THE PROPOSED TE AROHA BOROUGH.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 398, 31 August 1889, Page 2

THE PROPOSE D TE AROHA BOROUGH.

Within the next few weeks th** question will : i. 'i veto be decided as to whether or not Te Aroha will bo constituted a B trough, under the provisions of: the Municipal Corporations Act, 1886, on the lines set forth in the petition', recently forwir led to Mr Kelly, M.H.R,iitWcllie^ton( together wil.h a l"tter urging him to do his best to have tho Borough proclaimed). Being a question with which tlie future prosperity oF this 'Hstricf is closely bound up, we naturally await the result wiih coasi'lerablc interest. The petition ivferred to prays that a certain area which includes Te Aroha, Waiorongouiai, and the goldfield be constitnted a Borongh ; urging as a great reason that a water supply is much needed. Now if the petition wore simply one to have Te Aroha constituted a Borough withiu the limits of the present Town District, or with a reasonable extension ther*?of in no wise interfering with the gollfield or Waiorongomai, we do not know that sucu an nltrrel form of government would result in nny injury to the district concerned, beyond ivcessit iting increased taxation, as the inevitable result of a mori* expensive form ofGovernment. We see no good end that would l>e attained by the change. As a Town District the Town Board have exactly the same provisions for borrowing money on the security of rates for wa*er works and -*uch like as ft Borough Council would have, and also identically the same powers as regards sanitary matters, by-law*}, etc., etc., but (fortunately, or unfortunately, as the case may be) no provision is made in the Town Districts Actfor the election of a M-iyor; simply u Chairman without salary. But the prime movers in this Agitation for tho constitution of n Borough have very ambitious ideas, and have been making frantic efforts to carry them into effect for some years past ; so far happily without success. Wer<» a Borough con- \ atituted on the lines they desire, no doubt they would hope to be returned on the occasion of the first election of Councillors, with a possibility that some one of them would be elected Mayor. The petition recently sent to Wellington makes the third attempt on their part to have a Borongh constituted. To these agitators the future prosperity of the district is a matter of very little con sequence as compared with the chance of getting themselves pitchforked into positions they are totally unfitted to fill, which under ordinary circumstances they are never likely to attain to except by a fluke, or through raisrepresentacion ; an«i which, if attained, would be to the great detriment of the district they were returned for. The height of their ambition apparently seems to be to have tho management (!) of the goldfield, the fingering of the goldfields revenue, large borrowing and rating powers, and tho right to rule over the sister township. No doubt they would be highly gratified to have the miners and residents of Waiorougomni petitioning them ("instead of Piako County Council as at present) to carry out certain works, which of course would receive their very carefnl consideration etc. The residents of Waiorongomai and the gold field are, however, not i»uilt of the material we believe them to be, if they allow themselves to be thus ' sat upon,' or the prosperity and progress of the goldfield placed in jeopardy ; and we are glad to know they have been taking the necessary steps to have themselves and that portion of the district they rppresent excluded from the proposed Borough. We understand a petition has been prepared praying that all that portion of the area set forth in the petition for a Borough (recently forwarded to Wellington ) from Stoney Creek southwards, be not included in the Borough ;if such be granted. This latter petition has right on its side, will we trust be largely signed, and fulfil the mission, upon which it will be despatched. Let the residents of Waiorongomai and the goldfield see to it, that all so entitled do sign this counter petition, else they may awake some fine dayto find they have been unscrupulously duped j in fact permitted themselves to be used as stalking horses to gratify the ambition of a few designing men. At the last public meeting held nt Waiorongomai, those who cara» therf to enlighten the natives, and tell them what to do, informed them the proposed Borongh was to have two wards, and Waiorongomai was to expend its own revenue, etc. As a matter of fact there is not even a suggestion in the petition that there ought to be two wards — in fact the existence of such a place a8 Waiorongomai is practically ignored. The petition reads that it is the petition of " resident householders of the district of Te Aroha," * * * who " are desirous of constituting the said district of Te Aroha, the boundaries and area of which »re hereafter described, a Borough," * * "by the name of the Borough of Te Aroha," etc., etc. I But this action on the part of the Borough agitators is only in keeping with many previous acts of theirs in connection with the game matter. One would almost suppose their motto was " never mind the means so long as the end is gained," If their motives were pure why should Waiorongomai need so many pressing invitations to join in tho movement ? As a matter of fact Waiorongomai residents do no*; want to be included in the proposed Borounh— why then should they be coerced into it ? The residents on a t goldfield are generally supposed to be pretty keen and able to take care of themselves, and yet, in every instance qs regards these attempts to have a Borough constituted, we find aTeArohft agitator goes out fo tell Waiorongomai residents what they ought

