WAIRARAPA EAST COUNTY COUNCIL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1634, 14 March 1884, Page 2

WAIRARAPA EAST COUNTY COUNCIL.

The ordinary ninthly meeting of the [ above'Cbuiicil ; was ' held yesterday . afternoon, Presenters McGregor \ (Chairman), B.eetlmni, Meredith, Chamberlain and Mackay. The minutes of the previous meeting 1 were read and confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE. ITroni Or Belliss who was unable , through illness,to attend the meeting, ■ From the Treasury advising retnitI tance of £l5O on account of MastertonWaimata road. From John McKenzie objecting ; to- his property being: in,i eluded in .'the..Upper Taueru Koad District. From .the Masterton Road [ Board stating, that/they, would relini quish tho portion of the Masterton- [ Waimata road under their control, on , the 15th inst From the Public Works Office re debentures under i Roads and Bridges Construction Act. , From Mr Coleman Phillips asking if Mr King, the engineer; could undertake private ■ work.—--The Chairman said he had expressed an opinion that, the services of the engineer might be granted if paid for in the usual way. From Treasury enclosing £456 0s lid rates on Crown lands. From the Chief Surveyor "asking . that the Dreyer's Rock -road contract be diminished by ten chains, pending a further survey. From R, S. Hawkins correcting an entry: in tho'. rate book. From Property Tax Commissioner re rates on : Native Lauds for the current year.— Tho Chairman stated tliat the former proclamation was contrary to the spirit of the Act, and exception being taken, theGovernmenthadagreed to pay them. From J; A. Perry re pile driving at Manawa bridge. From Town Clerk of Caversham urging the necessity of endowments of Waste . Lands'foiv.-hospitals and charitable should vote! against, anything of the sort." Front R. S: ffawkins asking leave to ; cut. willowy at Ruamahanga bridge, and .offering to buy the old Manawatu ferry rope ; also offering to lend a horse-and cart to the Council if it would do certain gravelling. He was afraidj he',wrote, that he must ask the Council to .provide corn and chaff, as ''he- had none at Bowlands. From 1 Mr Cpleuian. Phillips accepting thojerms on which tho engineer's services were available-.From the Castlepoint Road-Board; stating that the Board would relinquish control ot the main.road on the Hth inst. From the Treasury advising remittance of £842 for the maintenance of the Forty-Mile bush road. ,: From the Masterton Road Board'askirig if the Ceunty Vcre taking over the Akitip and Aohanga Ferries. From Property Tax Commissioner enclosing amended roll for Native Lands. ——The the' amended roll was less;in.value than the original one.—Prom tho Commissioner of Crown Lands agreeing to permit contractors to fall timber in the SeventyMile Bush, From H. Burgess asking the Council'to take over every halfmile of theirycontrac't as it was competed. Crewe; Pahiafcua, asking'" ]2s' a day for carting on a County contract.—-The Clerk said the Railway; Department had raised the price of carting to 12s per day. cit, lIELLIS, Leave of absence was granted to Or Bellk',, tyho otherwise would have forfeited his seat by three consecutive absences. • ' ENDOWING. HOSPITALS. Cr Beetham movol that no reply bo sent, Endowments were a nuisance. It was far better to give money to ; suchinstitutions;^—CrMeredith was much .pf/Fr.Beetham's opinion, .but would like'time to consider the question,——lt wits agreed that consideration of the. lettor.be, postponed till next meeting.——The Chairman' said their experiences'iii this district of endowments hadi'.been .very.' unsatisfactory. He had no Sympathy with the application. : ■'■■■ ■■■V: ■: v-: . .-.■..• .■.■■'..-■:■ r- WILLOW PILES. .\ , -,.. The chairman said permission had formerly been given to Mr Arnold to •cut the. willows', .By judicious cutting the willows were improved,——Or. Beetham believed it would be a good plan to tie'bundles of willows together, and place them by the water side so that masses'of roots could be formed at once. It was.resolved that the request be .granted, .subject to the approval of the engineer. TE ORE ORE-DIDEFORD ROAD.

