WAIRARAPA EAST COUNTY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VI, Issue 1863, 12 December 1884, Page 2

WAIRARAPA EAST COUNTY.

The ordinary monthly meeting of the | Wqirarapa East County Council was held at tt'e County" Offices,. jJasterton, vyesterday •afterJioon,v^-; V si:d3ent—Oca' 1 Mackay. |Oktobe/]ain, Hawkins, Dagg'; Ma'cqu'arie; Meredith-, - . . The minutes of the previous nleeting were read and confirmed* '' Correspondence was read, from Ors McCardle and Maunsell, apologising for Inability to attend tbe Council. From the Chief Surveyor, asking when

the Mangaone roads would, be completed, From-Masterton Road Board, placing Mr Bremner's services at the disposal of the County. From the County Chairman re Tenui bridge repairs and Mungapakeha metalling. ■From-T. Perry, asking for a, progress 'payment on his 'con tract. From the Publfcf Works' Department, stating grants' Under the Roads and Bridges Act were under consideration, and informing the Council, that the rate must be struck before the certificate of the Minister of. Public Works is issued. From Messrs Jackson and Tait, landowners, Mauriceville, drawing attention', to, ihe neglect of the road in. South Mauriceville, stating : that it was scarcely passable, and askingior an advance of £ls to clear slips on'the said road j Messrs Jackson and Tait attended in support of their application. Gr Hawkins moved that the amount asked for be granted from the. monies of the. balance of the grant for road repairs in the Mangaone 810ck... Or Beetham seconded the motion, Or Macquarie differed from this view of the way in which the balance of money was to be expended, He thought it should be expended in the Mangaone Block only, . Or- Hawkins explained, there was also money standing to the credit of South Mauriceville and other roads, and with the understanding- that the money should come-.out of 'this fund the inotion was carried,.;-. ' iftorn'Gk Beetham, stating that the', amount allocated .-under;.the Roads and; Bridges Construction Act since Junewas £ISOO. From the Undersecretary \ of Public Works, expressing the willingness of the Government to allow their Engineer to decide on the two bridges, and asking for plans of same, Re tho Castle Hill route—Or Beetham moved thatif itcould be placed on the schedule the Castle Hill be declared a main road. Or Hawkins'seconded, and believed if the road could be made right through, a great deal of traffic would go that way, ''; The Chairman pointed outthis would be a fruitful source of encouragement to other districts to ask for roads to be put on the schedule of main lines. Parliament granted these main roads ! on the understanding that they ran from centre to centre or centre to sea-

board. Or Chamberlain was quite of the Oliairmaji'ij opinion. Jie could poin'

out two roads in his own district that bad greater cjaiuis fhan tljis to be placed.on the schedule of main roads, and he would oppose the motion, Cr Hawkins did not wish to press the motion, He considered whoever laid off the Tirauraoa road as a main road departed from the principle of

