RECENT STATEMENTS RESPECTING PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL. THE COUNTY CHAIRMAN REPLIES.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 391, 7 August 1889, Page 2

RECENT STATEMENTS RESPECTING PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL. THE COUNTY CHAIRMAN REPLIES.

fTo the Editor.] Sir, — In leading the report In the Te Aroua audUniNEMUui News of tin' 17th ult., of a public meeting liel I at Waiorongomai to discuss the question of local Government, I came across a statement made by Mi* D. Murphy to the effect, that at the J aii nary meeting of the Pinko County Council, a Roport was btought up by 'a Finance Committee 1 appoin'od at the pievious' meeting, and that in the JRepoit there was a cl ni <■' lPeoirmenuiny that the goldfields revenue cshoul 1, be allocated to the five Ridings it) proportion to the rates they pay ; the result of which would be that out of every .£lOO, the IVAiol.a Riding would get £-8 16s; W'nitoa £37 ; Patet re, £31 ; Matamata, £14 ; and Taotaoron, £8 10s ; nnd ho assured the meeting that he was prepared to state that he was not five shillings out — he seems indeed to Be Mt'ier morv than five shiliincs out in his figures, but that is 'pei haps due to api inter's error (!) He then went on, by way ol illustration, to compare the five Riding* to five men hoi ling pieces of Und varying from 10 to 50 acies, who each agree tj spend a ceitain sum p<T acre on that land, with the le-uilt that the unfoitunate holder of the 10 avra lot is '' H-it upon" by the rest ; teall of which Mr Mills said" Hear, Hear." 1 have no wit.li to interfeie in this Borough question ; and I should not have troubled yon with any reianrksupon uiiy of the statements, inaile by Mr Murphy at that meeting if he ha 1 not quoted the Report above mentioned ; but as that Report was rfrawjn up by me, I thought that it would hirdly be fair to tlie people of Waiorungomai if I alhtved such an extraordinary statement concerning it to pass uncontra licted, and so depiived then' of an opportunity of testing the accuracy of Mr Murphy's statements. I could not find the report in any back numbers of the News that I happened to have at hand, and as I thought it possible that there might be some " long-winded " parngr/iph in the report that Mr Murphy had failed to compiehend, I decided to put off writing until after my next visit to Cambridge. I called at the County office this week, and on looking up the minutes of the meeting 1 of the Council, held on the I2ih of January, I was rather ivbtonished to find tl'iftt the adoption of Uie Report was moved by Cr Mills. I felt quite sorry for podr Cr Mills when, I thought of the " hot water " ho would net into a'bwut it ; but I «as rearmed when Mr Tuck produced th« Repoit, for I found that it was quite haimlesSj' and 'that iheie was no'hing in it which could possibly be twisted into anything, like a it commendation to allocate the gold fields revenue in the manner slated by Mr Murphy. I send yuti a copy of the leporfc enclosed herewith t It is perhaps too longTor publication, but if you wi.i read it carefully and -append a short note at the foot of this letter to the effect that there is nothing in it which would have precluded its adoption from being moved by Mr Murphy- himself, I- feel sure that your .statement will be held sufficient to exonerate Mr Mills from tlie imputation unwittingly -cast iippn .him, .i>y ■ Mr Murphy. — I nm, etc,, William P. CiiEraiELL. Wairama, Morrinsville, ' ' August Ist, 1889.- '

