THE MOA DISTRICT.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 August 1915, Page 6

THE MOA DISTRICT.

QUESTION OF A NEW COUNTY. MAKETAWA DAIRYMEN FAVOR IT. The question of whether the Moa road district should be rbrmed into' a new county, or whether it should be merged in the TaxanaJci county, was discussed at a meeting of shareholders of th» Maketawa Dairy Company on Thursday night. Mr. J. Brown "(chairman of directors) presided over a moderate attendance. t Mr. Bridgman explained that there were ten or twelve petitions in circulation asking Parliament to allow the Moa County Bill to become law. He thought it would carry weight if the seal of the company wag attached to the petition, but he was not prepared for the opposition that has-been placed against the suggestion. There were many who believed that if the Moa Road Board was turned into a county, and had control of all the rates, tint more interest would be taken in,.the roads, and they would be worked more economically. Those who lived on Durham road knew what a good road it was, but if there was better plant available 1 the district would have better roads, and it was for this reason that ho supported the Moa County Bill. .

The chairman said that he bad heard from Mr. Bridgman the first reasons given in favor of a new county. He agreed that the district would get better roads if there was better plant, but he would go further and say that if the district merged into the Taranaki county, instead of forming a new county, they would get very much better roads, for the Taranaki county had ample necessary machinery, and in addition to this the Moa district would be saved an expenditure of £SOO a year. Mr. Brown referred at some length to criticisms passed on him by the Inglewood Record, and he replied in detail to that newspaper's remarks. There was no doubt the work of the Moa Road Board had caused much dissatisfaction, and he declared that that dissatisfaction would disappear if the district merged into the Taranaki county. The position of small counties was that they were hemmed in on all sides by other counties, and that would be the position if a new county was formed at Inglewood. It would be impossible to get in and out of the county without using the main roads of other counties, and it was certain other counties would not let their roads be used for nothing. The position of the Egmont county tov day was that one could not get oat of the county in any direction wii'wut passing a toll-gate, and the Moi district would be exactly in the s&tiu* position. There would be a toll-gate on the road to New (Plymouth and one on the road to Stratford.

Mr. Bridgman: You can't put a tollgale on the railway. Mr, Brown: We don't all travel on the railway. If we did it wouldn't be necessary to get metal to put on the roads. Continuing, Mr. Brown said it had been argued that if the Moa district was turned into a new county all the numbers of the Council would be 'n the ruling, but he pointed out that the district bad five members on the Rc.td Board, and he questioned whether they got any better results than they would get from three members on the Taranaki County Council. It had also bean argued that if there was a n».w county all the machinery would be m the district, but if this was done there would not be half enough work to I'eep the machinery employed. The pl.int of the Taranaki county was ample for requirements and could more than cope with the work offering. If the district merged all the county would require would bo another crusher. AVhen th's question came up some years ago Mr. Brown was in favor of the new county, providing it embraced the Waitara riding of the Taranaki county, for this wouid give a good county, but without the Waitara riding the district was not a suitable one for a county. It was not true that the Moa riding was piyjis; the highest rates of any riding in tha Taranaki county, and lie quoted figures in support of this. It would be seen on looking into the matter' that the Waitara riding paid twice as muc.'i p?r acie as the Moa riding, and the Omnia riding three times as much. If the Moa district merged he wouid suggest thai the rate for the new riding should be and this would give a revenue oi £SOIO, which would be increased to a total revenue of £5540 with rents of reserves, subsidy, etc. There was administration expenses to eome out of this .revenue. A new county would cost £B3l to administer it, leaving a balance of £4709 to work with. It also had to be remembered that the Moa Road Hoard spent about £SOO a year on management expenses, and all this would be saved by merging into the .Taranaki county. Another matter brought forward was the question of the by-laws, which, it was said, were too stringent. Local bodies had been working for years to draft suitable by-laws, and be thought those of the 'Taranaki county were the best. Referring to the road districts which had merged into the county, he pointed out the Egmont, F-rankley, Carrington and other roads —merged roads —were now as good as any county roads. If it could be shown that it was not true that the roads were now better he would be prepared to sign the petition for a new county. Mr. Bridgman: What about the Mangorei road. The chairman: I did not mention the Mangorei road. Mr. Bridgman: No; you only mentioned a few of the best roads. Continuing, Mr. Brown referred to the expenditure on roads in the county, and said that while the Moa P.orl Board had spent £l7 per mile on its roads, the Taranaki county had spent £OO per mile on the roads in the Moa riding. It was stated that on the adjustment between the proposed Moa county and the Taranaki County Council, the Moa county would have a third of the assets, plant, building, etc. This was entirely erroneous, as the ridings were not taken into consideration in an adjustment. Mr. Brown maintained that the Moa Boad Board was spending sufficient on its road If it was properly expended, but the Board did not have the staff or the appliances, and converting the Boad Board into a county would not do it, for the simple reason that the county would be so small that it could not afford the appliances and maintain them. All this trouble had, if it had done nothing else, stirred up the Moa Road Board. Machinery would be wanted for the new county, and Mr. Brown estimated that the" machinery necessary would cost £2OOO. It would be necessary to raise a loan to get I machinery,.and that would mean a fur- ] ther rate. It had been said that the new county would be ahle to get a roljer and a crusher from the Taranaki county, tat he did not wish people to run away with that idea, The Moa County BHi originated Trqm geojde who wots nos

ratepayers. He emphasised the fact that the district had nothing to lose, for it could leave the county if dissatisfied, and become a load district again, or form a new county. It had been suggested that the establishment of a new county was going to bring business to Inglewood, where the supplies would be purchased, but this was not so, as the supplies, etc., would be bought wholesale outside, as was done by county councils at present. In conclusion, Mr, Brown said he did not think it was right of Mr. Bridgman to have brought this matter up before them as a body of shareholders, for it was a public question, to be dealt with by the shareholders individually. He thought the best thing the meeting could do would be to throw out the resolution.

Mr. Bridgman said it was apparent that this question was going to cause dissension, and he hoped it would not interrupt bis friendship with Mr. Brown. It was wrong to say the idea of a new county was started by people who were not ratepayers, because tlie first to move in it were tiie members of the Moa Eoad Bond. The Road Board realised that the time had come when the roads would have to be put in better order or the district would have to merge into the county, and the action decided upon was in the direction of forming a new county. Mr. Bridgman said lie could remember when there were only two counties in the province of Taranaki, the Taranaki county and the Patea county, and after a time Stratford, Eltham and the other counties had broken away. Now, alter many years' trial, these new counties did not appear to wish to go back to the old condition of affairs, flc admitted that the new county would be a small one, but its valuation would be equal to that of the Waimate West county and greater than that of the Whangamomona county.

The motion that the company's seal be affixed to the petition was then put and a ballot resulted: For, 10; against, 8. The chairman then said: Well, gentlemen, you won't get any further, because I am*going to give notice of motion that the resolution should be rescinded, and we will have to hold another meeting. I want the verdict of the majority of shareholders. It is not right that such a question should be settled.by twentytwo shareholders. lam going to block it, but I want to say that my only reason for blocking it is that we ought to have a majority of shareholders present to decide it. I don't think the Bill will ever be passed, anyway. A shareholder: You can hold a dozen meetings, but you'll find the result will be the same.