TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 36, 10 February 1903, Page 2

TARANAKI COUNTY COUNCIL.

A special meating of tho Council was held 011 Moodiy to consider finaneial proposals and other matters. j ! The Chairman submitted tho follow-' ing report on j ! HEAVY AND SPECTAL TRAFFIC. j " In bringing oui a report upon the heavy traffic that: at proseno exists, and that is likely to take piace, I take it that ifc is only the desire ot' the Council to tax those carriers that are ranking a living upon the road, and tho heavy tr.iffic from the carting of timber and ; logs, etc. To arrive at a fair amount' that the« 9 carriers should pay, I huva : taken tho amounts that they at present i pay through the tolls upon the road,' and reduced them, in some instances, a ! third, and, in others, half tho estimated amount they p\y at the presinb time! through the tolls. For instince, the mail coach, ttading between New Plymouth and Opunake, piys at tho present time about £3O a year. I do not think £2O a year, piid quarterly, would ba too much to place upon such traffic, i This traffic exists every day, wet or 'dry. Thea take those four and fiv« horse waggons at pr t sent upon the

road, carrying from two to four tons i weight, if they go through the toll once a day, they pay 9s a week, or, siy, £23 a yftar. 1 would reduce thtse by about half the estimated amount or, 1 say, £l2 a year, as many of th;m run i only every other day. Waggons or expresses drawn by two hordes, carrying produce, otc, for profit, say, £5 a year. As i r . has been augges'ed to the : Council that the carrying is likely to be , done by traction engines, it id our duty I to ba prepared fur this class of traffic, Jand as they would cirry about four : times as much as the first nmisd class, I should rocjmoaeud that a tax of, siy, £4O a year be placed upon this cites of traffic., The other diss of heavy traffic that at present exists iu the County is from the timber anils, and as tha proprietors of th:se mills have the happy knack of rising tha price of timber every touch and turn, thus shifting the tax on to the users of material, I I think it is only fair to place a substantial tax upon this class of traffic upon the roads, as it ie, in many cases, very heavy, and does considerable damage. I would suggest that the t-.x upon junkers cairyiog logs, or waggons carrying timber, be' £2O. As good roads for all this class of traffic is of the I utmost importance, I do not think they can complain when called upon to contribute a fair share towards their support if thiiy aie relieved from the payment of tolls. 1 estimite that about £2OO a year .can be raised by taxing this class <'f traffic upon ih9 roads. Schedule of proposed am junta to ba lavi«d upon heavy traffic. perjear £ Coach or any other rehiole carrying passengers for hire, drawn by four or more horses 20 Coach as above, dravu by two horses 10 Waggon or other vehicle drawn by i four or more horses, carrying preduoe, et~., for p-oflt ... 12 Waggon, exp e?s, or any vehicle, drawn by not more thin two horses, carrying for profh ... 5 Traction en :in 5 carrjing g'-ods, etc 40 I Junker or timber waggoa, carryiog timber onroad... .„ ... 20 "

Or. Andrews said ho noticed in his own district that considerable damage was done by carting metal, involving a heavy < xpanditure in repairs. The Chairman pointed out that the matter was one dealing with Raad Boards and should be treated on a more liberal footing than in the oas9 of the borough. Or. Gray viewed the matter in the suae light as the chairman, considering it should be a ma f ter of give and taks. When, however, there were contracts in which heavy bullock drays were employed som) ariangement should be made by which the Road Boards should repair d images. Or. Hill drew attention to the fact that the whole meat supply for New Plymouth would be brought over the County road and this traffic should be dealt with. Or. McDonald inquired what meaus were to be adopted with reference to guaging the qu .ntity of timber carried. The Chairman replied that his proposals avoided mention of weight, but dealt with haulage power. The Ohaiiman then raid the following report on OFFICE EXPENSES.

