PUBLIC MEETING.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3200, 22 May 1879, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

THE WATER SUi'PLt'^QIJESTIO^.

A number of burgesses of the South Ward assembled,at the, Oddfellows' Hall last evening'to hear the views of their members in the Borough Council re the Water Supply, more particularly with reference to the .9-inch mains; which have arrived in Auckland, but, owing to the itiipecuniosity of the! O6mmittee7 have not yet been laid. Considerable interest wr.s evidently taken in this matter as, besides two:of<the; members for the f ward—rCrs Crs Speight and Hjansen—His Worship the Mayor and Cr McGowan werp amongst those present. ; On the motion of Mr H. Driver Dr Kilgour was voted to the Chair, and in;augurated the proceedings by reading the advertisement calling, the meeting.. The Chairman "said many present knew* the history of the Water Supply as well as lie did, but forthe purpose of 'informing , those who, did not, and refreshing the memories of those ,did,,.he would commence by giving "a "little information. It would "Be" remembered that Mr Superintendent Gillies had given the Supply to the Borough, but subsequently an agitation was raised by the Highway Boards— Parawai, '■ J£auaeranga, and Waiotabi-^ claiming a share in the management, and, foolishly ?he thought, this had been conceded by the Borough, as it gave the management of the Supply to a body of directors less fitted to

manage it than the Borough Council. He believed it would have been managed better if the Borough had had the full control, and the Supply would not have been in debt. The Committee, with a laudable desire to give a plentiful supply of water to the residents of Shortland, ordered the 9-inch mains, which, when they were obtained, could not be utilised, as the Committee had not the money to pay for them. He must admit the Committee were in a very unfortunate position, and he supposed one of the objects of the meeting was to see if there was any means of getting over the pecuniary difficulty. To.do this he saw only two ways: (1.) The handing over of the Supply to the Borough, which had the power to borrow and strike a water rate, and thereby get over the present pecuniary difficulties. (2.) Getting a; bill passed through Parliament granting power to the Committee to levy a rate.: Those were the only ways to get but of the ■_ difficulty, 1 »nd, for himself, he was free to confess that he would liketb*see the Borough in full: charge of the Water Supply, and thought the best solution of the difficulty was the handing'over of the Supply to the Borough. (Hear, ..hear.) He could not suggest any plan that could be followed to utilise the new mains, as the Committee was in a perfect-, monetary deadlock. : Mr Speight could give them a more detailed account of the Supply. , , Mr Driver explained, the causes which led to the calling of the meeting. The Shortland people thought the large mains should be laid down, and. resolved to agi? tate and get public opinion to b^ear on'ttfe matter./ ' 'Mr Speight said thought he Was!pleasSd at meeting them he much regretted the subject that called them together, as the difficulty could be easily got over. ' Hfe .could [. not conceive how men could, hold -their tongues when they saw thip!' best j interests of the place, sacrificed to"pertyi jealousy and spleen. The water supply: difficulty, was a matter of tradition to i members of the Council, and he was sure! that when he had explained the course adopted by the Committee, they would see the,only solution ofrthe difficulty wasthat referred to by-the Chairman. The whole difficulty first arose: from- the: cotfstitutioiiiof the Committee; Thejßoroughi had five members, and each of the three j Highway [Board one member, the Borough thus having the prapticiai control of the! management, though they were restricted! | by the Act, under which- he saw- no way j out of the .difficulty. It had been a great] mistakcever allowing,the Highway Boards] to have a say in the management. This) was the condition of the Supply, and when ,they heard it they must ,admijt JLf^^as^a ; m9st. unwholesome' one i-^-" Bank-: 'over-j: draft, guaranteed by Borough'ana County I over Borough and Parawai, £2,106 7s'. 