Thames County Council.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2566, 28 March 1877, Page 2

Thames County Council.

The usual monthly meeting of the Thames County Council was held to-day in the Council Chambers. There vrere present—Cjrs Brodie (Chairman), JS,pencer, Thorburn, Bagnall, Coutts, Thorp, and C. P. Mitchell. MINUTES. _ . r The" minutes of the last meeting^ "were read over and confirmed. COBEESPONDENci:. I" Copies of letters sent and received since the last meeting were read 'over. They were of a very voluminous character. ASSISTANCE TO THE CEMETERIES. The assistance of the County Council was requested towards putting in order the road to the Shortland Cemetery. It was stated by the Hon. Secretary of the Thames Cemetery Committee (Mr F. C. Dean) that the estimated cost was £200, and asked that a contribution of £40 to £50 be made by the County Council. , Cr Spencer spoke of the unsuitablcness ' of the present site of the cemetery. Cr Bagnall thought the .grant ought to be made, as the present road was in a most disgraceful condition. Cr Mitchell agreed with Cr Spencer that the present cemetery .ywas.- .badly, situated, but he supported Cr'Bagnall in his wish to assist in the repairing of the road, as the scenes that occurred there owing tQ the badness of the road were sometimes very painful. Cr Bagnall then moved that the matter be referred to the' Board of Public Works, with power to take such action in the matter as they might deem necessary. The motion was seconded by Cr Mitchell and carried. PETITIONS. A petition wns presented by Cr Bagnall on behalf of battery managers and woodcutters, requesting that the Xaraka tramway beTepaired. . , :,"-<' The petition was'ordered.to be received" and taken into consideration ' with the Public' Works report.; / *:.*." , , , Cr Thorburn presented a petition .-from the shareholders in the. Perseverance claim, Tapu, asking for repairs to the road near their claim.

This was ordered to be received and taken into consideration with the report of the Board of Public Works, -y- "';; • i Cr Mitchell read a petition from < share-. > holders in the j^ut claim,' aakitfg :for ,an extension of .the, roadjn .tUQirjQ s cality p . Dealt "with as the preceding petitions. Cr Mitchell also presented a^petition from Messrs Tookey, Williams, Whit-' ford, and Calder, asking for leave to mine on the foreshore between Holdship'a Wharf and the Kuranui Hotel, having a depth seaward of 40 chains.

It was decided that'the Council had no power to deal with the petition, but to refer it to the Eesident Minister in Auckland, with a recommendation that it be '\-"l i-^ •' EEPORTS. Ck. Mjilcfreil laid, before the Council the "'report-of.~the Coal Committee, with a' sample C^ifi© Ohinemuri coal. ' The re--the sample should /.be scjenbificaUy tested. The"rep9jfiwas adopted. The itirefim report of the Pumping Arrangements was read :—

INTEBIM. itE?OBT No. 4 OF PUMPING Abhan&embnts Committee. Your Committee have the honor to report that on the 14th inst. they, met *Mr Warwick" Weston to consider "certain proposals to be made by that gentleman having reference to the prospecting of the 650 feet level of the United Pumping Association shaft. After considerable discussion'the following memo, was handed to Mr Weston for approval by the directors of the companies he represented :— ," That the County abate "from the mortgage debt the amount of monies expended by the companies in prospecting between the- 40f> feet and CSO feet levels to the extent of £ ', and that 10s per cent, on the oetprofits accruing to the companies, to be calculated up to the end of" each twelve months, be paid in further reduction of the mortgage debt." By letter dated Ihe 16th March these proposals were rejected, and the counter proposals made by the directors of the United Pumping Association are such as your Committee cannot recommend to your favorable consideration. The letter received from the Secretary of the Colonial Treasury, dated 13th March, in answer to your application of data 23rd February, for the sum of £2866 odaptp be refunded to the County; and presumed to have been received by the Government as drainage contributions, although dealing in general terms with the subject", contains, nevertheless, a statement in the first paragraph which your Committee considered could be dealt with more satisfactorily in a- personal interview with the Hon. Mr Whitaker, the Attorney-General. Your Chairman and Councillor Bagnall accordingly waited on that gentleman-in Auckland,- and after hearing his' explanations Messrs Whitaker and Eusgcll v were instructed^to prepare'the deed, as'required by the Govern-

