SPARKS FROM MR GREENVILLE'S ANVIL.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4249, 14 August 1882, Page 3

SPARKS FROM MR GREENVILLE'S ANVIL.

(To the Editor of the Evening Star.) Sir,—l was very much amused on reading your report of the last meeting of the Thames County Council to see how liberal Mr Brodie wished to be with the County funds (or rather, I should say, the funds of the Bank, as I see by the report that the Council has overdrawn their account £7;633). How easy it is for a local body to vote £200 for work not carried out, and which the contractor, according to Councillor Fraser's statement, does not mean to carry out. How different to tlie—-treatment which other contractors receive at their hands. And so Mr Brodie has usurped the functions of the Council by replying" to the Government circular—himself! Another hole and-corner affair. Fancy the modest recommendation—Warden and Mining Inspector and Receiver of Goldfields .Revenue managed by the Couscil as now constituted. I was just thinking—what justice would be given to any poor miner /who. happened to have a case in the Warden's Court if he had been one of those who took upon themselves to object to travel nine miles to Otanui when it can be done in three P Picture to yourself Mr Brodie on the bench as Warden, with ftthe Tommy shopman on his right, and the */jfuvenile Councillor who seconds all the " "ridiculous propositions on the left. Would it. not be an honor for a profes- . sional gentleman to plead a case before three such unselfish and conscientious men? Then again, Mr Brodie is on the ...Waste Lands Board, won't his friends in .the Council have jolly times of it ; why, they will soon become great land owners, and got their farms drained for them at the public expense, and so the Council has on the motion of Cr Bagnall, seconded by Cr Deeble, decided to call for tenders for a road up tbe Sauaeranga Valley to the Otauui. ■ There are two clauses they should put in the ' specifications. First. That the con* tractor employ Mr Dod's sledge to oojvey people up the Valley, or lives will be lost in the sea of mud, and secondly, they had,belter stipulate for convict labor to do the work on Mr BngnaH's principle, as I do not think the Otanui investors will stand quietly by see their money thrown away for the purpose of impro?ing property. Otanui is as I predicted a payable goldfield, and I am glad to see so many of our leading business men taking an interest in the district, and investing their capital. I believe I am correct in stating that over £300 has already been pMd into the Warden's Office for licensed holdings, which all goes into the empty coffers of the County Council, and yet they. are doing their best to strangle the field in its infancy. While on this subject I would ask our little shilling Councillor to take a walk up the Hape Creek, and see if he cannot get something done to that portion of the road between where the Billy-goat track commences. He has had two~thirds of the money spent in the. riding since his election expended for his special benefit between the City of Adelaide claim and his battery, and I think he might now have a. look at other parts. There will be no travelling expenses allowed, so there will be no fear of another case of sea sickness like that which happened in the coacti from Ohinemuri. And when he is np there perhaps he will tell us why he allowed three large heaps of metal to be carted,off the Hape road to Parawai: I, for. one, would like to know has that metal belonged to the Kauaeranga Biding. I would likewise recommend him to move, or Ret someone to do it for him, at tbe next meeting of the Council, that the Chairman's salary be reduced to the same amount as his own rates, viz., £1 per annum. We cannot afford to pay £150 besides £860 interest on overdraft. In conclusion, I am requested on behalf of the Otanuilminers to thank the Thames Press for their fair and impartial reports given of Otanui Goldfield.—lam,&c, W. S.Gbeenville.