Stratford News.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 188, 15 January 1912, Page 3

Stratford News.

"A BRAW SCOTCH NICHT." .. SCOTTISH SOCIETY FORMED. The Scotsmen of this district have decided to form a Scottish Society as the result of a circular letter issued by Mr. Alec Henderson, and a dinner will be held on January 25th to celebrate the birth of Bobbie Burns. All over the world Scotsmen take a delight in each other's company, and they foregather with zest. They are J proud of the ''land of brown heath and shaggy wood, land of the mountain and the flood." And when they lift their glasses, ye ken, and sip the heather dew, their hearts speak the words of the poet again, "Land of my sires, what mortal hand can e'er untie the filial band that knits me my native land?" The Burns dinner is to be the first- of a series of similar gatherings on the anniversaries of notable events in the history of Scotland. It is intended to make the movement provincial, not parochial, and some Of the calls to brither Scots to join in a convivial evening may issue from centres other than Stratford. The first dinner

j "A Night wi' Bums," promises to be a splendid affair. SOCIAL NEWS. ; Mrs. A. Birss leaves by Monday morning's mail train en route to Hastings, Mr. Birss following a few. days later. ! Mrs. Birss has made many friends during ! her residence here, and her social news in the 'leading newspapers has been widely appreciated. There'is no doubt that she will soon find herself'in th'e portion of social chronicler in luer new home. Mr. N. Laurence, of the' N.Z.t. and M.A. Co.'s staff at Nelson; spent' the holidays with his parents at 'BeaOonsfield road. • v v £i'.v Miss Butler, sister of th'e Rev" Butler, vicar of Stratford, is on a'visit to

I Nelson. •' ■ Mrs. Hogg and Master Robert.Hcrgg • of Midhirst, leave on Monday' for Mel bourne. 'Master "Bob" "will'enter col lege there. ;!:<>.''•> y ' ■ Mr. and Miss Wake leave almost im

mediately for Sydney. Miss Freda'.'Wake who is in Auckland, will join them thete Mrs. .Stubbs the other evening invited , a number of friends to her house to farewell Mrs. Johnson, who lea>vea sbortly for Masterton. i«» Miss M. Coehrane-Mackay is on a visil to Longburn, where, she is tirti guest oi Mr and' Mrs Nixon. ' 1 ' • k n. ' Mr. and Mrs. Brocklebainkv of 'Stratford, returnfd on'Frida/i htght' Ircto a month's holiday. ' i .'- j ,-»v . Mr. George Hall retiirrM> : Stratford on Friday night from to the Old Country. His mother, who had to go Home after his "arrival' in England, reached London ifeforfe"hfe'ieft.'"--He will return there shortly,. «tnd he' and Mrs. Hall will probably return to New Zealand together. ■ ; STRATFORD COUNTY FINANCES. HOW TO KEEP THEM IN . ORDER. . A SPECLAL MEETING-.

A special meeting of the-Stratford County Council was held to-day to consider .the- finances of the county. One called to mind the old'time- diifcussions of the old-time councils, whenf'ex?-fehair-man Mr. Joseph Mackay-used-to tell thfe council that'- they Were -gettino- 1 deeper and deeper into the mire, tthy expressed the fear that unless matter^-'improved the _ Government would b'a!v£ to'-put a receiver in. He considered jri ■ those days that matters woultf fee,, improved by the passing* of .a JLoaaJ., "Government .'. which he has gro\pji tired of waiting. To-day's meeting, didn't jfalame the Government, the Local Government Bi|l. .It/talked very concisely, talked all round -wicket „. ? n , e seeded, .to have bothered to. get official figures -as to- the posi, tion, and figures whiehjTe F e quoted lacked; official confirmation,, except that t] ' e Stood t°"day at somewhere about £SOOO, and that there remained about .€O4BO of rates unpaid-. It took . three liours and more to pass .a resolution which, in. spirit, -differed,from a previous (resolution (passed £wo years ago) thafc "tlie' engineer" -was substituted for the foremen.: The members were , given yards of latitude, by the chairman. The meeting was the outcome of the. motion, of Cr. Walters at the last mating of the council, and he it was uno opened the discussion to-day "UP TO THE HILT/'-" Or. Walters said the councillors were 0,1 ° ne P oint < and that was that the county finanoes had been 'in a parlous state for some years. The overdraft had been kept 'up to the hilt Really necessary work bad-had to stand owk-caiise the council -could- not feel justified in authorising itj simply behadn't the-money.:,- And they didn t know where t>hev s t Hc didn t>.believe m the -present system of w'lnt a 1 1" They - s,lonj,d he able o see what money was receivable from rates on every road, the engineer and .staff should frame estimates iy, and the council strike a rate sufficient to meet the .estimated requirements New .work should not be <loV oTt of j.eneral rates, but out of loan.. He bel.eved the books should be so kept as to SL il r'? •" "f *«'»»««• 5 flna " e "'l position of each

