it. Would* a Borough do more than that for them ? The Couucil had also exerted its great influence to the utmost in obtaining Government grants and other assistance for opening up the goldfield, and the members of the Council in the past made themselves personally responsible for very large sums of mon«y to develope the goldfield, and acted in a most generous, unselfish, and public Spirited manner to* wards the goldfield, and it was positively disgraceful, and enough to make one's blood boil with, indignation to listen to the way they had been spoken of and maligned that night, and on many previous occasions by those who must well know they spoke falsely. (Cheers). Ho put it to them as miner* and working men : What would a Botough Council be able to do for them, as compared with what Piako County Council had done in the way of opening up the goldfield. Would they have had Firth and Clarkes battery but for Piako County Council coming forward and con - struoting the County tramway and opening up the goldfield ? Would they have had Fergusons battery or later still the Te Aroha S. and G. it. Company's (who had spent pomany thousands of pounds in the dihtricf within the last twelve months)

1 I magnificent plant erected in their midst had it not been for whut Piako County Council had done for t h e district ? And with respect to the future he would further ask those who looked to the goldfield for a living, What oould a Borough Council do for them in the event of money being needed to develope a new 'find 5 ? The Borough, if constituted, would have nothing to. start with, except a load of debt, would have no security to offer wherewith to borrow, beyond rates and gol Ifields revenue, and the latter was of so ftuctuat ing a character that it would be difficult to borrow much against it. Piako County Council were expending in the Riding what they got out of it. Could a Borough do \\\oxe> ? What benefit wquld good foot* paths, street*', and roads/watieYw.Srks, etc.,** be to working men, if the goldfield was not developed and looked after? None, for they would have toleave and go elsewhere to look for work. And again was it reasonable to suppose that capitalists would feel as much disposed to invest , capital in the goldfield or district, if dependant on what a Borough Council | (without an endowment or fixed source of income of any kind), could (Jo in assisting them, as they would whilst the goldfield • remained in the hands of a County Council who had ample Beeurity^ great influence, j and had always shown a i eady disposition ito help the field. Mr Mills told them in that Hall, twelve months ago the expense of running a Borough would be over L2OO a year. A Borough would mean greatly increased taxation beyond the shadow of a doubt. Look at Cambridge, Hamilton, and Thames Boroughs, all heavily rated, although each had valuable endowments. The rates at Thames amounted to l>etween 2s and 3s in the £, although it had gold revenue and publicans* licenses to the value of over L2OOO a year, and 1 there a rate of Is in the £ waß equivalent to over LlOOO. Then there was another very serious aspect of the question to be conn sidered, via., would the Government feel justified in handing over so large and important a goldfield, upon which so much public money and private capital had been expended, to the care of an impecunious Borough, consisting of two townships three miles apart ? Would not the County Council object, likewise probably the big Companies, and the Warden, as not being desirable in the interests of the goldfield, and suppose the Governor, deeming it inadvisable toinclnde the goldfield, altered the proposed boundaries, so as to exclude the goldfield, but granted the petition to constitute Te Aioha and W.iiotongomai a Borough, as he had the power to do, would they work well tied together? He thought not. Altogether he was of opinion the responsibilities, liabilities, and necessities, of that impoitsint goldfield were too great for the proposed Borough to undertake, at uny rate }et awhile. Mr Ilott then read a number of extracts from the Counties and Municipal Corporations Acts, having important bearing on the question under consideration. This ended the diKCUSsion, and it beintr half past ten a good many thon rose and went home before the resolutions were put. Messrs H. Mi-Liver and G. Gapes wore apDointed scrutineers, and it was decided to take the vote by tho^e for and against the Borough going to different sides of tho Hall, but a satisfactory count could not be made as tlieie was general confusion. Ultimately the Chairman annonnced(without stating any numbers), that "The Scrutineers stated that to the best of their belief there was a majority for the Borough." The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the chair.