■ .: The Chairman said that all the rates had been expended l on this road, bufcat present they werenot justified in any further and moved that the Council; regrets that it cannot accede to Mr'.Hawkirt'B application to metal, and instruct the engineer to reduce the expenditure on that line of road.-r-j-Cr Meredith asked what had been spent to .date on this road,—— The Chairman" rel(ilied : about £180, ; If they continued spending iinoney there they would be benefiting it at the expense of the resbbf the district,-

The 'motion was seconded by Cr Beetliam and carried,. ' GATES ON MAW LINE, An .application from Mr B. S. Hawkins for permission to erect gates referredby'the Cashpoint Board to the Odhncil was read, and a letter. was also read from Mr Hawkins complaining that the Koad Board had improperly referred the application to the Council. Or Meredith moved •'that Clerk enquire if the County could give permission to erect gates on main road, 7~or Mackay agreed that if. was%; sirable that they should possess the power, but the Act clearly did not give it them. The motion was agreed to. ; SPECIAL ORDER, The Chairman said that in accord-, ance with the Act they required a special order for the new road districts.. The maps revised by the chief surveyor had been returned to them. Special orders were then made for the Upper Taueru and Pahiatua districts. For the 'former district five members: wore appointed Cr Beethan: '! They have five men it it!"' (A' laugh). AKITIO AND AOHANGA FERRIk

Or Mackay said the only existing arrangements were the payment of a salary to the Ferryman. Some complaints had been made latterly that travellers could not obtain accommodation at tho Akitio Ferry house whioh was now in the possession' of Handy: side, Robert Si Co. He understood that Mr. Haudysidc was -.prepared' to furnish meals, but objected' to grog being sold here. The Chairman said the question was a big one, and he would like to see a Gqmraitteo. appointed to enquire into it.-l~Cr Mackay soid there was a necessity, for somo accommodation at such !places Or Meredith said he had'heard complaints of a difficulty in crossing stock at Aohanga, and a want of accommodation for it. Cr Mackay said they had not complied with the Act by leasing these ferries annually. ——The Chairman moved '■' and Or Chamberlain seconded, That '-Messrs. Meredith, Beetliam and Mackay. be appointed a Committee to report on f he Ferries.—Carried. MR BURGESS'S APPLICATION. ; It was resolved that Mr Burgess be informed that the Council did not see its way clear to deviate from the terms ■of the specification. The Chairman said it was necessary to 'urge on Mr Burgess to give greater speed; with his contract, —Cr Mackay said 5 Mr Burgess was. not by any means 'making satisfactory progress.—On-the' motion of Cr Mackay it wis resolved that the contract be determined unless better progress was at once made. THE MANAWATU FERRY, The Chairman said that at a recent meeting at Pahiatua some startling statements had'been made about this forry. Mr McCnrdle had stated that the Council had let it to Mr Carver till the bridge was built, but thin was a mis-statenieati'% The extension oftime granted to Hr Carver expired on tho 29th May next, and it would, as the bridge was unlikely to bebiiilt for another year, but fori the Council to make such arrangements as' might be thought proper for letting it. Settlers in the neighborhood complained with some justice of the heavy .'fee now charged. He recommended that they should re-let the ferry at a reduced scalo of charges. The present'tenant (Mr Carver) had the right of removal of any buildings erected by himself at this ferry.—Or Beethum-though) that the sooner they took''action tho better, as a new ferryman might require time to build ut dwelling.— On the motion of Or Mackay the question was referred to the Ferry Committee previously appointed, Cr McOardle being added to the nanus on it, FINANCE REPORT. - - The finance report was read. The general account showed a credit balance of £1,958 13s 9d, and the special account of ..£B6B 13s Gd. Accounts to the amount of , ■ were recommended. The report was adopted, COUNTY SUSPENSION PETITION,, The following report of the Works Committee on the County Suspension Petition was then taken: -. - Your Committee bag to report for the information of the Council tint it has oxaminod the petition fir the suspension of the operation of tho Counties Actinih'.s County, forwarded under cover of the Colonial Secretary's letter dated 4th Fob.', and has found the following facts in reference to the subject matter thereof:— 1 That the Electoral 'lloll at present in orc3in this Cjunty, exclusive of certain qualifications lnld by Companies, Fiduoation Commissioners, the Crown, and Natives, contain 547 name* of Electors, and the Statute proportion required (three fifths) for" a petition of'this nature is 327. : j 2, That the total number: of. signatures attached to the petition i 5.358;"... I* ■' 3, That of these signatures thole, mentioned in Schedule A hereto, and numbering 35 do not appoaron the Electoral ifioll atall .. • ':'""" v. '. '■"""