<nSw With the speaker. The maintenance of roads was ■ nuersal problem. Some tried-tile tollate systern as a solution, but-'he hoped the council would not resort to that T-Te nuoM figures to sh<m . th|>t wh ™ L g ™ loads and some ridings were in credit others were very heavily in debt. Th P f „ r ; hc should be subsidised get clear. eTIC ™ tes ,, to ™able them to fi-ood poller to leave a bad piece of road merely because it was heavily N Cr N Cirri^ff ß , KS ,° UT 0P RKV EXUE. V „ advocated a "so slow" policy. Further expenditure on roads heavily in debt should be incurred only ■n absolutely urgent cases, or not at J Money for repairing such roads might be system SUt ° brouXt £ ? t]ll i y re P° Tfc sl 'ould be brought down to show the position of roads and ridings financially. should '•''at something wW» X 1,6 i 0 e,lal,le "'em to know where they were, but he couldn't s ee the necessity for keeping detailed road accounts "I confess," Ile s , i()| don t know where we stand' t Jhe chairman: We're in debt. (Laugh-

FINANCE, OR PERSONALITIES' tt.2' P?TB Said hc M] y f r - Waters would brino- down a h;nJ Tm T system - He a ' wa ys obtained estimates frora the his riding, and considered every coun-

* * ❖ From Our Resident Reporter. * * * *************

■ cillor should do "this. The present eyi tern, he thought, was equitable, and ha done what it had ibeen intended to dc ,Or. _ Walters must have neglected hi • duties or he would have known the stat i of the finances of his riding. Cr. Walters: Is this finance, or per sonalities? Cr. Thomson: You can take it as yoi like. In our riding we know how w< stand. Cr. Walters -wanted to know how ii was that some of the south riding roads were £2OO or £3OO overdrawn if Cr Thomson had, as he said, kept in touch with the finances of his riding? Cr. Anderson' believed the council should have estimates framed ,by the engineer, and stick to them. , Cr. Young said estimates were all very w<ell in their way, but they would be useless in his riding. They might make their estimates to-day, and to-morrow be faced with the need for expending £ 1000 or more on the roads. He thought more economical methods should be adopted, and that the council should be 'kept posted with regard to monthly expenditure on roads. Cr. Sinitfl pointed out that- some of

the road balances were there because of land fund. They couldn't confiscate that money from the settlers. The proposed monthly return would entail too much' i work on the clerical staff. Cr. Walters: Very little more than now. . A HOPEt/ESS PLIGHT. ; Cr. Smith added that the Mangaehui riding was an exceptional district. It should never haye been divided into small holdings at all. Without greater. Government assistance the settlers would be in a hopeless plight. Such districts 'ought to be assisted out of the special fufld. Cr. Walters: What would you do when the special fund is £4OO in debt? Cr. Smith: There's only one. solution.

We'll have to strike a higher rate. .The chairman defended the position 'of the.north riding, "which he said was '1" sponsible for the motion coming for'l* ward. He said-that a great deal of new work had been done in that riding. The a* Monmouth and York roads had been e > practically re-metalled, and the settlers e. were paying separate rates to cover the d cost. Then the Mountain road from o Stratford to Midhirst was practically a t- new road! He thouglit that ratepayers }on properties :; floating the east road, ■ it j and not liable .tb; special rates, might j >f j fairly be asked:.to contribute a separate' I rate. , t-j Cr. Walters said he-was ,not animated a by any wish;,to reflect on the north]' riding. The fchairma'nrwas quite mis- 1 d taken. ° AN OPTIMISTIC SPEECH, J ' '' | tk • Cr. Marfell. sjiid ; tM ! t •evidently the ' council was itbout six'months behind. If , tfye end of, the fin<}n,cial yeav were, six ' months farijiet' and 'if there - only two'month's!'; work, to do in that i time, the chairm'ari wouldn't need to be t troubled with the baijk manager. He c . believed the 1, cputicil was doing,better,, j and that "with ■IM present organisation j 1 lof the staff ; *th& council would get better!