"Another question the Council wishet me to rep-irt upon ia office expense! to as to see if any saving coull be made in this department on account of a portion of the p aracaki County going iato the Egmont County. I find upon looking up bick record) that the late Mr Liwson, some ten years ago, received £175 a year. The Council then paid £35 a year office rent. I find that a great deal of clerical assistance was then gnn f el in making up the rolls and in other ways it cost the Council Sbverat pounds a year above tha salary. Members must admit that since then rents have goie up considerably in New Plymouth, and I don't suppose that offices with a room suitable for meetings could be got in such a centeml position under £SO a year. The clerk at the present receive? £2OO a year, in- i cludiog office rent. The funds h indled. i amount to over £7OOO a year and [ do I not know of any clerical assistance | ! being granted to the present clerk.' I The numb3r of ratepayers has also j greatly increased on account of so much, jou'.tiog up of proporths in the county.! ' The clerk gets out the whole of the! 'Specifications for the different stone-j j carting contracts and many of the dif- > iferent works in the county which, in! | most caee j , are done by the Engineer, | I thus saving considerable sums of money j , to the Council. The present olerk isj i specially adapted for the position he 1 |h;lds, showing great tact in the Coun- '• cil's correspondence, his greatest failing! I being tooeisy in collecting rates from de- j faulting ratepiyers, tha Council having, lost through this in several instances. I trust that tha itstructions given by the Council will be strictly carried out and that we shall havo no fault to find in this direction in the future. Considering the increased work through the subdivision of properties, the amount of responsibility resting upon the position, also the increased cos r i of living, I do not thick the cl6rk is overand thus cannot recommend the Council to reduce his salary. In rep y to Or. Andrews the Chairman said that the Council took out a fidelity bond. Or, Gray sSid that as he had raised tha question of office expanditura he would state his reasons which were bised on the chairm«n'B report, that owing to the severance of the Parih:<ki RidiDg the duties of the clerk woul i be ; reduced, ar d as the Council had oon-J, sented to the olerk doing other wot k he 11 should take less salary. He move i j that the Clerk'd salary be reduced £25 1 per annum. j t Or. Andrews sscoaded p'o forma. j Cr. McDonald ooneHercd Or. Gray had taken a wrong view of the matter,

He beliovid tha 1 . t' e clerk w unde - paid as rent, and all othoroutgoings hid risen considerably. II o ?ou!d oppose any resolution in tho dirou-'ion of a induction. Or. Andrews onsidorn! that 'lie chief point was for the (J .tiflcil >o havo a good officer aiid h iva the ?0' k done well. He felt it would bo a nvs'uk to| disturb present arrang-men's. j Or. Hill pointed out that in Mr! Lawaon's time the total of (l rk's' salary and office r> n'. w,.s £"205 per' annum, ex ra be : ng paid for in addition. I | Or. Hops in wis of opinion tha'. *ln> i Council only pud tha c'erk a fai' I silaiy. _ ( | In rep'y Or. Gray Raid ho f-tiled !o | sec how the Council ware gsing to ; reduce fhsir inc me without reducing . their expenditure. The Chairman piinted out that wiihout closing the office for a part of th' 3 time ihey c aid not pay has thnn ! they d d as pre=e'it. | Tha imtion was then pu : ; andllot.8 t . i

