The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1884. THE PROPOSED BOROUGH OF TEMUKA.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1144, 23 February 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1884. THE PROPOSED BOROUGH OF TEMUKA.

A few issues ago we stated that the petition of Temuka householders praying for constituting their iwi.a a Borough had been unfairly dealt with in Wellington, and that if justice had been done the prayer of the petitioners would have been granted. To show that these statements were correct we mean now to lay the whole matter before out readers. How the petition and counter petition were signed, and forwarded to Wellington are facts too well known to need recapitulation. In due course a repljr. came to the effect that after eliminating the township of Arowhenua from the proposed Borough there were i\pt sufficient householders left to constitute a Borough. As this statement was beside the question, the Borough Committee met and instructed the Chairman to forward the following letter to the Under-Secretary : Temuka, Dec. 10th, 1883.

“ G. S. Cooper, Esq., “ Colonial Secretary’s Office, Wellington, “ jRe Temuka Borough Petition.

‘‘Sir, —I have the honor (by the direction of the Committee appointed by the householders petitioning to have the Borough proclaimed) to inquire if it is possible to have the decision arrived at by His Excellency the Governor in this matter reconsidered, and an enquiry established into the facts of the counter petition under the 27th, 28th and 29th Sections of‘The Municipal Corporations Act 1876.’

“The grounds upon which the Committee base their request are :

“ 1. —That some of the statements contained in the counter petition are untrue—notably the first and second. “ 2, —That the counter petition does not comply widi sub-section 6 of section 17th of the Act in that it is not signed by an equal or greater number of resident householders than the original petition. “ 4. — That some of the persons signing the counter petition are not resident householders within the area of the proposed Borough. “4.—That the valuations of properties set opposite the names to the amount of £20,776 are wrongly inserted, as the properties so valued are not within the area of the proposed Borough, or within miles of it.

“ s.—That the signatures te the counter petition are not sufficiently verified, and that the declarationsof verification attached thereto are not in compliance with the form prescribed by the Act and set forth in the fourth schedule thereto. .Further that the declarations are false, inasmuch as some of those signing are not resident householders. “ G.—That owing to the new rate roll being at the time of the signing of the original petition in Wellington, the rateable value set opposite to the names of the petitioners were taken from the old roll. That the rate roll arrived here shortly afterwards, and thatthe counter petitioners took their values therefrom. That if the original petitioners were now allowed to insert the values of their properties according to the new roll on their petition, His Excellency would observe a most marked difference between the values of the properties and the social positions of those signing the different petitions, “ At the request of the Committee, I have also the honor to enclose for your information copies of the petitions, showing in red ink the names which should be struck out of the petitions, and also the correct rateable values of the properties of the respective petitioners according to the old and new rate roll, “I also enclose copy of the local newspaper drawing attention to the facts. “ I shall be obliged by your letting me have a reply to my inquiry at your earliest convenience.—l have, etc., “ K. F. Gray, “Chairman of Committee.” To this letter the following reply came : “ Colonial Secretary’s Office, Wellington, New Zealand, December 19th, 1883. “ Sir,— I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th inet., inquiring whether it is possible on the grounds therein stated to have the decision of His Excellency the Governor in regard to the petition for the constitution of Temuka under the ‘ Municipal Coporations Act, 1876,’ reconsidered. “ In reply I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to explain that the petition which induced the Governor to decline to incoporate Temuka was not, as y'Mi appear to suppose, a counter petition under Section 17, but a petition under Section 26 of the Act, the effect of which was to eliminate the township of Arowhenna from the proposed Borough, thus leaving an area containing less than 250 inhabited houses, so that the law would not admit of its coporauon.— I have, efc., “ G. S. Cooper. “ IC. F. Gray, Esq., 1 Chairman Borough Committee,Temuka.” We direct special attention to the explanation given in Mr Cooper’s letter. Ho gays in effect that the

counter petition asked for the elimination of the township of Arowhenua from the Boiuogh. We shall see. Here is what was said in the counter petition : “To His Excelleny Sir Francis William Drummond Jervo's, Governor and Commander in Chief of the colony of New Zealand. 11 We, the undersigned householders residents within the Road District of Temuka, humbly pray that Your Excellency will be pleased not to assent to the prayer of the former petition asking that Temuka should be declared a Borough under the provisions of the Municipal Coporations Act, 1876, on the following grounds : “Ist.—That the former petition was not publicly notified according to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1876, before presentation to the Governor. “ 2nd.—That a great many who signed the former petition were in ignorance of what they were signing. “3rd.—That as the town of Temuka is so small, and the population very meagre, any rate required to be struck for any improvements would fall too heavy on outside ratepayers. “ 4tb.—That the present Road Board will meet the requirements of the town for many years to come. “ And your petitioners will always pray, etc.” Now is there one word in the counter petition asking for the elimination of Arowhenua from the Borough. What the counter petition askes for is “ that Your Excellency will be pleased not to assent to the , prayer of the former petition asking that Temuka should be declared a Borough.” The name of the township of Arowhenua does not occur in the counter petition, there is not the remotest reference made to eliminating it from the proposed Borough, and therefore Mr G. S. Cooper’s letter must