Finance Committee's Report. Repoit of the Committee appointed by the Piako County CounciJ on. Thursday, the 20th of December, 1888, to inquire I ihtb the financial 1 position' of -the Council ' with a view of-.aeoertuining. whether sufficient funds will bo available for the erection of n bri«l«je over- the Wailiou river, at Waiorongoraai, during the coming financial yeur .— > ' . _ ■ Gentlemen,— l-hai f e to .report that your Committee, consisting- of Mr C M. Brunwit ill and myself, met at tho office of the Council on Monday, th'e,24th 'nit./ a'nd in accordance with the lesolution of the Coun'oil, inquired carefully into tho financial position of tho County, with the object 1 of ascertaining whether tho Council will lie able to undertake) tho erection of u bridge over the Waihou river, near Murphy's landing, during the coming- * financial year. In oider to make our esti- J

mate of tho a^ets and liabilities of the Council us full ami us clear as possible, we hUve prepared an estimate of assets jmd 1 •liabilities up to the eni of the' current financial year, and a supplementary 'estimate of leceipts and expenditure for the first three months of the coining financial year, viz., from tho Ist April to the 30th June, 1889. In laying these estimates before yon, your Committee wish to point out that with respaot to at least two of the items, it is impossible to do more than make a rough guess at the amount which might be fairly set down in lespeot of each of these items. The receipts from gold field .revenue, and gold duty have dwindled down' to such a low ebb for some time past 'that- 3 our Committee did pot feel justified in anticipating any considerable amount of revenue froinjthat source, as we considered that in preparing an estimate of this kind we" wero bound to confinp ourselves to a statement of ( what the Council might safely i;eckon upon receiving, without reference to fjny possible or probablo revival of the mining industry. Your Committee considered it necessary to use the same caution in estimating tho probablo amount of the contribution to the Hospital and Charitable Aid "Board ; we can onl^ say that we | hope onr estimate will bo sufficient to meet any demand that may bo made by that Board. We estimate the assets and liabilities of the Council for the remainder of the current financial }6ar, viz : to the 3Lat March, as under :—: —

Supplementary estimate of receipts and expenditure for three months ending JufteSOth, 1889 :—

It will be seen from the foregoing figures that the Council may expect to pay off the overdraft by the end of the current financial year, and bogin the next yea? with a balance to its credit of about £117. Before undertaking any important work, after the expiration of the current financial year it will be necessary for the Council to apportion the gross estimated revenue of the County for the year ending March 31st, 1890, in accordance with the Counties Act, 1886, Section 145; and in so doing it would seem to b9 necessary tor the Council to take some steps towards an adjustment of the Riding accounts, as the Council will by that time be free from debt, and the provision contained in the second paragraph oC the 146 th .section with reference' to the Riding accounts appears to bemaridatoiy. In making such apportionment, the liabilities having been provided for, it will be necessary to provide for the working expenses for the nine months, begining- on the. lst July, ,1889: We estimate these expenses at £261 ; to this must be added 'the excess of expenditure over receipts for the three months ending June 30th, as per supplementary estimate, ' £1 90 15p, also, interest oh insciibed debt ,4529 ; and amount payable for fen y subsidy, £28, making a sum total amounting to £SLB, Against thib amount must be put the estimated goldfield revenue and diitv for the nine months ending Mmrh 31st, 1890, £iSO, thus k r 'g a sum ot £338 as a fiist charge 1 ":t : ny rate that may be mudo for the k , l ilhk March 3lst, 1890. • lour Committee wish to point out that in estimtting the amount that may be .obtained from rates next year, it should' bo borne in mind that the rateable value will in nllsprobnbility be considerably lower than it is at present, ■ perhaps one thiid le>-s ; if that estimate should prove to be approximately correct a<r<ito of one farth-r ing in the pound, which at present valuation would bring- in ' i-969, would only yield about £646. ■ \I liave to state tlntt, whiht jour Committee are agreed with Vespect to all ' the' foregoing pait of this Repoit, a difference' •of opinion arose as to'whaf account the cost of the bridge should be charged, Mr" Bruriskill 'thinks that the cost of the ;biidge should be borne by theTa Aroha a,nd Waitoa Ridings ; hut I cannot agree with .him in that opinion, an it seems olefir thai ,the building of this bridge inu.->t b»* he'd 'to he t one of the works mentione/j^ jm subjection 3, of the 145 th section, of the Counties' Act, the cost of whit h vou!d I have to bepro\ided for by the Council under that section before it could proceed ( to apportion the remainder of its unnuul i income among the Ridings under sub-j