ABOLITION OF TOLLS. Or. Andrews referred to the fact tint owing to no ad jus ment having been made by the Eguiont Ojuaty io reh'ioD to the expenditure by the Taranaki County in the severed portion of their district, tha Council hid to piy interest on overdraft on such expenditure, and thiri-fora he fa 1 d to see how the Council could do away with tolls which brought in £I6OO a year. The amount the Council piid in intereit on overdraft wou'd be better spent on roads. It seemed to him thes the Council were living on their overdraft, no attempt being main to pay it off. He was concern el as to what would happen if the money market tightened and the Council Were called on to reduce the overdraft, He advocated keeping on the tolls a year or tvo longer and reduce tha, overdraft, and when this was accom- ] pi shed the tolls c-juld be abolished. When thi tolls had been ab li-hid some years bick the roids got into such a bad state that it wat found necessary to reinstate them. He considered that tlw loan would We cr quired to be doubl d if the tolls were abjlisbed. He therefore urgtd the Council to seriously consider the qusstion of abolishing tells before they took action on the mattrr. When nit long since the question of continuing tolU or not was a burning one, thd Council, to test the feelings of the ratepiyew, resigned in a body, and wer-i re- lectcd with a mandate to retain toll". Or. Qny inquired if the last speaker was in favour of increasing the number of tolls.

Or. Andrews avoided a direct answer. Or. McDonald pointed out that when the loan proposal* wore before the ral;epjyers, it wis understood that thi proposed bridge rale would ba in lieu of the tolls, which wcuM be abolished, Or. Hopson took the same view. Or. Gray concurred, being of opinion that the vt rdict of the ratepayers endorsed the policy of a bridge loan and the oboltion of the tolls. Had a proposal been brought down to increase the n imber of tolls he would have suppur.ed that proposal, bur, under the circumstance", he moved that tells ce <aed to bo collecte 1 as from Match j3ls\

. Or. Hnpaon seconded the motion. | The Ob airman pointed out tbat the Moi R'Jing accounts, on Slst March last, allowed an overdraft of £1660, but th 9 actuil overdraft on aett'inc; up at that tirai was oily £llsl 17s 10J, the' balancd being liabiii iss. Tbe present state ot the ove drafi was £1264 gross, bu' thu r.ctuil excess ptid was £523 6a' 3d, and, allowiug for accounts passed, and a funh r £2OO for next month, tbe over.irafs would bo £943, showing tha f thi K d'cg had reo itself by over £2OO, notwithstanding thit there had bean twelvo miles of extra road to keep up, and the ons'ant employment of the bridge carpenter aad his staff in th\t Ridi.jg. The Waiter* Riling showed an overdraft of £859, yet there was an actual credit of £93, but next March that Riding would have improved its position by £427. The Oma'a Riding, on Slst March next, would have recovered itself by £2OO, showing that the Ridings were bsgint ing to work within their means, i With regard to Or Andrews' conten-1 tion tint Fi'zroy would ere long ba pirt of the Borough, he (the speaker) was sure there was no intention on tbe part of the resident! of Fitzroy to be incorporated in the 1 Borough. With regard to tha bridge 'rate, he did not think some of tha I Councillors understool the of tha ' 1 -12 K .h of a p.-nny rate, which so ac'ed , that with the increase of voluttion the amount to be raised by the time all the I money was wanted would nret all requirements. I

| In reply to Or. Gray the Chairman 1 ! said that only sufficient of the bridge rate would be collected to pay ia'e.est -1 on money actually harrowed. Cr. Andrews said that in the liiht of | the chairman's explanations the figures : givdn turned out difforen'ly to what he j expect-id. He was willing to baw to the decision of the m-jority of thi ! Oounci'. He had only doae his duty |in voicing the < piuion of his conj sti'uents. j The chairman was quite content to itike the responsibility of . He was c mviaced th*t Cr Andrews i accurately voiced the sentiments of his ' c lnsrituentc, as this.wa* evident at the recent po'l. i The motion to c use 01l e ing tolls ;on 31st Xtariih wai then put, ani icarriei, Cr Audre vs alote d sssn'inj:. ' Tha question as to taking d>wn an I : storing the toll-git-s, anl remving I the houses was lufc to be deal r > with by i tha Chairman, j BBAVZ TRAFFIC. The Chairman'* p op >sal relative 'o i heavy i with by f irmal re«oluti>ii at 'hj n x" [ordinary mucins of one t'ouicil, it | being undo' stood that (he proposals ; were satisfnc ory. The Council rosi.