ALFREDTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2413, 30 September 1886, Page 2

ALFREDTON.

[Fromjour own Correspondent.]

A meeting was held here last Tuesday, the largest and most representative that has ever taken place in the district, to consider, amongst other matters as stated on tho circular calling the meeting, a report by the school site committee; another on the steps taken to induce tho Governmout to grant a piece of land for public purposes and County Council. From the School Site Committee's report it appeared that the Committee had been enabled, through Mr George Beelham, M.H.R., to obtain from Government a piece of land twenty acres in extent, and that in a most central locality, and in every respect a most suitable sito. The report was unanimously adopted, and the Committee continued to still look after tho interests of the school.

Madras. Macquarie read a report on tho reserve for general purposes, setting forth from the commencement the steps that had beon adopted to bring before the Government tho olaims or the district to an area, of some 200 or 300 acres of land, as having been reserved lor public purposes when the Alfredton Small Farm Association had been started, Tho report

went on to ■shew'that with this, as at the starting point, the representative for the district managed the matter so successfully that the result now is the district is promised aportion of this area, of no less extent than 100, acres and moreover, land most suitable for the purpose, reflecting great credit on Mr Beetham for his advocacy on behalf of the district, and no little credit to the Government for recognising its claims. The report concluded by suiting that this meeting should consider whether it is desirable that the land should be vested in the Road Board or otherwise. A motion that the report be adopted was proposed and unanimously carried, On a motion being proposed that the Government should be recommended to vest the land in private trustees, and an 'amendment to recommend the Boad Board, the former was earned almost unanimously. Severalgentlemenwerethen proposed for'recoinmendationto the Government as trustees, and aftor a ballot had been taken, the following settlers were declared' the nominees in the order named:— Mips Marsh..Chas, Miicquario, Good, Eli Smith, and Cross. Before -'further, proceeding ivith the business, Mr Good informed the meeting that ho..had resigned his seat as representative for the riding in tho Council, in consequenco of his being unable to devote tho necessary time to his duties.

- A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr Good, and regret expressed at his rotiral. Unfortunately, as if turned out, the settlera were placed at a disadvantage, inasmuch as the time allowed to select a successor is very short, and it is to be regretted that Mr Good did not hold on for another month after intimating his decision to tho ratepayers. At the meeting several gentlemen were asked to allow themselves to bo nominated, but eacli and all declined. It is to be regretted that a position such as County Councillor m the Wairarapa East has to go abegging in this manner. Some of those present at the meeting seomod to think it of no consequence whatever if we had no representative, arguing that tho district had the same injustice meted out with or without a representative,'others again contending that it was well to have one, if one could be got. Ultimately a committee was appointed to wait on Mr Thoß. Benton, asking him to allow himself to bo nominated, and tailing him to endeavor to find a representative, It was suggested that as this .was a good moefcing of settlers, tho question of borrowing under the new Acts might well ba considered, and to start the discussion it was proposed that £'sooo should bo borrowed for oxpeudituro on the Eketahuna-Tinui Road, and in reply to questions it was found that this would require a large special rate over the entire riding area. Tho motion was not seconded, and thereupon £2OOO was moved, butjjthis also lapsed for want of a seconder. Therefore, on the question of borrowing generally no decided result was arrived at. Settlors generally seemed to shun the matter, and seemed not to wish to compromise themselves as yotono way or the othor.

