COUNTY SUSPENSION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1467, 27 August 1883, Page 2

COUNTY SUSPENSION.

Mlbeting at Tenui.

The meeting convened by Mr Mackay : ; to consider the suspension of the Coin-, ties"4s was held;in the Public Hall: on Tuesday afternoon. About forty influential ratepayers were present and the meeting might .be termed a fairly representative one. . Mr R. Langdon, J. P;, mi voted to the chair, and, after reading the notice' calling the meeting, asked that each speaker should receive a patient' hearing' ■(■•:'.' ' •:'.'.' Mr Mackay said—My objeotin calling this meeting is to place before you the position of County government in ordefr that you may judge of its fitness for your requirements. The necessity for this is that an agitation has commenced and petitions are in corn-Be of signature, with the object of suspending the Counties Act in Wairarapa East, and I ask you to ■ dispassionately weigh' all' the surroundings of the question beforp signing any petition. •'•Most of yoii'.l presume are cognizant'of what took place at the meeting held in Maaterton last week—fl, meeting, I l'egret.tosay, called on so short a notice that those, in this locality woro unable to attend. I do not say that the meeting was cabled so designedly, but when large .public, interests are concerned such 'notice" should be given as would,ensure, the., meeting being a widely.representative : one, My views respecting abolition, are known to most of you. I a'm not' in favor of it. The present «yste» of dual government' may not be perfect, or as economical as it might be, but I object to pull down the old .house before the new one is built. No one has shown clearly what is'to ■take, the place of the county system in the interval that must elapse between now : and the time when legislation will give Road Boards enlarged powers—for without increased powers the Road Boards are not competent to carry out the functions of County Councils, Abolish the existing Council and you have one formed of the chairmen' of local bodies—a Council literally with 7 out power, And if it had power wouldit be a more desirable executive body 1 I for one doubt it, Recently the Wairarapa Star published a number of opinions from Road' Boards respecting the suspension of the Counties Aot. What is the verdict ? Give the Boards larger powers. But the question then arises will Parliament alter to whole of the legislation of local government throughout the colony to give these powers, and if so, when? In the meantime .what will ensue?-confusion and delay in extending grants to build our much required bridges and metal our roads. lam not going to assert that Road Boards cannot with extended powers perform the work of the county, but my loaning is towards the county, system, not the road board, I now come to the necessity for, a ■ County • government.- Parliament by recent legislation points this,out, and has drawn a most marked ; distinction'/ between the duties of Councils and" Road Boards, The former having the 1 control and construction of the' main or arterial lines of road, and tho latter the local-or district lines, j difference between these .two classes iof roads should be apparent to",everyoii,o, Tho; main roads are those in which the majority of residents in the County have a "community" of interest, as, for instance, the Forty-Mile Road and the Masterton-Waimnta Road, The dis-; trict lines being those which lead from one, two, or more homesteads to the main lines, and in which only a' few' individuals have an interest and use. To conserve the interests of the. general public in the main lines, it is essential that their control should'be in the hands of a body representing a large area.: such a body, is the County Council, to whom., the ■■ Government have'given the superintendence. Road Boards representing small areas are not tit bodies to do this work, being more prone to take narrow or purely local views. So wide is the distinction betweon the two descriptions of road that the Government give-as a free grant to the main lines three-fourths of the whole cost of construction oiiit of tho general revenue: while to $.6 district lines money is only lent, the whole to be repaid by instalments extending over fifteen years, Gentlemen, instead of abolishing the County system we should endoavor to give it on: larged for instance, to, administer numbers of the Apts which are now worked in anything but a satisfactory manner by the central authorities in Wellington. There is continual outcry agaiu'st government by Under-Secretaries and heads of Departments, and yet we are .asked to destroy the only local body that can come between us and that system. The Council being a body representing a large area, must of necessity have far more weight and influence with, the Government than a Board; representing a small district. at the . past what has been the tendency of Road Boards but to split.up into small

sections, and thereby have less and less influonce? I ask you to take the broad liberal view of this question, and' not be led away by your own little local wants and requirements, and induced, to abolish a' body that k doing good work in making roads to your markets and ports; a body, moreover, that is opening up the waste lands .of 'the Crown, which; when populated,will add to your wealth, and the pros-' perity of the centres of population. If our main road ' heire ; w'Mf vttieikiled. the. farmers of Opaki and Te Ore Ore would reap.'. some ganv; W»B' require flour, potatoes, quantities of corn, for rabbit poisoning, and other farm prbduce,''and why not purchase from them 1 Simply because there is an ,l impassable road," and we are compelled to get such' produce, perhaps from Canterbury by sea. Yet these sottlers: are taking the initial step to jeopardize the metalling, and formation' of lines of communication, and.an outlet ;fdr some of tjieir productions. ' If thi?- Boropgli* "of '■ Mastertonis to advance to.bevone'of the largest inland and its adjacent settlers' bscome-,wealthy, something more than "bush tracks" will be re-, quired to.open the back country.' The town cannot, do without the ■.cOuntry,v nor the country without 'the sooner we recognise the.>fact;iind

