THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT YOUR FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THUBSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3510, 25 March 1880, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT YOUR FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THUBSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

The persistency with which the editor of the Advertiser refers to the doings of the late Mayor, and always in an unfavourable light must make it apparent to his readers that personal malice, not concern for the public, instigates him. Fortunately for j the individual referred to so unkindly i such personal attacks fall harmlessly, but, when the editor, misunderstanding his J position, allows his perional feelings to cause him in gratifying them to mislead his readers, however limited they are, we feel compelled to refer to hit remarks and in the interests of all concerned to show their uhtruthfulness, and the miserable, contemptible childishness of the writer. In his leading article to-day if he had ended it where he offers advice to the Borough and County to meet and settle their differences he would hare done well, would have shown a little common sense so seldom displayed by him, and might have led his readers to believe that there yet was a glimmering ray of mind and reason left. The astute County Chairman who the editor says was too much for the late Mayor, had nothing whatever to do with obtaining the concessions to the Borough. That gentleman denied the right of the municipality to any water from the large race, and does so to this day, under the agreement made between the Government and his Council /on the 2nd of December, 1878, and in a legal point of view is justified in his opinion. It was only when the Mayor had succeeded in getting, the Government to agree to let the Borough have a supply of water asked for in the following letter sent to Sir George Grey on the 27th February, that the Chairman, on behalf of the County, interested himself :— i Chambers, Thames, ! ;>"■:• 27th;February, 1879. , . BIS,-~The extract from the agreement under which the Government intead'to hand over the Big Race to the County Council, Thames, Ireceired by your directions from the Under-Secretary for Goldfields, and from, it I perceive the intention of Government is not to hand over the Waikiki Creek to the County along with the other streams of this j district. The Domestio Water Supply of this j Borough is as you are aware obtained solely from that creek and with any increase in the population of the Borough the Bupply would not be suffioient for their requirements; in fact', during the present draught it ia barely suffioient for our present want*. Under such circumstances I would respectfully submit that the inhabitants of the Borough have a claim to an interest in the larger Bace, seeing that the means of augmenting their; own supply if they desired to do so is not within their reach, all available streams'for such purposes have been taken from them. ' In addition, the inhabitants of the Borough aa ratepayers are entitled to prefer a claim to an interest in works such aa the Bace under question, . constructed out of the common purse, particularly as the whole income from the race "will be derived from the pocket* of the inhabitants of the Borough, every battery and industry using tn« .water with but two exceptions beiDg situated within the limits of the municipality. -, It may. not, I trust, be foreign^ to the matter in band to direct your attention to a , speeoh made on the Thames by Mr Whitaker, then a member of the late Government, as showing the intentions and objects of his i Government j when the promise was given to the Thames County Council that the Water Bace and Big Pump Securities would be j granted as endewmenta. (Newspaper report of speech attached, which states that these endowments were granted/ to the County under the supposition that the Borough would be absorbed into the County.) The absorption .of the Borough by the County, bo much wished and sought to be accomplished by that Govern* ment, was so objectionable to the whole burgesses that it was not accomplished, nor is there the slightest proapeot of such a state of affairs ever coming to pass. ;In taking the liberty of laying the above facts before you, I do so with the intention of praying, on behalf of Borough interests, that y.oii will be pleased to cause the olaims of this Borough to an interest in tlie larger Bace to be admitted and provision mads before any proclamation is issued, handing the tame to the County that water to augment the domestic supply shall be granted by the County whan required in times of drought, ond for fire extinguishing purposes, free of cost to the inhaitbants of the Borough.

The supply of water in the Big race is ample for the calls likely to be made upon it for years, and the whole streams of this district being granted the County, places it within the power of the holders of ib to supplement tha Domestic Supply when required. I should state that water from the large race is at present supplying a mas inch main recently laid down in tbe streets of the Borough for fire purposes,"(thii main cost the-residents over biz hunded pounds), and from this main the Domestic Supply could he easily augmented in times of need, and it is with the object of haying that pririledge granted by proclamation that I'ask your attention to the subject. .;'".. '. Pardon me for trespassing upon your tirn* to such an extent as I do in th a communication, but the importance of this matter to ; your constituents and the good grounds we hare in justice and equity to consideration must be my excuse. I hare the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, W.McOxriJLOuaH, Mayor. Sir George Grey, E. 0.8.; Wellington. The above shows exactly the grounds upoa which the requests were made, and' if any persons are to blame, the preriqus Mayor and his councillors are the mdi-; riduals, for allowing such an agreement :as the one referred to between Mr Wakefield, Under Secretary of Goldfields, acting on-behalf of the Government,' to be made with the County Council. Tb« rerjr memorandum quoted by our contemporary sets out that " whereas by an agreement dated the Sad day of December, 1878, between Oliver WtVefield, Under-Secretary for Goldfields, of the one part, and Alexander Brodiet Chairman of the Thames County Council of the other part, the property known as the Thames Water Eace was transferred to "the Thames County Council, subject to the approval of the Government; and whereas ifc js intended,

to give effect to such agreement by the | issue of a Proclamation under certain conditions hereinafter mentioned," and here follow the concessions obtained for which the Government were com- j pelled to give the County Council as compensation the sum of £2500. The law officers of the Crown gave it as their opinion that the agreement made by Mr Wakefield was binding on the. Government, and Mr Brodie was well aware of j that fact, for only when he found {the Government were determined to give the Borough water, did he agree to discuss any arrangement,' and then on condition of heavy compensation being given. Tne agreement carried with it, notwithstanding the construction placed upon it by our misleading contemporary, that all the motive power then supplied by the Borough, or rather the Domestic Water Supply Committee, in addition to the right to supply shipping was secured to the Council. More than this, was asking too much from the County Council, who had a right, as owners of the race and compelled to keep it in repair, to expect some revenue from it. The right of the County to the race is beside the question ; they had it under the agreemet entered into by Mr Wakefield, and were determined to keep it. Instead of the Borough getting the worst of the bargain they got the best of it in our opinion ; they secured water sufficient for all domestic wants, to supply shipping and a certain amount for motive power, from both of which they would derive a benefit, and at the same time were not responsible for a share of the cost of maintaining eleven miles of a race. In addition to this the Government paid the County £1000—th!e sum the Borough offered that body—• for its interest in the Domestic Supply, in fact a gift of that amount of money to the munici-' pality and a settlement of a very vexed question. Still our truthful contemporary says a very bad bargain was made on behalf of the Borough, whereas that body in fact got at the expense of the Government rights they had no lega.l claim to, no matter what their claims might be in equity. Possession meant to the County more than nine, points, and had it not been for the success attending the efforts of the Borough delegate and the goodwill of the Government the Borough today would have to pay the County for every gallon of water it required from the large race. The Borough would have been in actual possession of the supply under the above agreement had it not been for the change of Ministry, and now the only obstacle is the introduction of some new features by both sides—the Borough wanting more rights than they have already secured to them, and the County desiring if possible to curtail these rights. The complexion now fput upon this matter is quite different from that which the editor of the Advertiser desires feis readers to accept. By a careful withholding of some facts, and false deductions from those stated the warped mind of the\.e;ditor displays itself, and untrue to the instincts be should possess as a journalist, .he abuses the understanding of his readers. We will on another occasion refer to other statements made by our contem-" porary. ■