be set down as the most mendacious document that ever emanated from a Government official. When these documents were read at a meeting of the old Borough Committee held last Thursday evening in the Wallingford Hotel, it was decided that it would be useless to pursue the Borough question at present. The advisability of taking advantage of the Town Districts Act was next considered, and a decision arrived at to the effect that the only thing that could be done under the circumstances was to form a Town Board for the township of Wallingford only. Some of those present were of opinion that another effort ought to be made to include Arowhenua in it, but after due consideration it was decided that to do so would be to run the risk

of being again defeated by another petition, and that it was better to allow the people of that portion of the town to have their own way for the present. Every man present was anxious to amalgamate the two townships into one, and expressed their willingness to agree to that if the people of Arowhenua got up and signed a petition to that effect. It is therefore still open to the Arowhenua people to be included in the proposed Town Board district if they desire it. There is no desire to cut them off—they have been eliminated through fear that if they were included they would do exactly what they did before, that is, destroy the thing altogether. And what are the advantages of a Town Board ? Simply these : That the town can be drained and improved without levying any rates. Now hero are the sources of revenue:— Five hotel licenses... ... ... £2OO Courthouse fees 100 Two auctioneers’licenses... ... 80 Dog taxes ... 50 Wholesale licenses 20

Total £450 Common sense will tell anyone that very little, it any, rates will be necessary when there is such a large revenue from fees. We ask the people of Terauka is it not better to keep that sum to improve and beautify the town, without having to pay rates, than let it go to the County Council, and have Is in the £ rates to pay to the Road Board, without getting anything done for us. The town is in a disgraceful state for want of drainage. Here now is an opportunity of having it efficiently drained with the money the County Council has been receiving. This is a matter in which every householder is interested, and therefore we hope that no one will refuse to sign the petition when it is taken round.

MR BLAIR, M.1.C.E., ON NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRIES.

Tne resources of New Zealand, its present position, and its future industrial significance, has been, and is at present, occupying the attention of many of our thinking men. Papers are being read, lectures are being delivered, and pamphlets are being printed, dealing with the probable producing capabilities ot New Zealand as a whole, and of various localities in particular. We have such expositions of the subject—chiefly local however—as Mr Buchan on The Minerals of Utago, Mr Scandutt on Southland and its resources, Sir Dillon Bell on Australasian Finance and the General health of the Colonies, not to speak of the amount of thought drawn forth by

the different journals in different industrial centres. Another pamphlet has been added to the literature on this subject ; we refer to Mr Blair’s speech in Dunedin the other evening, on New Zealand Industries. His address was an excellent one, and has been printed for circulation. It bears evidence to a great deal of pains-taking research and careful thought and study on the part of ' the author. It was delivered on the occasion of the inauguration of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Association, a society lately founded in Dunedin. The pamphlet itself is admirably got up, and in style, printing, correctness, and readableness is far above the average of that class of literature. The printing is done in fine clear large type, the book itself is carefully and concisely written. Mr Blair deals with his subject in some sixty-two pages of matter, and then adds four useful appendices for references ; the first one is headed, Classified Imports and Exports from 1853 to 1882 ; the seconded is headed, Abstracts of Imports and Exports from 1853 to 1882 ; the third, a colored diagram, represents Trnde and Interchange, the fluctuations of import and export trade being depicted in lines running up and down a scale, graduated according to the money value of the trade of all the various years ; and the fourth, another neatly executed colored diagram,’represents the Trade and Interchange between New Zealand and Foreign Countries, other British possessions, New South Wales, and Victoria. These diagrams add greatly to the value of the work, since they are at the same time, easily understood, pleasant to study, and information required is readily gleaned from them. Before delivering his lecture Mr Blair, we understand, presented to the Chamber of Commerce a copy of these diagrams on a large scale, and beautifully executed. The contents of the pamphlet are both interesting and instructive, the various phases of the subject are dealt with separately, the figures are worked up lucidly and concisely, and more than all, the conclusions Mr Blair draws from his facts and figures are highly satisfactory. For the information of those who may not be able to obtain the work and for future reference, we propose to give a resume of its contents.