4. That tho names,>vhich appear oa Schedule B are spelt so,differently from'liko soundiug names on the 1 801 l as to Jokvfi it very doubtful in the absence of anythipg to Bhow that they represent the same person? 5 whether tho signatures are those, of the persons who are'entitled, under the BflVe*al qualifications, to sign the petition, >(The Schedulo-of these names, numbering. 10, also shows the like sounding names pn the Roll,) 5. Where surnames only appear on' the Roll, as in' Schedule C, and numbering 3 there is nothing to show that the persona siguiug the pclition, by thoso names respectively, ara'tha sama parties . ; C. That in several cases, as shown in Schedule D, moinbers of firms liavo signod the petition in their individual capacity, whereas the uamea of the firms only appear on the Ml, 7. That the names mentioned in Schedule E, numbering 10, are those of persons on.the 801 l who cannot write, and whose" mark" is attached in each, cm Of these 2 are not witnessed at.all, 5 aro initialled only by the "deolarant," and there is nothing to show .in tho case of any of them, that the petition lies been read over, or its purport explained to theao persons, as, by law, is required, prior to their name 3 being attaehed, and their narks placed,against them. 8, That the names noted on schedule F are signed for the persons whose names appear on the roll by persons purporting to be their attorneys respectively, ,tbai in one of these cases (that of Geojgo Hunter), the person whoss name appears on the Roll died several years and. any power of attorney execute I by him is "therefore inoperative, and that as to tin remainder of these there there h uothihj tq.'ShJffthat the respective powers of attoriißjMtnorize the Mdeifl to sign such a pjtiti?|?ks the one under consideration, $

9. That the persons whose names appear on Schedule G, and numbering 6, have doolarod to their own signatures on thopet:« tion.

10. That the signatures appearing on Schedule H. numbering 13. are declared t i by personi who reside outside the Wairarapa East County, oontrary to the provisions of Section 16 of the Counties Aot, 1876 11. That the names appearing on Schedule I numbering 6, and purporting on the petition to be the. signatures of the parties respectively cannot be genuine signatures, as it is well known and can be proved that none of them oan sign thetr names. 12. That of the 27 declarations to signatures only three, covering 22 signatures, approach the form set forth in Schedule 4 to •the Counties Act 1876, ; That these three arenot entirely in'thatform. That as tothe remaining 24 declarations these are for the most part of a very moagre description, and thero is nothing to show in any of them that the declarants reside in the County affected by the petition as required by the 16th 1 Section of the Aot of 1876 before mentioned, : 13, That of the 358 signatures on the petition Only 68 have been initallei by the declarants as provided in the form of declaration in Schedule 4 of the said Act.

14, These faots show the following re< suit:—

Total number of names on Petition ~ 358 Number of names objected to as per sohedules ~ ~ ~ ~ 83

Leaving Valid.. .. .. 275 Statutory proportion before mentioned 327 Numberadmittedvalid as abovo ~ 276