main roads, and all be meant by seconding Cr Beetham's motion was to affirm the principle, He suggested that a record be made that it was desirable that a road should be made by the Castle Hill route as soon as"circumstances would allow, This suggestion was accented by Cr Beetham 'iu' lieu of his motion; and adopted,by the Council as it bound jtjjety to nothing but the affirmation of the prinoinj^, An application was rea,d by McDonald for an extension of time for his bridge contract on the Eketahuna and Alfrpdtpn rpad whici) was granted. Instructions were giyen to forward the- required particulars mentioned in the lotjber from the Under Secretary for ascertaining the relative value of two bridges, On the motion of Qe Beetham seconded by Cr Chamberlain the report of the Finance Comraitee'.was dealt with seriatim as follows— Cr Hawkins moved that the amount of work certified to by the Chairman (£SO), be paid to Mr Burgess, Or Meredith seconded,—Carried. An acoount for Robertson & Co. -of '£t was passed for payment, , . •.! It was resolved that a quantity of timber he' taken over from Mr MoLeod at 17s per 100 ft. An application from Mr Lund for an increase of pay fQr the men employed on the Eketabuna-Tenui line of Is per day waa made but not granted, The Chairman reportod that he had made arrangements for a man he had placed on the road to spread metal at Mr Burgess' contract, Mungapakeha, to be paid an extra 10s per week for look-, ing after"the w.ork on behalf ot the Council, His action was confirmed, The Committee reooromended payments amounting to £903 13 2d. Adopted, The Treasurer reported a credit balance of £1053 18s sd, The Inspector's report wa3 read as follows : Sib.—l beg £o Bubmit for the information of the Copra} a brief report on the repairs executed on the roads in th|' Forty Mile Bush BJnoe the last meeting of tile pouncil, and to draw your attention to' the unsafe condition of many of the old. bridges on the Opaki Manawalu toad, Opaki Manawatu- Koad.—The repairs oh this road will necossarily be of a heavy oharaoter, owing to the continuous rainy weather experienced lately in the Forty mile bush, and the extraordinary heavy traffio between the Government contracts from eaoh end of this road. The maintenance men have been engaged in filling up the worst ruts with gravel and supporting (he old bridges in a temporary manner to oarry over the heavy traffio. I have examined tije'old bridges along this road, and find tfoat eleven »je in a 'more or less unsafe condition for heavy traffic, tp.rjhriie of these bridges, culverts and embankments may be substituted, two may "b]p rendered safe for some time if replankoi with strong planking. The planking of the old bridges is yery slight, being only 3 and 3J inches thipk and of inferior quality, The bridges that require renewal are of the following lengths 17ft, 40ft. 23ft, 23ft, 23ft;—requiring replanking, one 27ft, long and two 20ft long, The roads in the Mangaone and Pahiatua blocks requiring repairs are being prooeeded with. Aawem road-Three miles of this road has ' ben pat in good repair. The aidecutting into

the river hai been widened, and tho apptoaohea to the iord mado^ood, The Central Manpaone ropaira required on this road are of a heavier, ohar&oter. The original cutting into the* Mak'akahl' from the main roadside has been' washed ;awiy; which; will necessitate a slight devia:jbVingvmadeJfrobfiitl\6„oroasiag of thi liver-tq> the prpper.graded iTh'e repairs on the Pahiatua road are only' being commenced^. : 'The unfavourable ..weather lately experienced has retarded prbgr.ess od these works ■ very much, • Eketahuna.Alfredton road—About twelve men are engaged on this road clearing away slips and repairing the road generally. The Blips as far as Alfredton haye been oleared'. away sufficiently wide to admit of dray traffic. '" ..

■ Maslerton to Bidefordroad—Contract No, 1,117 chains formation and culverts, and two bridges ;■ The bridges are completed but for two or three.small defects whioh I have' jointed out to the oontraotor.and which he has promised to remedy. Eight culverts h«ve yet to be put in position,, some slips removed, and the formation which has been made lor sometime put m proper shape, Seven men are engaged on the contr&ot. The contractor expects to have work completed in course-ot a week. I think'there is sufficient work done to warrant a progress payment of £IOO. . Manawatu Ferry-Agreeable with the resolution passed at the last meeting of the Council, I have examined the Manawatu Jerry site, and find since the recent fresh, that great changes in the bed of the river have taken place. A shingle bank, the principle obstruction to the working cf the. punt has been rembved-.'As the river nadnoti subsided to its ordinary level; my oxamina>' •' tibn:was made by soundings taken with a pole, and so far as I could judge; I think the Ferry, will be again workable without moving the punt fam the present site. Changes belovrthe bridge site roiy reasonably be expected from the obstructions plaped in the stream for-the. purpose of oarrying out the Bridge works.. Mr John MoUonald informs} me that thetimber: for the building of his bridge, contract. N0. : 6,' is ready for hauling on the ground, and that the whole of the ironwork is delivered at Eketahuna,

The Chairman said steps would have to be taken at once to repair theOpakito Manawatu line of road. Cr Beetham said the- money voted by Government had been ohiefly spent upon bridge repairs, Cr Hawkins suggested that Mr. McLaehlan be" em ployod to give 'estimates of the work that the Council may get the necessary funds to enable them to proceed therewith. • Cr Chamberlain thought the Council should try and get Mr Bremner's services for this work as it was of such an important character. He would move to that effepfc and that he have the assistance of Mr McLaehlan, Cr Macquarie 'seconded the motion which was carried, Mr Bremnet reported it would take £266 to repair the Tenui' bridge damaged by heavy floods, and that a new one would cost about £4OO,

