THE MAYORALTY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 279, 28 April 1914, Page 6

THE MAYORALTY.

MR IN IIIU'LY.. Mr J. E. Wilson writes: — h'.i, :.ia> iOe allowed the spate to repi} lo -1..V Jjfurt'iiiis letter appearing m j=-ue ol una morning? x am sorry Ui.il Mr Jjiovwie lias cieeted to rqilj t" me omy ailer my puoue mceuidp *.c eiiucii. Mr iirowne stales tlie lacis loading io tiie necessity ol acquiring land io° Hie new nilake" quite clearly. In lus reason ior Hie lidi'tliaoe ol Hie oj atieu :.e is iiot so e.isy to 10i.0.v. Uur Jloroiiyii uiguieer is quoted as emphatic tlial Me eiwi use tlie land tor grazing our own iuiises. -Mr. Browne says II we took uii.y me o'/s acres under tlie Public \\ on<s -iet ti'ie owner could have claimed lor tlie road and bridge 1 referred to in I my address and would have had a strong ease lor Ine liulest compensation. Then he goes on to say that the engineer says j a «ire rope would sutliee tor our pur- J pose. Xhe fallacy of the argument about the bridge, etc., lor the owner is exposed wncn -Mr. iirowne goes on to explain that the owner is leasing the land from us. is the Borough going to use a wire rope only, and, if so, is Mr. Williamson going to sling his stock to and fro on this rope or swim them through the dam? Either lie must adopt one or other of these means, or we are going to make a bridge for our own requirements which he can use, or there is no need I for any bridge at all. Look at it from all sides, and the bogey of the heavy I compensation fades into thin air. Then j Mr. Browne claims that the purchase of j the extra land will prevent pollution of the water. This is a sound point, but as the greater part of the 3a acres lies below the head of the proposed dam, and i the waterworks tunnel it is obvious th'it this argument is ol no avail with regard lo that position and it is in the purchase of that lower land that I think the Council went astray. Mr. Browne says, too, that the dam to be erected on the Manganiahoe cuts the estate in half, j Surely 35 acres is not the half of 400 acres! Furthermore, the water supply of the farm is not dependent on the short length of the Mangamahoe and Waiwakaiho rivers that the. Borough required. The owner has sold us much I more than we wanted, and presumably j hfc would not be so short-sighted as toj sell for ever his only water supply. ] I have the advantage of knowing the farm very well, and I know that it is quite i well watered. This piece of 35 acres is, cut oft' from the main farm, and Mr. Wil- : Mamaon must have been quite pleased to have it oh" his hands. As to the Cavriiititon road matter, I was and still am \iinlor tile impression that the amende;! plan referred" to in tlie report quoted by Mr. Browne was brought down after tlie councillors had protested against the expenditure involved in the first r.] ; ;n submitted. It is certainly my impression that the mayorl \vas conversant with ih:> iVtans of that first plan and th-it. it. •',•.;; Mie protests of the councillors whirl: erased him to disagree with thai plan. It seems to me that the mayor han <w fused the nh'ins. The amended p'.ni was the one referred to in tli" ei'tjueev's report of 23rd December, which wus brought down after the discussion of tlie first, one. I certainly have no wish to blame Mr. Browne without caurc. !>;;;. his explanation does not Harify th -i-if,!,..-. I Cannat understand the »nr;i:;e,- t'.ikin" the trouble to prepare the !'nal plan on his own initiative, and without having ageerta.ned that the Council war. nrepared '.o nifike tlie neccssarv expenditure for extra land.

I would not have written this but that r>" Miulina Mr. Browne's explanations it was so evident that his knowledge of the physical features of Mr. Williamson's property was so very vague that the matters I have now referred to had only to he pointed out for the public to «ce how- easily he mav have deceived himself as to the necessity for the purchase.--l am, etc., J. E. WILSON.