in speaking to the proposal to borrow generally, Mr Chaa. Macquarrio took occasion to sevoroly criticise tho manner in which County matters were generally managed, and read a paper on the subject which went largely to show thai County business was carried on in a most extravagant mannor, and that this portion of the County (Meaning the Forty Mile Bush district generally) was niosc unfairly treated, and had been for some time. In short, it was the east at the expense of the west. Ho took occasion to entirely exonerate Mr Good, the returns: representative, for any more blame in the matter than he blamed himself for—noifchor could stain the current. He wen fc on to show his non-appreciation of the effortß put forth by the Council for the ratepayers' good (?) by taking the pound of flesh, in the shape of a maximum rate, which was helping largely to ruin struggling settlers all ovor the County. He left the Council in disgust, finding that it was impossible to get value for tho ratepayers' rates. He was vividly impressed, and he was sorry to say so, that the ruling spirit appeared to be, not how much good can be returned for rates, but how much can be extracted for the benefit of certain olhor portions of the County, and go to lighton the burden of other Ridings. In connection with this, I will quote the speaker's own words: "!• particularly refer to the annual interest on a Bum of £2500 raised some years ago, not for the benefit of the County generally, but for that of a portion, and will this meeting believe i*, we have since paid our share of this interest, and why? because the voting paper lies eastward. In justice to myself I may explain that last year we passed a resolution in the Council, that in future this charge must be borne by the districts interested, but,' lo and behold,' 1 understand this resolution is now ignored and we are called upon to pay cur share, I will road you an extract from the report or resolution I am referring to. The extract is as follows; ' Your committee find that theroaro debts of tho Council as follows—A debt of i' 2500 duo on debentures, of which the sum of £2247 19s only ■has been spent, leaving a balance of £252 Is in hand. Your committee find that »f the total sum spent, tho sum of £IB2B Us wa< obtained and spoilt for the benefit of ratepayers in the Castlopoint riding, and £419 8s for the benefit of persons in the Wainuioru riding. As long as the County was considered as a whole, having common interests, the interest on these debts were paid out of general rate, but tho Council having declared the principle that ridings have separate interests, it seems that tho debt, and interest of the debt, incurred solely for the two ridings, can no longer bo charged to the whole County.' From this you will see the intention, the deliberate intention, but not the performance. Wo will see the performance from a report of a Council meeting and appearing in the Wairarapa Daily of 9th Juno last. Hero it is: In reply to CrMcCardle, 'Cr Hawkins said the rate [meaning the general rate] was being struck for the purpose of providing a general fund for the wliolo County. The working expenses of the County for the year was £425, the interest on loan was £225, and councillors' travelling expenses would amount to £150,'" He (Mr Maoquarie) then referred to the fact that not only this district but others equally far away from tho Waipoua, Ruamahanga (on the Te Ore Ore and Taueru road) and Waingawa bridges, p?id exactly in the same rate towards these same bridges as did the riding within which thoy were situated, and despite the offorts made by Crs McCardlo and Good

to got the rate reduced, the' injustice is still continued simply because a majority W the Council cannot see the force of letting any ratepayer go if thoy can help it, their motto being " my might is my right." Ho then referred to the genoral rate levied last year for the purpose of once and for all freeing the County from an accumulating legacy, and and questioned if settlers avo any better off now than they were then, for the same thing, tho .maximum rato, had to be resorted to again this year, and went on to show that only a trifling amount of the debt of £I4OO wiped off last year, had buen increased in this district, notwithstanding which the Riding must have contributed something like £3OO to £4OO towards a debt mainly contracted elsewhere. The appointment of annthor engineer recently was referred to, when thero was not a bit of substantial work going on tho County

under the ■ Council. Members of the': Council ran away with the idea that i settlers were going '.to borrow on i every hand, uud placed the cart before the honse by drawiug out a schedule of works for the ratepayers to digest. Or. Uood then remarked that, this had all been'stopped till such times as settlers had been consulted in the several die;ncjts. Someone in the meeting, here remarked " you nipped that little game in •lift bud." It was then shown how that ipparently the general rate levied on the listrict went no one knew where, cerainly not For the benefit of the district, or it did not cover engineering, was nuch as that Engineering was charged or every piece of work performed, igninjt that particular work, and again ilmrged against separate rates for super'ision of maintenance, and the latter tern was by no means a small oiie, Somehing like £35 was estimated for the G miles of formation on the Eketahunarinui Koad, where only one man is imployed, and oeoasioually a second man. le then referred to the unusually large lercentage in the.CpuiMsil for carrying out my work, atid roforred to the only money ivory borrowed in the district, that, mder the Roads and Bridges Construeion Act, which took a large percentage. 10 thought something like 10 per cent, lis wish was as a tirst reform, and ho ook it to be the wish of the meeting as veil, that all monies raised in the riding houldbo expended therein, less in perrcntnito for working expenses, no natter whether it was termed a [eueral, a separate or a special rate, ntepayora do not-rcquire any assistance I'om othor Ridings (have nevor got it 'et) and do not desire that any should be fiven. In his opinion tho matter would lever be better while tho Council was onstituted as it is at proaent, and it will dways be a drug and not a benefit. .Vhilst the County had Govenmieu t vork to carry out it worked well ouough .nd did good work, but that day is gone lever again to return. The true solution s to be found in the uow County Act ('here on a petitiou being signodby threeifths of the County ratepayers, tho /hairmnn of Road Boards become the Jounty Councillors. Ho (Mr Macquarrie) ut concludingsaid that to continue payng a three farthing rate to the Couuoil ut return for which the settlers get sixbpii miles of road maintained, is the leight of foolishness, if by any possible iioaiis it can be got rid of. The question is admitted was a wide one and hard to olvo, but ho was satisfied that if ratelayers put thoir heads together aud forked shoulder to shoulder winders muld be done.