. The Chairman thought it would bs better tq build a new bridge as there had been a good deal of watai used in tho present structure. He thought, they might well apply to the Government for a grant under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, which could be done at any time for extraordinary damage by flood as in this case, Cr Hawkins moved that application be made to Government under the Roads and Bridges Construction ioc for a grant to build a new bridge on the Castlepoint line of road,

$■ Dagg seconded the, motion which was campd, ' A contact oj: Mrleese's was referred to tlje Opipnjittee with power to deal with it. Or Macquarie asked, for the purpose of making application under the Roads and Bridges Act, that the engineer be empowered to make an estimate of the eost of repairing the roads in the Alfredton-Eketahuna road districts, The application had already been made by Mr G, Beetham when he was a member of the Board, and be only asked that this may be carried outGranted. Or Macquarie asked that a sura of £2O might bV granted to fasoine certain very bad parts of the road.

Cr Beetham said before the metallinj contracts were }ej on this road, certaii portions wher/jt was "required sliouli be let tor'forming and fascining,

Cr Macquarie said it was almost an absolute necessity to do certain repairs with fascines at pnce, to allow of timber, wool, and of her trafljc, Authority was given '.Cr. Macquarie to undertake the work. The not}ce of motion in the name of Cr Hawklnij wag mpvoc) by hjni—That the Highway Boards be inyited to take over the main roads or parts of main roads (other than the Forty Mile Bush :road) in their several districts, and that for the purpose of supplying funds the separate rate and a proportion (to be fixed ■ by the Council) of the general rate be paid over to the Boards in proportion to the liability eaoh will inour; the liabilities of the Council answerable out of the said rates having been first ascertained and apportionedamong the Boards and deducted from the respectlyo rates payable to them under the first part of t)io resolution. He pointed out that the Oodncij would. be L depriving, themselves of certain funds and certain work; they practically abolished themselves as a repairing body and would have to obtain funds QtJjer pys to justify them in keeping a staff,

Or Maokay seconded, He tboqgkt the works could be much more economically done by tbe local bodies on the spot than by a central staff, and speaking for Ma own district he could say it would be a considerable saving. From tbe financial position of the Council they could see that they would have to exercise the strictest economy. The pouiicil was not going to be abolished; but ttyere' s,eenjed, tq he a wish on the part of the Government to takeaway some of the functions of the Council, that they ought to resist iu every way. The men on the maintenance staff were literally putting in their time without doing any. benefit, for want of supervision, and he thought this would be avoided by deputing the supervision to the Road Boards.

Cr Beetham thought it would lead to confusion. They had a good staff, capable of keeping the roads in repair. Having pvej l ]to the pastjepoint Board ifs road management' was very different tp handing it oyer to'all the ottyer Poar4s. ?he Council witty all tjieir ottyep wqrks taken, frqm them, could not keep up a staff fqr ttye sola purpose of looking after the Forty-Mile Bush road, and eventually this road would be in the hands of four Boards, and how. they would manage puzzled Kim, He thought the ; district undoubtedly would suffer,

Or OlmmborlAin could not'agree with Or Bofllliiiin, In former.-times, when the lloiul Boards had tho control of tho rondo, tlioro wore not often com.plaints, and each Hoard iiad its Overseer to loot ttfter'itHfiliAt'or'' - : '• ■;,: 7 Or Mttcquarie-had the Hurnfl feeling TiS|Jie Chairman-as' to distance, • : 'He upon this as a half measure,.H'e'would much rather have seen one*t&ting body,, but for reaton'.of one thing"'-and another,,: v the- County debt, .&c, he. did not sees,- l how that could ? bedone%' : ■ ' V>. . '■■';

'' Or Hawkins skid a £(reat many-of the objections raised by Crs Beetbam'j and Macquavie would be disposed of by his next resolution, and would -set at rest their Joubts or fears for the safety of the County..^Tho rates' would be apportioned to-the Tarious Boards subject >to the apportioned liabilities, and the whole thing would be optional to accept by the Boards. ••

The. motion was then put'and caried. ",7- ' . "• ----- •

■Cr Hawkins moved—"That-the' financial committee, make out an ap- : portionment of the rates and liabilities in view of the foregoing resolution.— Carried. : >•:.-.

