ROADS BOARDS V. COUNTY COUNCILS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1139, 25 August 1883, Page 2

ROADS BOARDS V. COUNTY COUNCILS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—l have noticed a number of letters and>rcporta of meetings which have appeared in nearly all the ‘papers’ circulated in the Geraldine County bearing upon the subject of abolishing the Geraldine County Council, and whilst there has been a difference of opinion expressed, both for and'against the abolition, there still retrains'one, or two matters that have scarce!} been touched, and with your kind permission I will add my humble opinion to the ra»ny already expressed, for I look upon the subject as being of great importance to every elector in the County, and one that should be well weighed over before any steps- are taken to abolish the Council. And find ("having obtained copies of the various Acts bearing upon the subject) I will give yon the result of wliat has been erro neously stated ‘abolishing the Countv Council,’" ‘The Counties Act 1876 Amendment Act 1882,’see Bth section : ‘The Governor in Council may at any time upon petition by proclamation declare that the whole of the said Act shall no longer be in force in any Coanly named in such proclamation from and after a date to be named therein.’ This section does not state that ‘no portion ’ of the Act of 1876 shall still continue in force, but (he 17th section says that’the 30th, 54th. 56th and 68th sections shall still continue in force. These sections refer to (1) alteration of boundaries, (2) appointment of Chairman, (3) resignation of Chairman, (4) annual distri'uition of Countv funds. The 36th section of ‘ The Counties Amendment Act 1882 ’ says where the Act of 1876 is suspended the Chairman of Road Boards and Town Boards shall, by virtue of their offices he the Conucillors to-administer die four above-named - section's of the Act of 1,876. that is, if there are six.Cilairmeo, and, if not six, the 39th section says the number shall be made up of ether members of the Board. From the above it appears that the Cou.ity Council is not abolished, but there is only a snpension ,of part of the Act, and the Elective members of the Council have to giv*e place to appointed. For my own part l am in favor of the County Councillors being elected by the ratepayers, and not appointed by Act of Parliament. It may be stated that Urn 38th section deals with the matter of elections, but when it is upon petition, as referred to in the 3rd section, the ratepayers are put to a great' deal of trouble to chianpe the mode of/election. I would notsay one word against the Chairman 6f : Road and Boards taking charge of County raatterSj-knowing all of them to be good pien. Chairmen as a rule have o deal to do to properly manage our Boards As'to fhe question of suspending the Counties Act,' there appears to me to be three or four reasons why the County Council should still exist as at present, one of these being the taking over into their charge the large bridges and main roads In the County with a view of main-' taining them out of the funds at their disposal, and if it can be arranged for the Council ("or commissioners appointed by the Cotmcil who know the County pro perly) to say what shall be considered main roads and bridges, then there would be no collision between Road; Boards as was seen a few days ago between the. Mount Peel and Geraldine Road 'Boards,’ for it appeared ifbm the paper that the former Board desired to have the road from Fnirlie creek td Robb’s hut declared a main road, the latter Board did not’see, the necessity, hence the .Council did not know what to do.' But since the ‘ Roads and Bridges Act 1882 ’ ’ came into force I am of opinion that every Road Board and County Council should avail them•elves of the Act; which offers to give £750 in every £IOOO expended upon those roads aid bridges gazetted by the Minister nrid unproved by the Parliament, it is no business of mine to say where and ho\v the £750 in the £IOOO will he raised (which I do not say will be raised for long) when it is presumed that that part of the Act will be amended or totally abolished.; The Council would not, need to keep any salaried engineers to look after these ,‘main rpads and bridges, for the Road Boards could- take over roads and ordinary repairs of the bridges,. keep a separate account of them, and be recouped - any outlay by.the Council, say.every three, months, or oftener if large sums wore at any. particular time being spent. With regard to renewing of bridges and extensive repairs the Council should engage a gpod engineer on the usual commission upon the outlay. The details of this question can be left in the hands of the Council, all of whom are very shrewd men. ,

Another subject is irrigation, and no one will deny the immense benefit which Die Ashburton County Council have conferred upon the farmers, and thereforelectors, in constructing the, water, races that may be see from Ealing station to the Rakaia; in some instances it has been the salvation of the poor farmers from ruin. But I ask. what would have, been done in the matter of irrigation, had the Comities, Act,been, ; suspended, and, the matter had been, left in the hands of the various Road Boards. The thing would not have been a reality today, for many reasons, when it is considered that spine of these 'beautiful water courses run through two or more Rond Districts. On*Road Board nughiTbo riyh and the other poor, and therefore Could not entertain the idea of expending funds upon irrigation to the neglect of their roads, and the reason assigned would be perfectly justifiable ; br perhaps ihe engineers to the various Road Boards would not be able to agree as to the direction the course should take and the, scheme generally. But:the matter being left in the hands of one eminent egineer like Mr Baxter, the .Walter has proved a thorbugh success. ,And the same kind of thing would exist in'the Geraldine County if left to the various Road Boards. I'will give one instance as. an .illustration - 'of what I mean Take the ‘ Orari plain from Mount Peel down to (he sea-beach. This tract of country runs 'through three Road Distrcts, and the land in each district requires irrigating. All these Boards must agree to general scheme and expenditure, and each Board- must have a separate * Water Race Construction Act ’■ before thty can proceed.” Now I ask, cannot the. Council deal better, with this, matter than the Road Boards, and it jp. to be keped that the Bill whiob hat bsoo.

prepared by tin?. Geraldine County Cornell will pass the session either as a pub Go, local, or'private hill, so as (o enable the Council, to proceed with the matter of irrigation .on the Waitohi Flat and Levels PiaiiiSj and thus to cause tho poor struggling farmer’s heart to r- joice as it does to-day in the Ashburton County. Another subject is the maintenance of our hospitals and charitable institutions, for I am of opinion that if this matter were left in the hands of (he -various Road Boards it would be an utter failure, for if the Road Boards had the extended powers given to them there would be no end, of petty jealousies and heartburnings as to the maintenance of our hospitals and charitable administrations. I can picture to myself every Road Board would have its hospital, which would scarcely be worth the name, frotn the fact that the medical attention and general maintenance could not be expected to he of such a high order as our hoble institution, the hospital in Tiniaru, is to a'l South Canterbury to-day, which is considered quite sufficient for all purposes for (he present: Perhaps s6me will say, but our hospitals and charitable institutions could be managed independently of the Council. It is granted, but in all' probability the various Read Boards would like to be represented on ihe Committee of management in Tiraaru and this would be tantamount to keeping the present Council in existence, as every Road District is represented., 'Other subjects might be touched upon, but I must draw my lengthy letter to a close,-advis-ing all the electors in the'County to think of the matter over well before ■'Committing themselves to the po'icy of any individual or number of individuals, to abolish the Council as being a . useless body and a burden to the County, for after all it is only substituting one form of local government for another which is more objectionable.—l am. etc., V County Elector.. , Teniuka, 22nd August, 1883. '