section 4of ser.lion 145, ' " ' The 1 works* pnnmeiated i.. sub-section 3 "which have to be so provided for are as follows :—": — " The coat of constructing; and maintaining nil, nmirr roads' and ooiinty roads within th s e. county, 'and' of bridges on such roads respectively^' and 'of ferries, as well us of constructing and maintaining or contributing; to construct or maintain such bridge?, exceeding thirty feet span, oti district roads within the County, as the Council shall think should be constructed or maintained." The bridge in question would, I believe, actuallystand upon a countyroad,though the ,road -wli'en it passes on tlnoiiglMhe Waitoa . hiding becomes a district road; but as I d<> *, *not-think- thr*fc4>aving-regard to,,tlie.gsner&}_ scope of the Act, and the wording of this sub section Tcbupljilg^ main i a'n'd ( county' roads together, the term " county roads'* 'collide be 'h'eld td'inulude-any and-every-by-road in an outlyinar district, though the 83rd section of the Public Works Act, 1882, says that such roads shall bedueined to be county roads, I shall waive this point. Then comes the question, what is a main road? ; and as the tei iv. u innin road" appears to have lost its technical meaning on, the repeal of tho Roads and Bridges Constiuc-. tion Act, it sneriis to me that it Must beunderstood in itd ordinary sense, and that a road which passes through a large tract of country, and uffo'ds direct communication between the Wnikato and Waiorongomii, as this road does, is a main road in the ordinarily accepted sense of the term. And further, biid»os exceeding .thiity feet span-on districts roads are included in tUia sub-section ; and if County Councils are ' empowered to go out of their way to con^ struct bridges exceeding thirty feet span on district roads, and to provide for the cost of such bridges under this sub-section, the Council's having no control 'over such roads and bridges except under this subsection,; it would seem that the same powers and the same obligations must devolve upon the Councils in respect of roads actually under their control, 'even though it be held that the term " countyroads" in sub-section 3 dpes not apply to by-roads in an outlying district. For these' reasons I am of opinion^that if the bridge is to be constructed at ajl the cost must be borne by the wh^e.. County. William Chepmell, Chairman, Cambridge, January 12th, 1889. , ,

EXPENDITURE. £ S. d. Salaries 38 0 0 Travelling Expenses ... 30 0 6 Kent 3 15 0 Office Ex. and Advertising 15 0 0 Commission and Collar", Doer Registration ... 20 0 0 Hospital and Charitable . , Aid, say 400 0 0, Licensing Expenses • ... 35 0 0 £541 15 0

Keoeipts. £ p. d. Anticipated excess of assets ovtT liabilities on the lat Apiil, 1889 117 0 Do£ Registration, say 30 0 Publicans' Licenses 135 0 Gold Revenue and Duty, say 60 0 Kxcesß of liabilities, over 0 0 0 0 übseta 199 15 0 £541 15 0

Liabilities. Bank internet ... Salaries '... Travelling expanses Office expeiibes ... Debentures Fe-ry subsidy Upper Hill Track Cambridge - Tanpo road fidin Government Conti actors' deposits I?.it«tero Riding unexpended 3rd of rate, for year ended M»«n:li 3lnt, 1888 Commission on rates Rent Oveidraft, say Bilcince — excess of Assets over Liabilities... £ s. 50 0 50 0 40 0 20 0 70 0 10 0 4 4 34 12 31 0 100 0 45 0 5 0 1575 0 117 0 d. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Assets. General rate collectable, le*R Native Lands and one half of Crown Lands £1795 16s, less bad debtn, say £15 IGs Gold revenue and duty, say Ront of Tramway due Amount due from Treasury after paying charging order Slaughterhouse licenses ... £ 8. 1780 0 20 0 100 0 240 16 11 0 d. 0 0 0' 0 0 2151 16 0