Mr Blair classified hia subject under these headings:—First, Industrial History and Present Position ; second, Eesources ; and third, Future Prospects. The past industrial history is divided into four epochs, the Maori Wars ; the pastoral age folowing ; next the gold fever ; and lastly the agricultural, pastoral, and manufacturing age at present existing. The lecturer then proceeded to discuss the indigenous exports, pastoral exports, agricultural exports, gold mining, Home trade, and present position. Under indigenous exports he makes mention of kauri timber, phormium, whale oil, kauri gum, and .fungus. .Kauri timber he shows to 'have been one of the first materials exported, and the precursor of all the timber trade. It was used for spars, by the Navy. The trade in this article seems to have undergone several large fluctuations. At one time the exports valued about £35,000 a few years later £114,000, a few years later still between one and two thousand pounds. Nelson and Wellington seem to have been the chief exporting provinces. Under the trade in phormium, or native flax, the lecturer remarked that the greatest export was in the year 1873, when the hemp sent out to the colony was valued at £143,799. Since then the exports appear to have ranged (with increasing value as time went by) from about £BOOO to £42,000. The number of hands employed in this manufacture is set down at 400. The exportation of kauri gum has undergone much fluctuation. “ These fluctuations are probably due in a great measure,” says Mr Blair, “to the effect that gum digging, like rabbiting, is what may be termed a ‘ vagabond industry,’ to be taken up when everything else fails, or when times are hard and other work fails.” In 1882 the value of exports of the gum was £260,369, Fungus is next briefly spoken of. This is a species that grows on trees in the North Island. It is exported chiefly to China. There appears to be some different opinions as to the use it is put to there. Mr Blair first understood that it was used as a tonic medicine, also as food mixed with verraicilli and bean curd. Mr Lew Hoy informs him that it is used as a dye, but other information states that it is used in soup ! We would not for a moment presume to encroach on the laws of domestic economy, or the regulations re soup making, but there is really a something about it that is indescribably funny. However, perhaps that is due to our own ignorance of cuisine. Under the next heading of Pastoral Exports, the lecturer deals with wool, tallow, hides, sheepskins, meats and dairy produce. In 1853 the wool exported amounted to £66.508, “ and it is curious to observe that of this amount only £goo was credited to Otago and nothing whatever to Canterbury, The northern districts of the Middle Island and south-eastern districts of the North Island produced the great bulk of the wool in the early days. But the position was soon reversed ; for in 1861 the two southern provinces exported two-thirds of the total for the colony, and the proportion remains much the same to this day.” In calculating the exports of wool, and the progress made in wool growing, Mr Blair points out a very important fact, that taking the mere value of the exports will not give a correct gauge to the

amount exported, since the price wool fluctuates, and a small fluctuatio a per lb produces such large discrepancies when calculated on the whole exportation. The export of wool appears to have been a very steady increase, except in the years 1878 and 1879. In 1853 1,071,3401 bs were exported ; in 1882 65,322,7041b5, to this add 2,150,0G01bs used in our factories, which brings the total grown in 1882 to nearly 67i millions pounds. The export of tallow has been on the increase, though doubtless the consumption at Home in the, manufacture of soap and candles affects the amount exported. The establishment of meat factories was due to the low price attainable for beef here ; immigration brought consumers, and the exportation fell greatly ; the value of exported meats has ranged between £22,000 and £74,200. The most fluctuating trade in the colony, Mr Blair remarks, is the export of ordinary cured meats and dairy produce. “ Although it has been in existence for upwards of twenty years, it is not yet upon a permanent basis. . . . The establishment of the butter and cheese factories now commencing in various parts of the colony will undoubtedly put the industry on a more satisfactory footing.” The lecturer then proceeded to compare results in various years from Agricultural Exports. There appears to have been one great fluctuation in the exportation of wheat. Ibis was due to the rush to the New Zealand goldfields. From 1853 to 1655 the value of wheat exported rose from £6,163 to £67,765. In 1861 when the great rush took place the trade suddenly fell, and at last reached almost nil in 1865. Two years later the trade revived and has gone on, with one exception, steadily increasing, till it has reached its present figure, £856,029. New Zealand very quickly acquired the power of making its own bread. In 1867 we imported considerably more than we exported, and in 1882 £839,297 was exported, exceeding that which we imported. Mr Blair calculates that after supplying our own wants there remains 33 shillings worth of wheat for each individual to send “ to the hungry of other lands.’ Of oats, the lecturer said its history was somewhat similar to that of wheat, and that practically there is no trade with the Old Country.

We will finish this resumS on this subject in a future article, since it is a subject well worth the study of our readers, highly interesting to those who may not be directly engaged in industrial pursuits, and a necessary part of the knowledge of those who are.