WAIKATO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 264, 26 March 1898, Page 2

WAIKATO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Tiik ordinary meeting of the Waikato County Council was held at the County Council Chambers, Hamilton Eas", at 2.30 p.m. yesterday. There were present : Crs. Primrose (chairman), A MeRae, A. Furze, J. P. Bailey, W. H Thomas, Jno. Gordon and S. T. Seddon. Government Grants —The Survey Department applied for returns of woiks done out of Government grants siucc last March. -The Chairman stated that the Council were not fortunate enough to have any grants to spend. UNiMTRovt'D Valt:ks.—Mr Robert Lindsay wrote, enclosiug a resolution passed by a meetir.g held at Whaugamarino, asking the Council to delegate to the Whangamarino Road Board power to take a poll to detcrmiuc whether the Rating on Unimproved Valued Act shall be adopted in the riding.—The Cleik reported that he had replied that no such power as asked for was given in the Act to Road Boards where the Counties Act is in operation. Roll.—The Value-'-Ceneral sent the roll, and the Clerk reported that he had requested copies of same for the various ridings and separate rolls for Road Board?.

Road Stopping. The Kiiikiriroa Road Board forwarded particulars of the step 3 taken by the and ratepayers in connection with closing a road between Sections 227 and 237, parish of Kirikiriroa, and asking the Council to confirm the same, which was done on the motion of Cr. Furze, seconded by Cr. Seddon.

Sledges.—The Clerk reported that he had heard that someone was using sledges on the roads near Rangiriri, and he had written to Mr A. Scott, caretaker of the bridges in that district, asking him to warn the delinquent of the penalty he was liable to for his act.— Mr Scott replied that he himself was the offender and he could take the caution to himself.

Waipa Bkidoe.—The Chairman gave particulars of the steps which had teen successfully taken in connection with opposing the attempt to matte the County a contributing body towards the erection and maintenance of the biidge across the Waipa River at Ngaruawania (and as already reported in these columns) The act'cn was approved. Salary.—The following letter was read from Cr. Mcßae, dated 17th March :—" I beg to give notice tha f . I will move at the meeting of the Council, to be held on 25th of March, 1898, that the motion of Mr Seddon's appointing the clerk at the salary of one hundred and twenty pounds sterling a year be rescinded."—The Clerk stated that he had received the letter at 5 p.m. on 18th March and he could not then give any of the members the requisite notice and he had not taken any steps. Cr. Seddon said he was sorry a motion such as this should not be brought up when a full Boird was present. Mr Gordon, one of the largest ratepayers of th«s county, would not be able to attend at next meeting.—Cr. Bailey : This is not Mr Moßae's fault.—Cr. Seddon : It is. I have heard this question discussed three mouths ago, and it should be brought up when every member is present.—Cr. Bailey : If it has come to this that it is illegal for a member to bring forward a motion unless all the members are present, wc had better all walk out —Cr. Seddon :It i 3 qu'te legal; but it is not fair. So large a ratepayer as Mr Gordon should be considered.—The matter then dropped.—Before the proceedings closed Cr. Mcßae said that as Cr. Gordon was now present he would say i few words as to his intentions, as he did not like the remarks made by Mr Seddon. He then read his proposed motion as given above, and eaid he had no animosity towards the clerk, bub he was simply voicing the opinions of the ratepayers in his part of the county, with bub one or two exceptions, and he had no doubt they were the opinions of many in other parts also. If his motion were carried, he then intended moving that the salary be reduced to £Bo.—Cr. Gordon said he had not heard of the proposal before, and of course had not gone into the question. He had, however, a fair knowledge of salaries, and he often found that the highest paid men were not always the dearest, and a man in a responsible position such as the Clerk of the County, should be well paid. The question of salary should not be so much considered as getting a man of integrity. They could possibly get a man to do the clerical work for £2O or £3O, but they would want a very big guarantee with him, and would never ftel safe. His dearest men were often the cheapest, "»nd the cheapest the dearest, and he thought the Council would do well to consider this in discussing the matter. —The Chairman thanked Cr. Mcßae for giving Cr. Gordon an opportunity of expressing his opinion on this matter.—Cr. Bailey explained to Cr. Gordon that Cr. Seddon had said that Cr. Mcßae was bringing this forward when he (Cr, Gordon) was going to be away. —Cr. Seddon said that he did not mean that Cr. Mcßie did so intentionally, but if he were going to bring forward such a motion he would like to see a full meeting present.—Cr. Mcßae said he had no knowledge that Cr. Gordon would be away when he sent his motion forward, and he would not take a mean advantage of any man.— The Clerk said that if they would allow him to say a few words the matter might be settled right off. He knew what he had to do and did not consider that he was over paid, and he thought it harsh to propose to reduce him by £4O just when there was a new roll to compile, but Cr. Mcßae had the voting power at his back, and he would have to submit as he was too old now to change his occupation. If they wou'd make the re duction £2O he would accept it and resign on the spot, and he could be re-ap-pointed at the lower salary at once. His salary was on'y 10 p«r cent, on the income of the Council, and considering the responsibility that rested on him and the work he had to do, he did not consider he was overpaid.-Cr. Thomas suggested that the clerk should resign at once and be re-appointed at the £BO, but the latter declined, saying he would accept the inevitable only when it could not be avoided.—Cr. Biiley considered £BO was quite sufficient for the work done Bridge Repairs.—lt was decided to carry out certain repairs on the Hoeke Bridge near Newstead, which, being over 30ft. in length, was a county bridge —The Chairman and Cr. Furze were empowered to open and duil with the tenders,—A ir'cott reported that about 20 planks were required for the Onetea Biidge, and he suggested getting kauri, as the rimu cut in the district is too small.—lt was decided to order about 40 planks, so as to have some in hand.

Swing Bridge.—Cr. Mcßae said that he had made enquiries among the ratepayers interested in this matter, aud they were of opinion that as the new line of road had been opened from Ohincwai it could he held over until fresh representations arc made from the settlers on the Churchill fide.—lt was decided to act on Cr. Moßae's tcptrfc. Model Farm Fence.—Cr. Seddon reported that the contractor, W. Chubb, had finished the erection of the fence between the Model Farm Reserve and Mr Coatee' in an excellent manner. AIMENOK.—Mr Jno. Gordon, who is leaving for tho Old Country, applied for leave of absence until his return from Scotland, and on the motion of Cr. Furze, seconded by Cr. Bailey, the same was grantor] unanimously, and the chairman wished Cr. Gordon a pleasant trip and a safe return.

Payments.—The following accounts were pissed for payment:—Devore and Cooper, £l7 5s 4d ; court costs, £'l 18s ; travelling expeuses, £1 7s ; L. Sutton, 12s 6d ; T. \V. Maunder, £l4 8s Bd. Hospital Contribution. The Chairman reported that the allocation from

tho Hospital Board was £417 10*, an increase of £B3 10s from last year, and the amount was all due on 14th April, but the Hospital Board was willing, as before to take it in instalments.—Cr. Gordon said that there seemed to be no lniit to the ho pital charges. No matter how able a man was to pay, all he was charged was 4s a day, imd he thought those who were able to pay an ordinary doctor's tee should do so, as otherwise they were accepting charitable aid.—Cr. Furze said that therein lies the faidt in the system, as the people, no matter in what a position they may be, had no compunctions at receiving charitable aid. If a man was manly he could, in additiou to his fees, make a donation to the hospital equal to the cost of a doctor's services. He had brought the question of a sliding scale up at the Board, but had been sat udod. He knew cases where men had gone into the hospital solely to get out of paying the doctor's charges.