63 ;j County £702 2s 4d; Small acpounts'ofi every description, £305 16s 8d ;tfDieben-| tures* falling due 7th ■ August, 1852,j £2,000; Coupons to fall due every 3. nionths to August, 1882, £600 ;f McCaul's; j account for 9-inch mains, £1508; Expense! -of laying Be aid 9 abbut, £500; Wages rind; salaries to 3 une, 1879; £100f I total,! £7,822 6s 6d."r-They must: understand! that these guarantees by the 'local ;b6d?es; partook(bf something of the character of a bill^the Committee r xould npii get'credit andthe.Boirough. and C6ti!ntyj went guarantee to the'extent of £3000; Thenibanks came down on ..them for it, and they had to pay it; r but,"of course, it was a ..debt, against the Com■taitteei.f Against the -liability! the assets were : "Balance of rates due, £50. The' financial year ended on the 30th.bf; June,j and the amounts to. be received and paid up to that year were :-7-CoupQns due May. ( 7th, 1879, £40» wages and salaries ,£1QO,;; MeCaul's pipes, £1508; accounts; due, £305 16s 8d;; laying pip^s in, I*oll^n street, £500; balance of rates due, £56; making a -total ipi ' ,£2503,165 A 8d.,,. Thisf wasjanything, but) an,.wholesome state of affairs.. McCaul had a judgment against the Committee, and Morrin had power to appoint a receiver and collect:the water) rates; though the amount of the rate was; Kyi Ithe srofilri:mittee, who might charge Is per annum] to ijTShguld "fi^w paying £1. They should not take advanvantage of this however, .but if they could; not meat their liabilities, they should itake (hew creditors and? the [pßibitio into! their confidence, and. see wHat steps' could be devised: Without egotism! he could say he had always taken an! active interest in the affairs of the] Supply, and the Council had given it con-j siderable attention. At one of the meetings a resolution was carried by thevotes of. the-Borough members against those of the County members, asking, the! Borough to take the control of the Sup-1 ply, and purchase from the County their interest in it. To this the Coun|y as|ed,j *^Why did not the Committee/mate*'the| siine offer to the County ? " He had told a* gentleman at that time, in ieply to that; question : "We don't mean the Countyj to have it, as it was never meant to have: it, and could not get"a titlel to it.".-rile iookod;upon it as farce to jwk. thg C6unty to take it over when they did not intend to let?them.?^;itt\the Munjcipß.l|4.ct the Borough had a right to strike" aerate for: water, which was ona; of the 4reftspns> the' Supply should be handed over to thejn.; The County could not strike. $ rate ; neither could the Committee!:^^."wnich de-i rived its ffrpni using the - water. Honestly ? speaking, he believed that if the County as a whole spoke iti mind, the' Supply would be handed over to-morrow, as they could see it was becoming awhitejelephantto^themj and how"causing a'growing"in'debte^hessi He had proposed that the, Supply, be leased to the Borough at a'notf inklrectali but, that waa. combatted; on the^g"ound that there was no provision in the Act to allow it. The AtCorhey-Gerieral gave it as his opinion that, the ,=Supply could not. be . leased, \ The inpome, for the year IS7B-9 had-been^79l Bs'4d;' bf which £649 4s 6d came from the Borough; JE93.13s from.Parawai, whose ..interest.jbas been purchased by the Borough, £31 .IDs from Eauaeranga, and from the Waio;tahi 'the sum of nili ?'He thought • these facts shquld be. ; known; Waiotahi. had their water free. He did not object to free watcH but let them have.itall around "alike.,. If the Borough* took over the supply itwwass s intended to strike a general rate of 3d in the 0, and reduce the eh argo to those 1 taking!| the 1 : watei*' to one-half/ whereby consumers now paying £1 per annum would pnly pay 14s. At present one-third of the Borough residents were paying for,the crpwcLV li was intended to charge the out-distric.s a 'similar rate. The last: tliiri^ he wished to draw, attention ,to T was the .at-; tempt to draw a red-herring across tße| sceni-^-the offer to purchaise both races^ He woul4 strenuously, oppose the mixing of the two matters. The Borough had been promised water from the County Race fa case of drought. Writers in the