join hand in hand to get good roads the better. ..The: prime cause of this agitation -is that the County,. Council 'has ihippaed(a:rate of half-penny in the reason for this, and'-'noYalternative. Subsidies .direct •from the.'Government have ceased. Certain liabilities had to be met and liquidated: Buch.as the interest on the County; 10an,,, which, was. expended to benefit almost the whole area of the Comity!K Another' reason was, that If 'we wished "to 'take advantage of j.tjje Roads and Bridges jOoMfeuctibn-ict, it, was necessary <to find one Quarter of the money to secure the three' quarters from the Geveniment for the construction of the wain roads, Had the Council I failed to take advantage of this Act,' they would have ! been open to grave censure. The. sum secured by the Council is in round numbers £9300,' a sum certainly small as compared with our requirements, but still, worth having, and this we are enabled'to get by taxing you to the extent of. £235 per annum, What would be our position in this particular Biding without a County rate] 'The Road Board by putting on the maximum rate allowed .by' law of |d in the £ would obtain ii revenue of some £I3OO, a Bum ; quite i inadequate for our wants, and which, [.would bo' absorbed in the- maintenance 'of our mtuni; lift'cß,' the district ones b.eiijg. left out:ju;the cold for' want' oT funics,:. With the dual rate amounting 3d\l'dih ; the£, we have barelysufficierit funds, there-being a deficiency of £l6O which I will explain later on. Remarks'have been made that rates collected in the Masterton -Riding will be.spont in making roads in other localities. This is utterly, false, each Riding will receive its fair share and no more, We in Castlepoint if anything, fare worst for the amount raised, £lO5, will riot'suffice' foe bur requirements, by the amount of £165 previously referred to. On the other hand .the. Masterton Riding has a .creditbalancoof £273 over and above 'its estimated requirements, this sum, with a portion of credit balances from, the Alfredton and Wainuioru Ridings ■will be paid over to the Masterton Road Board, to be expended upon lines of roads leading, to the lands of ratepayers who are hot benefited by the main lines, and if the Masterton Board makes a just allocation of this money, its settlers will have no reasonable cause for complaint. One charge brought against the bounty Council is that the working, oxpenses are excessive, and to prove this I regret to say a uumber of misleading statements have been published. ' The actual cost is £1790, and it must be borne in mind that the Council will be recouped a portion of this expenditure from the West County and the Cashpoint Road Board, both of which bodies.employ the engineering staff.' All Government grants will also bear a portion of this .outlay, so that the actual expenditure out'of rates, will not be more; than" £3OO, or ten per'cent. But'when dealing: with this question it must' not 'Wforgotten that the County has and; , twiHfhaVe large sums of money to m : perid, amounting in the aggregate ttf from £20,000 to £25,000, this revenue"' accruing from grants under the Roads .arid:--Bridges Construction Act, yoies "for opening up Crown Lands,' per Rentage from land, sales, rates, and license fees, .in fact it will-be found that the actual working expenses of the Eaßt County do not exceed seven percent, on the' outlay,'which is not excessive, and will compare favorably rwith: the cost of work done by any • -other'local body. The cost of advertising is something considerable, especially under thrhicensing Act, which charge has to be,borne by the County. It may be thought that the engineer and clerk receive high remuneration for their services; but considering the amount of work done they are not overpaid, From my own knowledge lean testify;that Mr King worked night and day to get estimates prepared for works under .the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, and so well was the work performed that the Public Works Department complimented him for the satisfactory manner in which it was done. .': Mr Moore is doing his "work in a highly satisfactory manner, and the increase to his salary was given on account of tho extra duties he had to perform and also on account of his appointment, to the ;office of collector. There is an impression abroad that if the Counties Act is suspended at once, tlie .rate will lapse aud settlers will get off paying it. , This is a complete fallacy, and I think the rumor has been 'coined.with the object of gotting ratepayers who do not understand the position of affairs to. sign the petition for abolition. Council or no Council, the rate must be paid iiow that it is levied., If by abolishing the County we could also abolish our liabilities, I: could see some tangible reason for this agitation, but'we cannot. No matter what .local body survives,'; these .'liabilities met, and unless- we wish for. i' ever'to goin'the mud, rates must-be levied; and paid. There is.no alterna-'; tivd. ;.'lf the requisite number of signatures— three-fifths —is obtained • favpring abolition, the grave question then arises,, will the; Road Board take over the County liabilities? As a member of a Road Board I am not prepared to do so, arid' unless' the Boards will agree there may be some ■ difficulty in obtaining abolition, I| ; cafth'bWhink -that; the Governor in the j ■ 'faoe', of recent/legislation distinctly • defining the powers and duties'of the County Councils and Hoad Boards will asisitt to the prayer of the petition, and; ' l'fiß not imperative- upon him to do so, the I ;.belieye it iij straining the ; intention of Parliament to abolish the County: system at a time when the whole County is laboring under a want, of roads. It might >be politic to. do so when all the main linos of road aro . formed and metalled, but until then, I ' cannot but think it unwise to Hake suoh a course, The County.has a ' great deal of ...work before it, and I trust nothing will ocour; to hinder that work, Instead of seeking to destroy,. let settlers unite and endeavor to make the Council a truly representative and ' popular institution, able to deal with ; the, oponing lip and settlement of the ' : largeand>rioh areas'of Crown Lands , within its-jurisdiction, and theadminis-