to do, how badly Piako County Oounoil has treated their portion of the district, an 1 how greatly their prospects wi'd In improved if they would only a}low,themselves to be inululed in the? Borough of Te Aroha. , (As Or Murphy so impressively put it at the recent public meeting at Waiorongomai: " The (Pinko)^Council were only giviner thorn n bit of a sop to keep them quiet," * * and * * " in fact, acted more " towards the place as jf it, were*'* charitable, institution, than giving it its rights." The disgnieeful and deliberate manner in which the County Council was misrepresented at the meeting referred to has, however, been thoroughly exposed, and no doubt statements on similar lines, emanating from the same source,- will be accepted with a great amount of caution for many a long day to come, therefore we do not want to enlarge on that subject in this article). Our interests are bound up with the future progress and prosperity of th^ district as a whole ; and we are as much concerned for the advancement of Waiorongonoai as' Te Aroha. •* The mining in lustry is par excellence the industry of this district, nud we will not stand by and sfi{ls fi{1 its interests imperilled without, as in duty bound, uttering a note of warning. A water smpply for Te Aroha is very much neede I (an<i for Waioron-go-nai also for that matter), further in improvements with r'spect to row's and footpaths urgently require to be off octet! but, must, stand aside where the interests of the golilfield are concerned, and such necessary must be carried out here, as in other districts, at the expense of the ratepayers. The goldtield revenue should as far as possible be expended in the> opening up and the developement of the goldfield, and not be pledged for loans Foi or expen 'ed on, water works, footpaths, and such like. It should lip expended on the Hill, whence it came; the mnin road, on account of so much goldfield traffic passing over it, having also « claim upon it. If the goldfield revenue wore wrongfully diverted, to the great injury of the goldfield, what poor compensation it would be that Te Aroha might be lit with #as or electricity, or its footpaths laid with concrete — if those who obtain their living, directly or indirectly, in connection with the mining industry hail to clear out for fresh fields and pastures new. Let the mining industry prosper, and the necessary taxation need not be oppressive. Those so ambitious to obtain greater powers than they ttow possess, at the expense of an adjoining district, mtutlearn to curb their impatience in this direction. Of course it cannot be denied that the district is placed at a great disadvantage just now, with respect to its representatives on Piako County Council. It is too much to expect the Council to pay much attention to what they say, but that evil wili no doubt right itself in time, and the electors see f Tim necessity of returning men who will command the respect of the Council. We hare so frequently given facts and figures with respect to the very liberal manner in which this goldfield and ilistrict generally has been all along treated by Piako County Council, that it is unnecessary to recapitulate now. (Suffice it to say the Council ha 3 from the first shown a disposition to assist the district in every possible way. At the public meeting held at Waiorongomai in July last year, to discuss the proposal to form a Borough, we detailed the receipts and expenditure of the Council for Te Aroha Riding for the preceding seven years, ending March 81st, 1888, showing that the Council had in that time received £26, 943 3s lOd, and expended L32,f>02 19s 2d ; or in other words had expended (after the last GoverntnentgrantofL3ooohad been substracted), on »n average during each of those years at the rate of L8 per week in the Biding more than they had received from it. We then challenged these Borough agitators-,to disprove our assertions if they could. "Why have they not done so-*-because they know they oannot. Since then have not the Council acted well towards the district as a whole. All necessary works have been so far »s possible carried out,and a bridge been erected over the Waihou river at t'le expense of the whole County (which would not have been built if the district had been constituted a Borough ). At the last monthly meeting of the Council, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, it was decided to re-write the whole of the Te Aroha Riding account from the start, and to charge all receipts and expenditure «in connection with the tramway, against the County as a whole. We are very glad this alteration has been decided upon, as thereby the greater portion of the large debt so long standing against this filling will now be removed. Further, the change i 9 a good one for the goldfield, seeing that for the future the whole County will now be liable to contribute towards the maintenance (or any extensions) of the tramway ; ami no doubt at the end of the term for which it is now leased it will require a considerable outlay expended upon it. But the change respecting the tramway will of necessity give the Council a far larger claim than before, for compensation for its loss, in the event of a Borough being formed to include the goldfield, as by the new allocation the whole County will bo deemed <o have contributed to the cost of construction of the tramway in proportion to its ratable vplue; which, by the last Property Tax valuations, stands as follows : Te Aroha Riding, L 88.740 ; Waitoa Riding, L3G6.0A6 ; Paf.etere Riding, h%M$W\ Matnmata Riding, L 69,623; Tnotaoroa. Riding, L 41,877 ; total, L 080.583 (exclusive' of Crown and Native lands). We have not the exact figures as to what proportion tho propoped Borough area is valued at, as compared with the Te Aroha Riding as

