WAIKATO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 294, 28 May 1898, Page 2

WAIKATO COUNTY COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting of the Waikato Council Council was held at the Council Chambers, Hamilton East, yesterday afternoon. There were present :—Crs. A. Primrose (chairman), S. T. Secldon, A. Furze, A. Moßae, W. H. Thomas and J. P. Bailey. Subsidy. Lengthy correspondence win read regarding the Council's application for subsidy, due at 31st March, in which the Commissioner of Taxes informed the Council that the subsidy would not be forthcoming until after June 30th.

Slaughtering Fees. Mr H. Fitzgerald, slaughtering inspector, reported that, he had applied to Mr C. W. Arnold, of Cambridge, for license fees ; but he had refused to pay, stating that they were paid to the Cambridge Borough Council. Mr Arnold had pro duced his receipt.—Mr Fitzgerald said his reading at the Act was that the Borough Council had no power to issue a license without the permission of the County Council.—The Clerk said this was a very old question, which had come before the Council years ago.—The Council considered that though it was lega'ly entitled to the fees, the sum involved was so small that it was not worth bothering about, and agreed to let the matter drop. Bridge Caretaker. —The Council re-, solved to increase the salary of Mr A. Scott, of Rangiriri, caretaker of several bridges, from £1 10s to £2 10s per annum.