tration of the numbers of Acts intimately affecting,; our local interest, If the dual form of Government is not (satisfactory, by all means let us by calm and deliberate thought endeavor to evolve some better and more workable'system. I believe a form of local Government can be devised, by which am body can perform all requisite functions, but it will have to be formed on broader lines than the present Rdad boards. .! Mr' Hawkins at Masterton advocated the formation of a County Settlers Association, and I believe such a body would-be very useful, if only to watch the course of legislation in Parliament. We are apt to cry out after bad measures have been passed,'instead of before they become law, trying to perfectthem. The permissive legislation that is forced upon us by Parliament and of which the Counties Act is a type, I consider a mistake;- If. Parliament is worth anything and our members their honorarium they should pass measures with some degree of finality, not ones that can be buffetted about and rendered imperative by the caprice of some small and discontented faction of the Community, The valuation under the Property Tax is, the shoe that pinohes us most in ' the country districts, for we get little in return for, that:, while the ".valuations are biirig made more arid more on the unearned increment; Gentlemen, I. thank', you for the attention you have accor--. dedmefaridl do hope you will give this question of abolition very careful attention before signing.any petition favoring it. If I have not made myself understood, I shall be glad to answer any questions that I can. Mr James Maunsell moved—That the settlers in this district view with alarm and disapprobation the abolition of the Wairarapa.East County Council, and ,urge upon the Road Board and County Council to resist it with all legitimate means, for thoy feel that in suspending the operations of the Council this district will Buffer a severe loss, as the Road Boards, as at present constituted, are unable to exercise the functions of the Council, or deal with the large expenditure in so satisfactory a niannor as the Council is capable of doing," He had few remarks to make on the subject, after what had fallen from .the previous speaker, whose views' he endorsed. ,He failed to see how the Road Board could curry out the work of the Council,, and 'the latter body had his sympathy and support, Mr James Langdon (a member of the Casfclepoint Road Board) se:onded the motion without comment. Mr. R, Meredith moved the following amendment:—That the County system be suspended. He said the whole question was confined in a nut shell, and that there, was no suchthing as abolition. All that was suggested wasto.suspend and alter the County system. ; The Counties Act he considered': a most perfect piece of legislation,:for it enabled them' to do without.a county if they'.denre'd it.' Mr Mackay'B arguments were a -shampdlbollaw. ■ The'fchree-fourths in aid df:nlain-.lin'e9 r w a delusion,..for the, •fotepaye'r's pail the taxe) from, which it was derived/themselves ,in the first place, The money spent by the Coun" oil could be more advantageously expended by the Boards,, and..the, Boards had done their duty in the pas', and would continuo to do so He objected to the; County rate as levied generally over., the district. Some portions would.not benefit by it, and rates would be spent for the benefit of a small number, and in making roads to Cj'own -Lands, (A voice: No! no!) The main roads' were an illustration, being made to suit a few ratepayers only, Taxes were getting burdensome, and there were too many of them. They were taxed, for railways, and derived no benefit from them. The Road Boards-were the only bodies which gave a fair value for the rates' collected.

Mr J. Groves, jun,,. was in fayor of county govornment as the only means of getting good roads. We had suffered long enough with bad means of communicotion, and we should be unwise in throwing away tho chance of £3 for £\ which the Government offered. He would not mind paying even higher rates if we could get metalled roads,

Mr Mackay agreed with Mr Meredith that we did in the first place pay the three-fourths to be given in aid of main roads through general taxation; but.if we failed to raise the £1 we .should not get anything back, and the money would be spent at Taranaki, 01 ago, or elsewhere, and we obtain nothing at all, and still have to travel in tho mud. The district had lost some thousauds of pounds years ago, and he hoped there would not be a repetition.