Leaving short ef the statutory ' number ~ .. ~ 52 In the iaoe of the faots disolosed in this report, and on the grounds, Ist, that the petitionas a whole is informal, 2nd, that it does not contain the statutory number of sienatures, (genuine signatures as provided by the Counties Aot, 1876, Amendmeit Aot, 1882), your Committee recommends the Council to request lis Excellency the Governor, through the Government, not to grant the prayer of the petitioners. . D, McOaEooit, Chairmin Works Gommittae. Schedule A, ' Name, , Thomas Hope Murray, J. Hanson, James Kiug, Goorga Manning, W, Budd, Hugh MoMaster, Ko&rick JloKenaie, Peter Thorn, son, Job Basset, H.Futcher, J. Montgomery, P. Sheerin,: Alfred Pike, August Petersen, William King, R. (i. Williams, Charles Houeheu, D. Sheehyn, Thomas Benton, jun., J, Bobieson, flans Ncsen, Christuu Petersen, Audera Hansen, Nicolai Jousen, Niels Nielsen, John Jepsen, Jam ;s (burke, John Tuok, John M. Girdlestono, Benjamin Tooby, M A, Slieppard, H, H, Haider, W. Dowiice, Shute and Jonos, U, (Jattle. SciIEDUI/K It. Name on Petition. Naina on Rail. C. Albcrtlisun C. Albreohtsou N. Vlberthsen N. Albreohtsou Augustus Johnson Augu t Jonsou William Pain (?) William Payne Johan Jessen Jolm Jesseu K. florrobin It. Horriben Sorcn Thomasju S, Thompssn Jens NuilS3ii Jens Nilsson Jainoa Niool James Nieholls {'onEDran 0, Name on Petition. Name on Roll. M, Williams WilliamsW.Tonks ■ Tonks.Tims Frederieksen Fredericksen - Soueddie D, Signatures on Petition. Firm on Roll. JohnPjko Pjkc and Burnett George Burnett William Cornock Cox and Cornock G. W. Cox Alfred Pike Pike and'Sheerin P. sheerin ' Nolo Hliatrin and PiLo have also signed as a firm, Scheddlu E, Signatures by mark, John Hall Not witnessed W. Rioux Not witnessed D. Stewart H, Frederickson G, Mauning Robert Allen Initialled only 6. Douglas Initialled only C, McKillnp Initialled only P. Brannigan Not witnessed J, Stone Not witnessed Schedule F. Sigood by Attorney. F. M. Ollivier, J. t. Rouse, George Hunter. Schedule G, Persons signiug Petition who'have- declared to the Signatures theinselpes. ■ Thomw Kiug. A. W. Sedoole, B. B. Welch, G. Gundevsen, J, M, Qirdloßtono, A, Johnston, Schedule H. flames on Petition, Declared to by James King ' Thomas Kina, of Thomas King • PalmorstonN, W. Bogle Daniel Chamier, of f. K. Bogle Woodvillo J Tuck J. M. Girdlestono, R. J. Duncan of J. M. Girdlestono Napier J. D. Uaiid fcj. Diamond, Geo, Roxburgh H.W. Diver 0 f W, Downej • J.Cattell Wellington J. Harris l{. E. Beckett, of Marlon SCHEDULE I. Persons known not to bo able to sign their names, Neils Neilsou. Gunder Christensen, Mrs E. Jennings, John Carroll, James Farmer, Johannes Jceperaen. BDrrLHMENI'AUYRErORT. A supplementary petition hasbeou receivod from the Colonial Secretary under cover datod 26th February last, accompanied by a request that the Council will scrutinise tho signatures thereto. Your committee is of opinion that a petition having onco been presented, no supplementary petition can be considered.andrecommend to the Council that objection should be taken to entertaining tho samo, In compliance, however, with the roguesfc contained in the Colonial ■ Secretary's letter, and in order to avoid any delay which miurht arise by ignoring altogether, the oxistence of this "supplementary petition, but entirely without' prejudice to the above preliminary objection if tho Council sees tit to raise it, your comnr'ttce has examined the supplementary documents and find the following facts in relation thereto :

1 That the supplementary petition contains thirteen'fresh signatures, 1 whioh appears on tho original petition (E, Loir), and six duplicated signatures; total 20. 2, That the four signatures on page are declared to by a person who is not J resident in the county te which tho petition relates, contrary to the provisions of section 16 of the Counties Aot, 1876. "■ _3. That the names" Maokayßros," whose signature is on page 2, and " William Armer" on page 3, do not appear on the County Electoral 801 l at present in force, 4. That the signature of "S. A, Bennett" isjby/her attorney, Edwin Meredith; thai there is nothing to show that S, A, Bennett is the same person as Mrs James Bennett whose name appears on the roll; nor is there anything to show that the power of attorney held by Mr Meredith authorises him to sign a document of the nature of this petition. 6. That J. S. Handyside (page 3) has signed the petition in his individual capacity whereas his name appears on the roll only as a partner in the firm of Handyside,- Roberts and Co..

6, That none of tho declarations to the signatures on tho. supplementary petition are in the form prescribed by the Counties siynatures are not initialled by the declarants.