A notice of motion by Ori' Mackay calling a conferenceof the Chairmen of the Boards in'tte Wairarapa Eaist County to consider;'.the, appointment' of one Engineer for the whole:dtafcric6, wasallowed to stand over until the Boards had been communicated with. Gr Hawkins moved—"That it is desirable that all public works,- other ■than railway construction, should lie entrusted to the local authority; that such works can be executed with cer-. tainly as great economy,; efficiency,'and despatch by the local authority as by a department-in Wellington, and.that the local authority has the advantage of local knowledge and of accessibility to the works and contractors; that the decentralisation of' all works and services which can be performed by local authorities, is essential to the maintenance and development of local government." He differed from Cr .Beothaffl in thinking their work as a Council was done-and fhat'tbey were going to die. They ought not to be dependent upon rates for existence. Thoy were in a permissive slate with the knife at tljeir throat, liable to be destroyed at any. time when not ill harmony : with the mass of the ratepayers, He looked to the establishment of a strong County Board that would .not clash with the functions of the Road Boards. They had every reason to hope that the present Government would maintain its pledges of substantial reform. He thought he was justiljed in hqping tjiey were on the eve- of having given/to them increased functions qf great valine tq the : whole of the, districts. At a Tinui public meeting a resolution had been passed to ask the Land Board to allow Mr McKerrow to. put himself in communication, with the Boards on the question of the road; policy, and that day he had got a telegram from Mr Beetham, and from. that he took it that Mr Balance was prepared to assent to the appointment of Mr McKerrow to confer with the Boards. If the government rigreed to do that tl}en they have, agreed tqcoivsider a roacl policy, ani (jqubtless would also fjnd funefs to parry qup the requirements of]; M? McKerrqw's report, He they inight fairly take the course he-suggested to the Counoil, and adopt the;' resolution moved by him, , The Chairmau seconded the motion. He was quite in accord with the views expressed by Cr Hawkins, He thought the functions of the Council should be raised above the level of Road Boards, There was a Tast and important work before them in opening up Crown Lands, There was a disposition on the part of the'Governm.eiit to' open these lands by a'staff of their own. The. Counoil couldVxpend that money more economicaljy',tjmn' tlie 'Government staff Their] late Engineer liad co'llidod with the Government Survey department over grades, and done a deal of

goot} bj qompel|ing the Department to keep their grades witljin gertain limits, Mv King had reported 'tlio iitjpQssibility of laying off roads to the Qovernment grades, whjcj) were taken anywhere and anyhow, regardless pf the. cost of formation, ffoverajnent had taken exceptiqn and spoke of paying a,' roadstef of its own and then handing the, roads over to them to keep, '■ At presentee Oounoil was,only a rating body, andh e . hoppd tlje Government would devise Some means of providing funds other than rates, Let the Road Boards levy them. Or Beetham said it was very much easier to pull down than build j the County had been pulled.down by dissension amongst themselves, if they hudbeen a united body they would, not no\? see t!).e Wajpoua; bridge crawling along to CQUupletipf). and tha Waingawa not commenced. He wa§ in favorof Cr Hawkins' motion, but if they had been a strong united body they would have been much more likely to have got their request granted. They should endeavour to get one strong united Council for the Wairarapa with extended power and then they would make themselves felt and respected, He would do his best to support the motion-and' he thought this important district should be opened up by the Council on the score of economy. The steep grades laid off by Government were a great mistake 4nd difficult to unddi ' • " - Cr Hawkins in reply said hjs belieyed the Council was wil|ing to work unanimously. His one desire and wisji was to get the County to cjo ahead- Let them bury the hatohet and try to do everything they could fairly and honestly for the good of the wholehear no more nonsense of the past and set their minds to the future.