{value for moiiey spent.".He wasn't a , all pessimistic-/ 0 if -they struck a liighe: rate— l . f' /■* s i 1 Cr. :Christoffel:- But you do it • We had to force it'on you. ; Cr. Jtfarfell: Witfithe exception of th( i north riding w6 are all in the same boat in that matter. I must exempt the '' chairman. ' He 'always wants to rate '! high eriough f tb'flo;'tile s work required. Cr. Smith:' Lwohiie'red the ratepayers ever returned hhri; •• Cr. :Walters' replied -after luncheon, traversing' tire adduced by himself and 'the> other councillors. He complained" thait. (Cr. Thomson had twitte,d .him.-; wittoi'ieausing the special meeting -dnneoeisar&y (Cr>. Thomosn had mentioned "a .foql's. ejraiid"). That was unfair. He moved, ''.That estimates be furnished at/the - early part of each financial year, .by'the 'engineer, who, irf preparing same,: h 1 the riding members,,-such; estimate to be laid before the counc'il for consideration rind adoption, and that ran levying rates the ; council is }o .take:.this as a basis 'and strike a sufficifin.ti rate to' cover these estimates and lea/vfe a sufficient margin' ' for contingencies.".;Cr. Marfell- seconded. • ■ Cr. ChristofFeli complained that the* councillors , had, ,be?n brought together unnecessarilyj Cr. : Walters had mentioned nothing bvnt had merely ad-, vocated something. that had been carried 07 which resolution had been only bv the south riding'members,;,-He protested, too, that money collected .for. payment of interest on loans was' spent in ; palliating those settlers who; c&m.<? /to, the council from time to time fpr grabs' for roads. Then when the interest fell' due, the. council' ' had to go to the, |mlpk and again pledge the settlers property to enable the in- ' tere=t> to be paid. Such a system was entirely wrong.,.. v • Then members th'resjhed oyer the whole matter de .novo, SQme, spea-kinw several times.' . . Cr. .Thomson thought, the riding members and fofemen .should make the estimates. . , " r raiE JvET RESULT. Cr Thomson said tliatlthe meetine'had served to bring -out that' Cr. Walters Mas trying to-put on the. minutes a resolution that was already there. Cr. 1 Smith considered, that the onlv P ' lr 'l oS , R meeting was "the washing of dirty linen" * Then the motion was cafrie'd. The council _ then passed "machinery tion S ? S glV<3 elTcct to the reso ' l '- GENERAL NEWS. „ ;n lo V' ant to 1,0 a S entle man councillor lou want to come here and have everything submitted ready for you so you have -only to say W or 'no.' Mr idea is that every councillor should know; the weak roads and -the weak parts of the roads. ITe should have a first JrJr w'lf ge " , S ° Said Cr ' Thonls °n to Cr. Walters at to-day's meeting of v i' "J 1 7 c °uncil. Cr. Walters replied: I don't come here as a practical roadman, and there are 120 miles of roads in my riding, so I can hardlv tin expected to know°a„ about them ° Regimental Sergeant-Ma for Hero hag Jvith ? P T ted t0 tl,e Uth Zlr c a '" a r ' re at str 'T-tford. succeeding Sergeant-Major Kibblewhite.who was transferred to the South Island the „i • Cr ' mit - y council meeting to-day the .chairman said that to pay for a road roller and scarifier in any one year hfth of a penny over the whole county. The - matter was discussed informally bmiW° r t T' ?i(lerin £ !t would -be good' business to dispose -of the Straker wagA c?nelT eStin v. g in mol ' e mach! ner?. c'nematographer would have been „lad, of the living picture" in ono of our principal streets the other evening, when m incident, or an accident, occurred

! which justified the agitation about long, unsheathed hatpins. Two ladies were , proceeding amicably and chatterboxically I along the street. One had a wide- : brimmed hat, the other had none, hut j she had a pretty little toque instead. / Both had hatpins—of course. The hatpins were long. The space between the I hat and the toque were short, very short. So the pins promptly spanned the intervening apace. A passer-by had to be called in before the ladies could get their millinery separated. The election of a county councillor for the Stratbmore riding of the Whangamomona County Council has now been completed. It is fresh in the minds of readers that Mr. Diggin was unseated owing to an informality in Ms election, and Mr. Jones was appointed in his stead. Mr. Jones thereupon resigned, and it wag left to the people to say which of the twain should represent them. They were unable to decide it, I the votes at the poll being equal. Mr. Coleman, the returning officer, drew lots, i and Mr. Diggin goes back as councillor. Heavy rain fell right through Friday night, and there were smart showers today. Haymaking ceased insfanter. Whilst inconveniencing the haymaker*, the rain will be of infinite value to those' with turnips or maize just showing above the ground. ° 'T -wouldn't trust foremen to make estimates," said Cr. Marfell at to-day's meeting of the county council. "I believe I am three parts of a fool already, but Fd put myself down as a fullblown one if I did that."