Press had asked why did the Committee order the pipes when they had not the money to pay for them? but they must know the circumstances under which the pipes were ordered. A bill was going through the House which would give the Committee power to borrow at the time the pipes were ordered, and they had expected this bill to became law. It had, however, been defeated by their friend Daniel Pollen in the Dpper House. The Borough had one stroke yet to try, but it would not be well to speak about it pt present. He might state that Parawai b«i handed'over their interest to the Borough. ' ¥ "Mr Grigg asked if the new^ mains would reach to Shortiand. r Mr Speight said the mains would connect Hogg's corner, Parawai, with theStari Office^corner in Albert: street. It was intended to move the present 4-inch mains in Pollen street to Itollegtoil street.- r ,„. V .l v " '...' : ..!'. J.::'''",'. ...., ' Mr Hansen endorsed all Mr Speight'• remarks, and said it was unnecessary for him to speak. <t?j.aIn *eply to Mr Hume Mr; Speight said the County had given an Irishman's answer to the qiiestion^of.'the -Council r r£j the disposal of the: County's interest to the Borough. tasked if the" Oonntyrhad been asked to gire a further guarantee. Mr Speight said therquestion~iradnot been put. He did not think the Sank would accept a further guarantee. ,Mr Driver said Mr Ehrenfried woulc^ harev^been Ip>eksent o&ad',^idtif[in)^p|ta|it business called him to Auckland. Mr Wilkes- ,said ,- if ■ j the, pounty had sought to sell their interest, they were seeking to make a profit out of it which was contrary to the act. (I The Mayor, on being: called to speak, said he. had intended\W attend 1 thi meeting only-asia.ratepayer of^the South Ward. If the County would'agree to tiio Committee's proposals an Act would require to be passed before the Supply could b> ; ihanded^-overj/tp the JBorough. Mr William itowe 'principally had been the means of rating powers not toeing! given} to;f the? CommUtee^ the speaker was in WellingtoVhe argued the matter w,ith ; Mr r Eowe; who then and there asserted that the granting of rating powarj'jfco the Committee .was not .thj wish of the majority of the people of the 'THftme»io-J(A voice :n Itcsaved hisjates.) He did not know whether there was a perionalfeasori or not. (Laughter.) ; He* as Chairman of the Committee, had asked Mr Brodie if tie" Comrity-Jwduldf^Vd another guarantee, „ .but he replied that' vtm' ir County l would go no further.^The County had a race of their own, arid what more did they want? -He might soy the Borough Council was.fully of,one mind inthinkng the Borough should. <have! the control for the' Supply, ahditheji* was no necessity of making ; an offer Jo the County when they ,did not intend them "to have it. 5' (Hear, Wear!) The Borpugh wai determined to get it, and he (Would' strongly oppose* a'Concessipn to the County,\or ; any-other bodx. .jjjjg. w^s sanguine that good results .would accrue from the meeting of thje 3 oin't t^ommityee from Borough and County. He asserteiHhejre was no other wayjiof getting ott^pjT^ difficulty except by the Borough a»sum'injg supreme tonii'ol.. He urged them tinueiagitatirigi. '.„«. w^x v Sr'.' r '^Z* 'Mr Eenshaw hoped some one .would move, a resolution afirming the desirability of striking a water rate. Hc-^o(lL;,u^i) ■ Mr McGowan, in ;a brief speech as* serted that the whole three bodies interested in,the Supply »hould. have been astedrfqr- .an, oKer< p--.'^;, 'f'.;' """A /jf a v /Pnv.the/. (moyipny^-of!'," JMCip r.3[^ii|h)iir, seconded by Mrpouglas^ it*waFr^itilvwl l"-tbat this meeting approT.es, of the efforts of the Borough Council I'to obtain the -proprietorship of ihe supply.. „ A vo^e of thanLs to Mr Speight and the other members of the Council was then pa(sed. '""' "" ' • ', fJ" o. Mr Eeashaw moved a resolution* totne effect that the ' Borough Council be to guarante? the'r projorlion pf s the price ofr; the pipes,^ flit, on .the suggestion of Mr Speight he withdrew it i C! di m , : ,'\ Mr Wrfkeg Mr Wcad seconded—" That should no arrangement ba „'come(to between the bodies,-a public meeting of the ratepayers beci^lid to strengiihen the, iands of the Bpr.ough members^, ..ipjirriedv. jt^»vO^, J;lfi Or- " A-v.ote of thanks* to. the! chairniaii con* eluded, the.'bn^ne.ss^:;',!:,;;^!;:'^ 1'; -