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Temuka Leader, Issue 1145, 6 September 1883, Page 3

TO THE EDITOR. - A

J interested’individual, I , r feturn,. you rthanka .for, yoqr of Sept Ist, re'drainage'of as it necessarily ventilates this very important subject. Unfortunately I fail to see the Suggestions you 'are supposed'to niak'fy as thoflo: r mad6 by, the Geraldine, Road Beard.are simply repeated. , I shpuld feel thankful, as one interested, to see you enter fully unto .particulars and have the matter brought; prominently before the public before the next meeting .of the Road Board, as no time should be lost. No one is more anxious to see Geraldine properly drained than L am, but you must remember that the Geraldine Hoad Board hold the strings of the public purse belonging fo a very’largo district, and before expending a very large sum of money they must first consider, Are they justified in doing so ? We have frequently been reminded, on applying to the Road Board for roads and repairs in the country districts, that the funds held by them have accrued from the lands sold in the district, viz., 10s or 25 per cent for land sold, by which the Board is to some extent guided. For instance, on a property consisting of 1000 acres at £2 per acre, the Government price, not more than 25 per cent, i.e., £SOO, should be spent in making roads, bridges, etc., for the benefit of that property. I should like to see something emanating from your paper reviewing the whole matter, showing what amount of land has been sold in the Government township, the amount of land occupied, the amount of rates paid, and the amount of money expended by the Road Board in the township of Geraldine. Then we should see if Geraldine has been properly treated by the Road Board, and whether the Board would not be justified in asking the inhabitants to pay a portion of the costs of draining, or consent to a special rate being levied. You inform the public that the Board has money lying idle in the Bank. I hope this is not true. I understand it is receiving six per cent, which on £20,000 is a nice little round sum at the end of the year. This money will not last long, however carefully distributed, considering that during the last two months nearly £2OOO has been spent chiefly owing to the Lite flood. 1 quite agree with you that the town of Geraldine has a right to have a share of the funds expended in improving the township, but the question is, Has not the town already received more than its share ? I don’t grudge it, but if the hotelkeepers and others are 'careless about their outside premises adjoining their buildings being kept either clean or in a filthy state, at the risk of the lives of individuals within a certain radius of their stinking cesspools, are the ratepayers in the country districts to encourage them by having these preclean entirely at the expense of the whole or will the hotelkeepers and others entertain a proper and natural feeling towards their customers and pay a portion of the expenses towards making Geraldine a healthy town 1- I am, etc., Drainpipe. Geraldine, Sept. 4.