Mr Hogg seconded the amendment, and said his visit to the district was for the object of seeing jf:the ratepayers were, as reported, j to.-.-him, entirely in the hands of the" County representatives'. - He had bcefr'told so coming along, and he wished to see for himself. Mr Mackay had placarded and billed the district, and both the i placards and the''notice calling the meeting, and the resolution, had placed the question on a false issue. Jt was proposed to suspend, not toabolish; the County Act; If the petition's/were, carried, there would still bo a'Council' composed of Chairmen of Road .Boards,', who would moet annually, orasocca sion required, and the. large expenditure incurred saved by having only one set of officers. He disputed Mr Mackay's figures wlativo to the cost of county government, and said that the amount was £2OOO more per;annum. Deny it who could. The principle of local government was that those who raised should apend. •-VJRoad Boards werO'the best bodies to do this, and the fear that they would be' broken up into small sections was groundless,, and nothing in it. There was too much of the "you scratch' me, and I'll scratch you," about the Council'- members, (Laughter), -'There was nothing biit logrolling andaxo grinding, and the; settlers were, taxed to make; main .roads to'benefit : a few; "The special rates should have, heen • collected. The ratepayers had novof Leen consult&d about the inaio Eketahuna Itaejtwhich was- five sailes i longer than it havje' been;' ■ ■ Jfo

objected to the 'ratepayers beidig. deceived..—Wf.Maofoijf; Hear I HeaH)—The County System was far. too costly, The accounts were passed' in a lump sum, and there.were no getting at the items: no other local body does such a thing, >tie agreed with Mr Maekay that tho County staff was hard worked, but only made roads on _ paper—^(lau^hter)—which would not 'be fornfed for- &' hundred years,r-(A-Toice: : Nol No!) The •Roads and- Bridges/ Construction Act was a dolusipn; thisf -year there were applicants for qver, ( :£2,ooo,ooo, and only £200,000 to meet these claims. He was surprised that Mr Maekay should state that he would not agree as a member of the 'Cashpoint Board to take over the County liabilities and hold the dual position of Councillor and Road Board member.-(Mr Maekay: Hear! Hear!)—He could not seeliow members could refuse to take overliabilities they had contracted'as Councillors. However, it was immaterial, for if the local bodies did not agree the Governor could adjust the. matter. There should be no ill feeling between settlers hore and Masterton: their interests were the same,

.Mr Mackay.rose.in explanation. The " main roads" had been forced pn%e ; Council by Parliament; and there w&V/ no alternative but to take them. .Council had nothing Mo with placing them on the schedule.: .' _ ,Mr W. H, joeth.ams said he would' ■ like to makei.a few 'remarks. People ' objected to be taxed, and the present movement had' .been got up because ratepayers had been asked to put their hands in their pockets.. The meeting in Mastorton had been called in great haste and he believed people voted .without consideration, and some imagined if they abolished the County at once they would got rid of the rates. He hoped settlers here had more senßO than to sign the petitions. He believed in a strong .local government which .could manage all their affairs, but feared they would' not have the chance; of trying the experiment. Road Boards were very well to do minor works, but when it came to large bridges it required a man of great skill and knowledge. He might inform them that he had served an apprenticeship with an engineer, and had worked with him for some.years, His name was " Sailor," .an old blue pack bullock.—(Laughter).—So long as he travelled along the hill sides Sailor was a splendid road took good grades, but-when" it." clime to a deep Hver'his engineering skill was at an end. He could not build a bridge.— (Laughter),—A good Council might he. formed out of Road Board chairman, but he deprecated doing things hurriedly.' . He defended the main ■ lines of' road,' and did not agree with. Mr Hogg, that they were paper roads, and would' not be made for a hundred years. Great-changes wore mauifesfrin the last-' few years in this district with- regard,tor<Hids; and he mlny years the' rn'iiip lines would bo made, The County was the only body able to open'up tho : Puketei country, and it had a great work before it. Mr-King was not to. blame for the location :$. the Manga"p'akeharoad, he only earned out instructions. He objected to a statement , made by Mr Hogg at Mastorton, that the member fortfie district would hang down his head with shame over these main lines; His brother (Mr G. Beefcham) had nothing to bo ashamed of in the matter, and had worked for the benefit of the community. !■ •, Mr Hogg.said 'he recollected what he stated at • Mastorton, and Mr Beethain was laboring under a mistake, ; he referred to inombera generally, not to tho morobor for Wairarapa North especially. Tho chairman then read tho ainendi ment, , > Mr Jatoes .Langdon objectod to Mr i' Hogg seconding it, he not being a ratepayer. • ' .\' Mr Thos. Hitehings, a ratepayer in ! tho Waimiioru Riding, then seconded ; it. ;; :• The amendment was then put and.'' . > lo§t. Mve voting for it, two of whom "' | were ratepayers in another Riding. '".-. Tho motion was carried by a large : majority; three Road Board members ■ voting for it. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated one of the most interesting meetings held here for many years.