CORRESPONDENCE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2662, 22 May 1894, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

A COUNTY COUNCIL V. ROAD BOARD.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —The annual meeting of ratepayers of Geraldiue was hold ou May Ist, and published iu your paper on May 3rd, when I stated in detail that if formed into a county £1303 will bo retained in the district which now goes to Timaru. At the annual meeting of ratepayers iu the Mount Peel Road Board office ou May 4th I read out the same figures. Mr W. E. Barker at this meeting (vide the Geraldine Guardian of May Bth) stated that Mr Tripp’s supposed economy iv is ou paper aud nut real. I was so thunderstruck at Mr Barker’s remarks that I thought I had made a mistake; so I put myself into communication with Mr Stubbs, of the Geraldine County Council office iu Timaru, aud got certain figures ; also the annual balance-sheet of the Geraldine County Council and the published expenditure and receipts of the Geraldine County Council, as published in the Timaru Herald of April 13th, and also information from the Mackenzie County Council. I found that my figures wore not an exaggeration, but that 1 had understated the advautaye we should derive by £133. We shall, therefore, bo n gainer by £1436. I read out my corrected figures qt the meeting of rat .'payors in uu Mtyy 9th, published in your paper on May 13th, and gave anyone an opportunity of d -ph : b>g iny figures. No ono produced any figures in opposition to uiino, and I contend therefore that until tho Tate-, p ivors arc shown otherwise that I am e ,n\xt. 1 wrote to Mr Barker qu the loth, and stated 1 thought it Wfta only

just and right that after reading my figures given in your paper on the 12th he should write a le ter to your paper and say he was sorry for having used those words, “my supposed economy was on paper and not real.” Mr Barker’s reply on the 13th was, “ A public man should not be so thin-skinned.” He goes on to say, “ I never for a moment intended to traverse the correctness of your figures, else there would be no leap in the dark in the matter. I meant “it is easy for such statement of figures to run right on paper, but to work out very difficult in practice.” This extract is published with Mr Barber’s consent. As the petition is now going round the Mount Peel and Geraldine road districts to unite the two road boards into one county (as Mr Flatman has suggested), I only think it right that the ratepayers should all know that I consider that by forming the two road boards into one county we shall retain in the district the sum of £1436 which we are sending away to Timaru, and what rate we are obliged to strike will be spent amongst ourselves in our district.—l am, etc., C. G. Tripp. Orari Gorge, W oodbury, 19th May, 1894.