The Chairman desired to, Know whether- the Council wished to go through the whole matteinpiece by piece. When the Cemmittee firstmet the work of scrutinizing was found to be so laborious that it was remitted to the Clerk. The report drawn up by

the Clerk was submitted to the Works Committeo and finally adopted in its present form. The mombers of the Committee included oil the Council except Ors Belliss and Williams., The whole matter had been fairly and squarely considered, but if necessary he' was prepared l , to ■goiOYor tho whole ground again.—Or Meredith denied that the Committee had .carefully gone through- tho names. The names had not been individually challenged. The Chairman said the names were read.—Cr Meredith said that as nn instance to show the spirit of the report exception was taken to Mrs Bennett's attorney. If they had roferred to Cr Mackay they would have found this signature was quite correct.-—The Chairman claimed that every facility was given to any member of the committee to make any inquiry. There was not the slightest chanco of unanimity in the Council on the report, but if any further inquiry was now desired .it could be taken then. Ho had himself taken the trouble to investigate every detail of the report, and regretted that other Councillors had not done the same. He moved that the report bo adopted,—Cr Mackay seconded the motion. Cr Eeetham said it did not follow that their present action should be final. The doings of the committee wave still open to bo challenged.— Cr Mackay said the petitioners could make any representation they thought proper to the Government—Or Beetham said that though the petition had been got up with very gteat pains, many people had signed it carelessly. Cr Meredith: 'Do you state that as a fact?'—Cr Beetham believed it to be a fact, as several of the settlers who signed it told him as much. He had no desire to treat with discourtesy those who had signed the petition, but as it was informal ha must vote against it. Cr Meredith moved as an amendment, that as the report was onesided and inaccurate it be not adopted by the Council. The Chairman said tbo statements in the report were actual facts, which could he substantiated. —Or Meredith said he understood every name would be taken seriatim,—The Chairman: 'Why did you not ask for this to be done 1 ' He thought it was a great pity that a large question of this kind should have been relegated to tho ratepayers. It was unfair r to ask people to decide what form of local self-government they should have, when, in many instances these people took no interest in such questions. They were quite capable of forming an opinion on them but did not feel sufficient interest in them to do so. If these appeals to the ratepayers were the best method of adjusting local self-government, it was a bud thing for .the colony—(Cr Meredith. a terrible thing!) He regretted that they should all have been set by the ears on such questions, He was sorry himself, to run counter to the wishes of many paople, but he was satisfied that many who han attached their names to the petition had signed in the dark. One man told him he signed it because he was told it was a paper for the remission of county rates. He believed very many would just as soon have signed the other way.—Cr Meredith, in reply, said that Mr McGregor went largely into the question at a public meeting, but he did not convinco his audience! Cr McGregor: How many ratepayers were there:——Cr Meredith: A large number: you don't seem to think that the ratepayers have common sense! The appropriation by a few individuals of the rates collected over a large amount of country is a down-right robbery. The.administration of such Acts as the Counties Act is bringing • local self-government into disrepute, and making it stiidc in the nostrils of ratepayers. Was it fair to have exempted the whole of the Wainuiorn Riding from the benefits of the Roads and Bridges Construction Actl He claimed that this Riding, not being benefitted by it, should not be included in the special -rating area under the Act. The motion adopting tho report was then put and carried, and at the request of Cr Meredith, copies of the report were ordered to be supplied to Crs Chamberlain, ■ McCardle, and Meredith, THE WAINUIOKU RIDING. Cr Beetham speaking to the question of the Wainuiorn Riding said that he could not demand to be excluded from the special rate as he was benefitted by the expenditure on the Mungapakeha road. This was partly duo to the fait that he possessed property in tho Castlepoint district. It was difficult to arrange a rating area to suit everybody. — Cr Meredith moved that tho RulJ ing D 3 exempted from the rating area, •> as the settlers in it—particularly the Coast residents—were not bonefittrd by the Mungapakeha road.-—Cr Mackay said the Wainnioru settlers did use the

Mungapakeha road occasionally. He

ralso pointed out that £4OO had "been •'voted to those districts which did hot benefit by the special works.— —Cr Meredith stated that the Waiuuioni. settlers only used the Blairlogie road.! Cr Mackay replied that in tile' winter time he and Mr Morrison weife the only travellers on the Blairlogje' road. He would also say that the £4OO to be returned to the ratepayers was money raised by the Gastlepoiiit people.——On a vote being taken the Wamuioru Riding was included in the rating area.

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