Clerk's Salary.—ln accordance with notice of motion given at last met ting by Cr. Moßae, that the motion brought forward by Cr. Scddon, appointing the clerk at a salary of £l2O a year, be rose nd. ■ He said it was not a pleasant task, but he considered it his duty. He did not think he was in any way severe on the clerk, because when the income of the Council is contrasted with that of other bodies, the salary paid the clerk certainly seemed exoessive. He based his remarks on the following figures : Waikato County Council: Revenue, £llßs 17s 4d ; clerk's salary, £120; Piako County Council : Revenue, £3246 17s 6d ; clerk's salary, £l5O. Waipa County Council: Revenue, £I4OO ; clerk's salary, £BS. Waitoa Road Board : Revenue, £IOBB lis 9d ; clerk's salary, £4O ; Kirikiriroa Road Board: Revenue, £764 9s ; clerk's salary, £3O Tamahere Road Board : Revenue, £295 16s 3d ; clerk's salary, £ls. Cambridge Road Board : Revenue, £412 10s Id ; clerk's salary, £2O Mangere Road Board : Revenue, £1505 3s 2d ; clerk and treasurer, £so. The Clerk : The salary of the Clerk of the Waipa County Council is £9O, not £Bs.—Cr. Thomas : I think the Clerk should leave the room while the matter is being discussed.—The Clerk : Are you afraid I shall hear what you have got to say ?—Cr. Thomas : No ; I am not afraid of you or any other man,—Cr. Mcßae continued : Looking at these figures, I have no hesitation whatever in moving that the Clerk's salary be reduced to £Bo.—The Chairman : There is time enough for that ; at present we are dealing with the rescinding of a motion. —Cr. Bailey : I have the honour of representing the Council on the Waikato Hospital Board, and also of being chairman of the Huntly Road Board. The clerk's of these Boards do not take part in the discussions, and I do not like the clerk to make nasty remarks across the table. —The Clerk: Did I make a nasty remark ?—Cr. Bailey : Yes you did, to Cr. Thomas.—The Chairman : Do not argue across the table.—Cr. Bailey : I will sir ; I claim the right to speak without being interrupted by the clerk.—The Clerk: Why, I am old enough to be your father.—Cr. Bailey: You are ; and by this time you should have learned courtesy and politeness. It is unpleasant to have to rescind the motion, but according to the facts aud figures we are paying more thau any other local body in the whole of the district and I will second the motion. I hope it will be carried so that wo may deal with the question of salary, No doubt when the clerk's appointment was made the Council was in a better position, and there is no doubt that wages have gone down since then.—Cr. Seddon : The only reason for reducing the salary is that the clerk has been relieved of some of his duties. —The Chairman : Capt. McPherson has been clerk ever since the commencement in 1876 or 77 -21 years. There is no member who knows more of him than I do, and 1 have always found him attentive to bis duties in every particular. The work had been reduced, but very little imleed. lhe Council's income is small simply because we have been striking a very small rate. Yet a farthing rate takes the same amount of work to collect as a larger one ; but the larger rate would make all the difference in the world in the figures. The Council was the lightest rated body in the Waikato. On being put the motion was carried unanimously.— Cr. Mcßae : I agree with all die remarks passed regarding the abilities of the. clerk. I do not doubt his efficiency. I move that he be appointed at a salary of £BO a-year. —Cr. Thomas: I second the motion —Cr. Bailey : I shall support the motion, as I consider £BO per annum sufficient. I do not believe in paying the e'erk a small salary ; but I think £BO is ample and compares favourably with the salaries of other clerks.—Cr. Seddon : I propose, as an amendment, that Captain McPherson be appointed clerk at a s ilary of £IOO. It is true that the clerk has rather less clerical work to do than formerly ; but the responsibility is exactly the same, and he is one of the most capable, conscientious and zealous public servants in New Zealand. More than that, he has had a veiy large experience, and for the term of 20 years has been clerk of the Council. He does all his work in a most efficient manner, and I am not aware of a single instauce where the Council has suffered injury or loss through him hy carelessness or neglect. Cr. Furze : I represent the Tamihere district, and knowing that this question was coming 00 I took the ratepayers of that riding into my confidence, and they advised me to vote for a salary ranging from £9O to £IOO a year. If the minimum salary had been fixed at £SO, I should have supported that; but in deference to the wishes of the ratepayers I represent, I will second Cr. Seddon's amendment. —Cr. Thomas : If Mr Furze's ratepayers were willing to give the clerk £IOO, they should pay the extra money, and not the Rangiriri and Wairangi ratepayers. — Cr. Bailey : The ability of the cleik has never been questioned—there is no feef ing of this sort, but we think he is getting too much salary.—On the amendment being put, the voting resulted as follows ;-For: Crs. Seddou, Furze, and Primrose. Against : Crs. Mcßae, Bailey and Thomas. —The Chairman : 1 shall give my casting vote in favour of the amendment, on two grounds. One is that I am perfectly satisfied that £IOO is not too much for the clerk, and the other is that I know that had our other member, who is on his way to England, been here to day, he would have gone for the £IOO, and I would not have been called upon to give my casting vote.— Iu reference to this subject Mr F. J. Johnson, of Wairangi, an ex member, wrote contradicting the statement made by Cr. Mcßae at last meeting that with oue. or two exceptions all the ratepayers in his district were in favour of reducing the salary of the clerk. There had, he said, been no meeting held in the district to discuss the question, as staged by Mr Mcßae. He was sorry to see that Cr. Mcßae was about to make an attempt to degrade the clerk by reducing his salary, and was quite sure he had no idea of the arduous nature of the duties performed by the clerk. Rate. The Council expressed its intention to strike a rate of Jd in the £. Piledeiveb.—ln order that the county piledriver might be properly looked after

and kept in repair, the Council rosolved to offer Mr Thos. Slade the Bum ot £1 ayear to net as caretaker. Slaughtering License.—The Clerk was instructed to issue a slaughtering license to Mr P. Bolton, of Huntly, as soon as the necessary time had elapsed.

Finance.—The Clerk read the Wowing statement of the riding balances up to date:—Whangamarino, dr., £39 12s 10(1 ; Huntly, cr., £54 3s ; Kirikiriroa. dr., £l2 2* 3d ; Tamaherc, cr., £32 Os lid ; Cambridge, cr., £142 4s 6d ; Model Farm, dr., £228 10a 2d. Accounts. The following accounts were passed for payment:—T. lVnnell, £2 10s ; VV. Miller, £1 9s ; A. .Scott, £1 4s 9s ; Win. Chubb. £8 (is 5d ; Kauri Tint-, ber Company, £ls 4s lOd ; H. H. Wortbiugton, £1 ; H. Fitzgerald, £5 lis 6(1 ; Clerk's salary, £lO ; travelling expenses, £3 ; fun Waikato Akgus, £1 16s.