The following resolutions were proposed and carried unanimously ;■— That in the opinion of this meeting of Alfredtoii settlers, the time has arrived that action should bo taken to resist the injustice suffered by certain portious of the County, through, the Bystein curried on by the County Council of levying a largo general rate (or the purpose of making the entire County pay for liabilities incurred for the boneiit of certain other portions, notablv, tho yearly interest on a debt, of £2500, and the building arid repairing of bridges in the Masterton Hiding, and that the County be called upon to refund to the Ridings nob interested, the share of interest paid by each on tho said £2600, sincu the time that the Council recognised tho principle that Ridings had separate interests. That iii the opinion of this meeting tho most equitablo system of Ootiuty representation is that under the new County Act, where at tho wish of three-fifths of the County ratepayers, the Chairmen of Road Boards become the County Councillors, bringing in this way tho County Council and the Road Boards into complete accord. That steps be taken to enlist tbo sympathies of ratepayers interested in the foregoing resolutions, and that a Committee be appointed to cany out theso resolutions,

After disposing of these County matters the meeting took .up the question of subdividing thn Road District, when, after swiie slight discussion, it was resolved to petition the Board to have tho district cut up into four subdivisions, nud a committee w.lB appointed to carry this through. Tiiis concluded, with a vote of thank's to the Chairman, a moat orderly and representative meeting, and if. one thing more than another could be gathered from the meeting it was a Btrong antiCounty feeling. This is tho more worthy of remark when it ia remembered that two or throe years ago, only two settlers in the district could no persuaded to sign the auspoijßutn petition, I hear that Mr Eli Smith has been returned for tho Council unopposed, in place of Mr Good, tho late representative. Mr Smith has good natural gifts, aDd has nmdo a good aud useful mombor of tho local Road Board. On County matters he represents tho feelings of a large majority at this side of the Hiding, and if 1 mistake not also of a majority at tho Eketahuna and Mangaone Bide. He is atroug anti-Council, and I am mistaken if he is a mau to bo wheedled round when ho joins the select circle at tho Council table,

[VKOM ANOTHER OOEBtSPONDENT.J A meetiug of Bottlers was held last Tuesday in Messrs Macquarie Bros.' wool-shed. There was a large turn out. Mr C. G. Good presided. The first business was the report of tho school site committee, which stated that tho committee had been successful in scouring twenty acres for tho sohool site, and expressed their indebtedness to Mr G. Beetham, for the manner in which that gentleman had worked for them. The report was adopted, Mr Duffy dissenting—perhaps the latter was the best recommendation tho committee could possibly receive. Mr 0. Macquarie read a report which Btoted that the Government had granted 100 acres for the ALfredton Riding, and Messrs Marsh, Good, C. Macquarie, Cross, and Smith were the nominated Trustees.

1 may stats that the Alfrcdton people always understood that eomothiu; Lb 250 acres had been laid aside many years age as a reserve, so that they nro now getting a gift of 100 acres out of the 250 acres that they looked upon as their own. Mr Good intimated that ho had resigned his poaition in tho County Council, and after florae discussion a committee was appointed to secure a candidate.

A considerable amourt of irregular discussion took place on the wisdom or othorwiso of raising a loan under the Local Bodies Finance scheme, and which came to nothing. Motions were made and not Boconded; ninondmonts wore moved, and were equally well supported. The meeting at thiskage was treated to a very lengthened onslaught on the County system in general, and the Wairarapa East County in particular. Some resolutions were adopted and a a oommittee appointed with .frowns to keen their eyes on the W.JS.G.C. The subject of the wool and atoves carrying of the district tvas brought forward, and it was resolved to call, for tenders.

There is a mate which I think is not generally known in this district, and some peraonahavenoverknownwhat a risk they run, that is that there is a heavy penalty attached to the shooting of wild cattle on Crown Lands, Woll perhaps the shooting of wild cattle is not such a dreadful thing oven whon a wild bullock

a knocked down . occasiuA'nlly. objdetiori is that- fcheae persons Jonse.tletf : .'— dotta—ferocious bull-dogs, not let loose on their own land but Whh ■- do hot think anythhrgof lejivins? behind . on their neighbor's, pri/pettf. " A winfc■"', • . is'as good as a'nod t»,a blind, horse." ' ~'_ We have never, before, had our riiads inauch condUioj) : .at.t.hw of year. The Ek'etahuna Eoad is now in good order, indeed it has not been what • ';;, we consider bad during the winter. Those who are so, anxifms' to : borrow for. metalling should think" once, twicei mid even three times,beforedoingso. Wehai'e now a good summer road and- we can ,put up with a little mud in'winferand expend our money elsewhere. r «- ,r-