Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1890.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 444, 8 February 1890, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1890.

* This above all—to thine own pelf bo true, £nd it musbfollow a!s the night the day Thou const not then bt) false to any man.’ ' ' Shakesi-jcake.

fM’ijja of the. most important duties • Revolving on any local governing bpdy re those devolving on them as the Local lJo.ir 1 of Health ; and the carryi.ig out of the provisions of The Public . IT nlili Act. To us it is most nniihrss.nnt have to direct attention to |'iq jvjjwvthy o.f tlie local governing lo ly jit Te Aru’ a, with respect to matters of Ejttch vital importance to the welfare and (Tosperiiy pf the township and its Inhabitants, as drainage, qnd sanitation. i |'iie Towii' Board are either grossly and Inexcusably ignorant of their duties qnd spon.siliiliti>’S with respect thereto, pr ;:.efer to shirk them. \yc do nptdegire |p- pippose, if it cau be avoided, to refer i»t petti] to matters long needing attention, and which the Board are either yjjjld tOj or \yinl> at. as air. ady

stated, we very much regret having t * refer to this puhject.at rill, and have iclayed doingso as long as possible—too long in fait, we :y> prepared to admit—in the Jmpe somethin ' would he .done. But the maintrn Mice of public health, and tlx? reputation of Te Aroha n§ a health resort, are matters of (ho first importance, and in connection therewitli we have a duty to -perfonrq and unless the Town Board do their duty we cerlajnly intend to see to it that local residents shall not rnqph longer have cquse to complain of those matters ; as ample provision ig made in The Public Health Ac*, 1876, with respect thereto. Section 71, sys : Complaint ipay be made to any Resident Magistrate of the existence of a lniisance, etc., by any person aggrieved or by any inhabitant of such district, .and thereupon the like proceedings shall be had as in the case of a complaint relating tq a nuisance made to the Resident Magistrate by the Local Board—the premises complained of may he examined, and the Court authorise any Constable or other person to have the necessary work carried out for abating and preventing the nuisance, and recovep the expenses incurred from the person on whom the order |s made in a summary maqner.” The Town Board a'e (whether aware pf it or not), 1 y*vi>tue of tlieir office the Local Board of Health under the Act referred to ; and as such are not at liberty to shirk their responsibilities. Section 45, says : <; Evcry Local Board shall provide that all drains, closets, cess pools, etc , within its district shall he constructed and kept so as npt tp be a pnisance.” At the last meeting of the Domain Boqril, an existing nuisance was referred to, and the Clerk instructed to write to the Town Board, requesting that it be at once put a stop to Some measures of a very temporary character have since been adopted to abate same, which, we understand, t]ie Board propose to continue at the expense of the ratepayers. Tnis is not as it should be. The parly from whose premises the nuisance emanates and flows on tp the street, should be notified to disepntinqe it, and to make proper provision tp prevent its recurrence, and not the general body of ratepayers compelled to pay the cost of continually abating a nuisance aiising solely from one persons premises. We believe that during the present week the Chairman of the Town Board has been enquiring from the Engineer probable cost of piping the portion of the street affected in order to convey the offensive drainage away, ami so tnake. things easy for the offending party. Now why we ask should the whole town he levipl upon ip such a manner in or lor to save expense to, those directly responsible for the nuisance, whether they happen to he particular friends of the Chairman or not. By Section 52 of the Public Health Act, any person who in a Town Distiict or Borough, keeps any swine oi pig-stye so as to be a nuisance to any person, or allows the contents of any water-closet or cesspool to oveiflow or soak there from, shall for every snob offence he liable to a penalty of £2, and a further penally of 5s a day for every day the offence continues, and the Local Board shall abate or cause to be abated every such nuisance ; and may recover in a summary manner the expenses incurred by them in so doing from the occupier of ihe premises. Having with very great reluctance taken tins subject up, we do not mean to let it drop until several matters much needing attention are put right. One nuisance that must lie at once diseon • tinued is the keeping and private slaughtering of pigs (and sheep), in the heart of the town. The Town Board have ample powers conferred on them for putting a step to all such offences, and regularly employ an Inspector of Nuisances. What are they thinking about? If they fail to no their duty, the matter must he brought under the notice of a higher authority by those who have the welfare of the place more at heart.