rnent,*. „ - . " Pending satisfactory arrangements for tbe payments of monies on account of pumping operations it became necessary for your Committee to authorise your Treasurer to pay the sum of £152 12s 9d for fortnight's wages, as advised by Mr 'Tothill per telegram of date 21st March, in order to prevent the stoppage of the Pumps. , /. ' ' •, - 's Your Chairman and "Councillor Bagnall interviewed the manager -of the Bank of New Zealand to mate arrangements for itho monthly shipments,of gold at dates most convenient to the Council for receipt of the gold duty* payable, jto the United Pumping Association. That gentleman acquiesced in the proposal,, and .promised ;to make the shipments in all cases except on.tho3e occasions ,when a loss would be sustained by the Bank by doing so. A statement .of advances in aid of works on the Thamfes Goldfield has been received from the'Cblonial Treasury'showing payments made from 18th April, 1874, 'to February 28th, 1877, both inclusive^ of ',£50,000/ and the "items of interest and sinking -fund paid by the Province of Auckland amounting to £4,404 17s- 2d. Op. examining this account your Committee observe that £262 9s 7d have been charged ~aah~sccount of interest' for the , month of Februarys 1877, and as the Coanty became, liable. &om the Ist of that 'month for the maintenance of the Pumps the charge'so made is an jerror of which the Treasury has been notified. . Yout-sCommittee have also that the Caledonian and Golden Crown 1' G.M.Cos, although being -worked, have not contributed ,to the cost of jumping, and jire of .opinion some-steps ,s£*ould be taken to enforce contributions frto all gold mining companies to the extern"-^o£ the-benefit* they severally derive. In tbe" accounts forwarded by the. Secretary of the United Pumping Association it will be seen the deductions allowed for steam. supplied from the pumping engine boilers to the" company's battery isVpuf down at £3 7s 6d. This return "is "stated, "-deduct on account of iteam for battery,'whole force employed, averaging H days, I|' tons of coal per day — 2\ y tons, „ 305." On . .the' score pf "economy your committee recommend this supply should be cut off. It has alsp occurred "to them that proposals for working - the Pumping- Association pumps-by contract may .be entertained. In the" event of this being agreed upon, and tenders called for, parties'"can be found .willing to undertake the workv and it is.quite possible .the cost would-thereby be reduced. ; On the 26th inst. your Committee met by -appointment' the members '-of'the' Borough Council to confer with that body upon matter connected 'mth the Pump, and the distribution of the~gold revenue and'duty, whenihe following, resolutions" were agreed upon —as the basis of division:— ' ." -':f *-"'.' : ■" , 1. That as to gold duty - derived from . ■ • mines on the'" Borough boundary line - to be divided between County and' ' Borough for each mine in the, pro- ' "' portion that the area of the portion t of the mine in the Borough bears to t , tbe area of the portion of the mine • in the County. 2. G.old duty from unknown sources shall be divided between the County and artd'the'Bor'ough inthesame propor- ; tion as gold duty from known [' sources. 3. That the goldfields revenue be divided ) between the Borough and County in the same proportion as the gold duty is divided.- { .. ■ 4. That the* returns given by the Thames Advertiser in their monthly summary be taken as pointing out the , i amount of gold derived from each , • mine subject to clause one. Alexander Bbodie, - .. Chairman.

' ■ ' r ' > .vuiiiiuiaUi 1 hanies, March 27th, 1877. The report was carried.' , ; Cr Bagnall thought that all the mines which had not contributed should , be mentioned as Well as the Caledonian and 'Qolden Crown. .... ; ! The Chairman said the other companies A were ~ not working \ the = proper -course would be to make them work, through the. Mining,, Inspector, and .afterwards. piake them pay. ... , .■• .<■>■■;:•: t i 'Cr Thorburn thought thp wprds ! " though at work " ought to be added. ; Cr Bagnall thought that no especial names of mines should be singled out.

He had no objection to mentioning names j if all the names were mentioned.

Cr Mitchell did not think, the matter of much, consequence, at the same time he thought that the mines able to contribute should be made to do so ; and then mines that would not man their ground should be made to forfeit it.

The Chairman said that all that was wanted was authority from the Council to enforce contributions from those mines that were being benefited. It was agreed that the words " although being worked " should be added, and the report was adopted ; and it was resolved that copies of those portions of the report referring to the working of the Pump and contributions from the mines be sent to the directors of the United Pumping Association.

The portion of the i*eporfc referring to the division of the gold duty was referred to the Financial Committee. Mr Bagnall proposed tbat the Financial Committee be empowered to make such arrangements as may be considered necessary in the matter of payment of the accounts of the Pumping Association. Cr Mitchell seconded the motion, and pointed out how necessary it was that immediate steps be taken in the matter. ■ The motion was carried. • INTEBIM BEPOBT OB 1 THE PPBLIC WOBKS J3OAUD. :. The report of the Public Works Board i was then read and received. The Council then adjourned until. 2 p.m. - ' . , On Ihe Council re-assembling the report of the Public Works Committee was considered. * SUSPENSION OF BTANDIN& OBDEBS. On the motion of Cr Thorburn the standing orders were.suspended to receive a petition from ratepayers in Tapu, regarding the state of the track from Tararu to Tapu. The petition pointed out that the present road was only fit for footpassengers, and that it was necessary that ■ a road suitable for traffic should be formed. . ■ . • Messrs Taylor and McCormick were heard in support of the petition, and expressed themselves willing to assist in forming a dray track.: ; Cr Thorburn said .that many of the residents-were very anxious to have a dray road, and would, he thought, help in its formation. . -„. - . .•• > The Chairman said that at present two horsemen could not pass each other on the track. Ife suggested tbat the ques-" tion be referred to the Board of Works, and that the deputation should ascertain how much their fellow- residents would contribute. A motion to this effect proposed by Cr Tborburn seconded by Gr Mitchell was carried. . • The deputation thanked the Council and withdrew. -.. . \ The discussion on the report was resumed. . ■ . ; .".

Regarding the Karaka tramway it was resolved that-the Board of Works be instructed to take such "steps as will place the tramway in a fit state for traffic. The recommendation that the Waiotahi tramway be dismantled, and a good roadway formed in its stead was adopted. The recommendation regarding the extension of the Tinker's Gully tramway, viz., that sleigh tracks should be made to the head of tho tramway, if payable gold was struck was adopted. -,'..- ---[Left Sitting.]