The motion was then put and carried. .

Cr Mackay moved the motion stand-. Ji)g m ||is name—That as the imposition of rates ; | Q county ridings does not always pres? fairly 1 ana* 'Justly dn alj ratepayers ; in consequence of some'section? of .j;b.e. community not using, or only using .jo a limited extent, county roads, pd therefore receiving little or no benefit from oounty expenditure, this.Council respectfully requests the Government to so amend the Counties let" as "will allow, of a "differential

rate" being levied" v/\i)hmj Ming, m that such rato'may vary, ft Mmwl parts of tho same riding in [troimiion as each'portion in kmiMl b'/ eoiihiy roads and. .county expenditure, Mid i® that if any part or part's of ft riding {$ not benefited at-all. by.auch roa/is ml expenditure, then auch part or parts shall be exempt entirely from such rate, Or Hawkins seconded the motion pro forma and in deference kutbe wishekof the withdrawn for-the present. ■; Cr\Beetham ..moved"thatthe Castlepoint Roadßoard be requested to allow .tteir.'o.y.ei'seer. to attend to the Maintenance of roads in the" Castle-"point-Jliding until, other arrangements were:iSad||\.''.;'■."' fife the motion whicli - was carried;? ■■■'■■'

. Cr ■" asked : if A? of the futidjr for. .repairs of theworty Mile Bush;road would be available to lower, thergra'de of ;the road at Day's hill. He'waS; infoped there were no.funds available Forty-Mile •Bush road the Camp. The following'-'tehdersJfor additions to the' Waingawa bridge .-were, dealt with:—accepted:'. 1. McLeod,- ,, X598 19s; declined: Reese (bridge only), £374 ; Stevens, £703 6s 6d; Dawson, £65.6..,.: ■•.'";;• :■■-;■■•

■ ■/. • . '(i?othe Editor) 'Sir,—l was very.sorry to notice that Mr Hawkins, perhaps fromrwant of knowledge of the'circumstances, attacked Mr Kolleston. in what seemed to me to be a mostiunjustifiable.-wajjj. 1 am well, aware, that a minister is *• body corporate. I did noriish to transfer blame: from t,one ministry to another, because" Pmaintainljthai no wrong is proved.. May I why Mr Hawkins; singled 'otrtLwa of the corporate body foV attack/-and that one in this instance being, Iniareover, not personally responsible, and to my knowledge opposed to in. question; : -TheVe/-?wefe attacks on Mr ftqjilistqn, accusing him in one case of what Mr "Hawkins assumes to be .inconsistency,,, s,r\i the other of using his apolitical position to benefit his friends^ to the great detriment of the publics-vice. Mr Haw: kins will find nvy figures are correct re the Manawatu Railway cpntrfw.fc, TJ* assessed value as provided by sectlfn l 102 of " the Railway Construction and Land Act 1881," was duly ascertained by the Surveyor : General and an inspector appointed by the company, The land allocated when the agreement' was • entered into' was estimated to .be of the value of £96,57 Q. Tlio company atilQave some claim for/] a deficiejH of land within tue|iiljernimed area, This will be pvovided;for when sqm,e Native! land now under negotiation is m\« chased. Mr .Hawkins js right in assuming that the' Company lias two valuations. ; This fact is duly set forth in their ..prospectus—" The increment which the Company has reasoiUo believe that the Railway will give fy their lands lias Seeii added to its' present value," Included in the £SOOOOO worth ofMd mentioned by Mr Hawkins is the sum of £170,968 worth of land purchased |rom Ifativo owhej's,'and sundry'emissions includiing an, item of £90,000, estimatep) value of right tq-reclaim 20 acres a'{; Thamdorj, and, works .partly copBtruDtcd, |3o,ooft aprt so on! £ll these facts are easily ascertainable, They are published by the Company in their prospectus/; .1 am sure that had Mr Hawkins .-fakeri'the trouble to • ascertain the' true. : faots, he never would have made: the unjust .'charge that I have felt it to be my dujgh disprove, , . ■ ~<"

I-am<tc,, ;. • : Georgeßeetham,