fi whole, but- suppose wo *ci. it <lown roughly at two-thirds— L6o,ooo, or say mi eleventh piirt of the whole. And we fir* naked to believe the s*oldtield woujjl be better off by boing taken out of the County an<l plnon.] un !er the eontl'ol of Te Aroha Borough Council; which woulil .first have to compensate the' County- for the logs of the tramway, and aftwnvatds hav,e to maintain it.. What assistance would the gnldfield obtain from th<» Te Arolia Borough Council ? what security could they offer even to borrow money wherewith to subsidise grants Government might, be. prepared to give for, the development of the field ? what weight would they have at the seat of Government as compared with Piako County Council ?• The total rateable value of tRo proposed Borough, according to the last Property Xax Valuation, (under the Rating Act of 1882), which came into force last April,and which is the valuation made use of by Piako County Council, is under £200, and we should not bo surprised to see the petition rejected by Government for that reason. The only way in which the rateable ralue can be construed to equal £250 a year (the minimum for the constitution ot a Borough) is by adopting the Town Board valuation (under 1876 Rating Act, annual value) for the Town District portion of the proposed Borough, and the County valuation (on capital value basis) for the remainder. Only by the adoption of such a method of calculation can the rateable value be said to equal £250, and we very much doubt if Government would agree to it. It is truly absurd to propose that so important a goldfield, on which Government, by grants and subsidies alone, have expended some L 15,000 to L 20,000, and in which now such an enormous amount of private capital is iuveste 1, with reduction works, second to none in the Southern Hemisphere ereote-1 thereon, to the control of an impecunious* Borough Council, only obtained (if constituted at all) by including a second township three miles distant From Te Aroha, without a single endowment of any kind whatsoever ; the very township of Te Arohft UeiiiLT bnilt on land lesne I from the Natives. In fact we do n-t for one moment believe the Government will consent to such a proposal.

There will be a tutting 1 of the Resident Mngistr.ite's and Warden's Courts tit To Aroha on Tuesday next. Mr H. FT, Adams has this week sent n\va\ anoth-r Lrg« consignment of flix from his mill. The ordinary monthly meeting of Td Amhi Si-li.i.il Coin nht^'i wi!! I) • held on MoncKiy evening next at half-na^t sevt'ii. There are forty-nine town districts in New Zealand at the present time ; and sixty-nine counties. Mr .T. McNTir ol will hold a spentl w\]p of hoi-spi, cnttlo, produce, etc., at To Aioha to-day. The Prr^rivrpmn a^d WnqWan Rrrvier>q to !)•• held in thin distii'-t to-morrow, will be found duly advertised. Mbssrs Stono Bros. notiTv tint they have been appohtedboleageuts ir Auckland for the sale of the celebrated bonedust known nn the " Uuncorn " brand. See advt. The sale of the Werahiko Licensed Holding (advertised to take place yesterday at noon), has been necessarily postponed, in consequence of the deed authorising the sale not ha v iug been yet signed by all the shareholders. Due notice will bo sriven as to wheu the adjourned sale will take place. Mr Diilton. the well-known tailor of Auckland and Napier, is now at Te Aroha taking orders ; and, as will be seen by advertisement, inuy bo seen at the Hot Springs Hotel, Te Aroha, and this evening at Sraardon's Hotel, Waiorongomai. Mr Dal ton has with him a ohoice selection of the very latest patterns, and novelties of all classes of gentlemen's Buitings, etc., etc., and is offering same at Auckland prioes, with an extra pair of trousers given in with each suit. Considering the, style and finish for which Mr Daltons establishment is now so well and widely known, the prices at which he is now offering these new goods i<s remarkably low, and should result in his doing ft very large business in this dihtrict. Inspection of these goods is invited. Mr J. H. Whiteford, of Auckland,passed through Napier on Saturday on his way to Wellington. He goes there to interview Sir Harry Atkinson, to impress upon him the necessity for tho Government to assist in developing alleged gold-bearing country in the Auckland province, according to a scheme propounded by Mr Whiteford, His i idea is to develop the wealth of the goldbearing Crown lands, by the employment of men by the Government at u minimum rate of wages, rising to the maximum of 8s per day according as results justify it. It seemß strange that if gold is reasonably supposed to exist in certain districts, men should require to be paid by the Government to go and howk it out of the ground. It looks as if those who want to be paid have less faith in the alleged gold than the Government is expected to have. At the Supreme Court, on Wednesday last, before His Honor Mr Justice Conolly, in the case of James Courtney, of Waiorongomai, a bankrupt, Mr Cave moved that a day bo appointed for the public examination of the bankrupt. The creditors had expressed considerable dissatisfaction with the debtor's conduct, in having obtained goods without any probability of his being able to pay for them. His Honor fixed the 23rd of September, Mr Cave said on that date he should also apply to have the bankrupt examined under the provisions of the Act of 1884, as to his ability'to pay out of his present earn'ngs> any sum towards the discharge of'debts, elainis, and demands provable under the Bankruptcy Act. His Honor ordered the Rummrinsto issue for the 23rd of September. Mr Cave, on behalf of the Official Assignee,, applied for an order for the sale of the book debts in Mr J. C. Firth's estate, and that a sale, by auction to Mr W, E. Cook be confirmed. Mr Cook was the highest bidder at £102, and they were knocked down to him. The order was ny\de accordingly . ' ,

In nnntVr r»oln »in we re-'nhU^b a report which appeared in the Guardian new^pap^r (published *t N^wcastl^-und^r* Lyiue), of/jT;greit temperance f^te recently heldJfyat Woodhpud Hall, the* lewidpncn of Mr VV. «. Allen, the owner ot thu, AiiftindUle "^fate. Piukb ; and which will be read with all H\si more, interest seeing ♦hut" M»- A.l l eri and funilv puipoV conning; to reside at Annnndsilo. at least for a timei' within the next few months. Large additions arf now boingmadeto theexi.sting house dv the property for- their reception, and we understand they exp»ct to arrive at Annandale early in D^cpmber next.