WAIKATO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 858, 8 December 1877, Page 2

WAIKATO COUNTY COUNCIL.

ANNUAL MEETING. ! The Waikato County Council annual meeting took place at the Council Chamber, Hamilton East, at noon on Wednesday last, having been adjourned from the day appointed by Act, Wednesday, the 28th ultimo.

There was a full attendance of councillors —F. U. Claude, Esq., (Chairman), with Councillors Clarke, Cu.nming, Leslie, Gail, Kirkwood, and Whyte. The principal event of the day was the appoiutment of a Chairman tor the ensuing yem\ Mr Claude was no ninatod by Councillor Kirkwood, seconded by Councillor Leslie. He (Mr Claude) thanked the Couucil for the wish to continue hi in in the chair, but hj >ught that, as there was a probability of his leaving the district in a short time, that it would be better to elec;. some othor councillor.

Mr Kirkwood sfated, in reply, ihit the Council were unanimous in he wish that Mr Claude would con«iu e to'be Chairman, and, if he did leave the district, and fooni it inc mvenient to occupy the position, ue coulu at any time resign. The motion waa, thereto re put — "Tuat Councillor F R. Claude be Chairman of the Council for she ensuing year/' and carried unanimously.

The minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed, correspondence gone through, and accounts passed and ordered to be paid to the amount of £l7 9s 4d.

FORMATION OP SWAMP ROAD. Tenders for the making of 110 chains of read, from Mr Coucs' farm to Cook-street, Hamilton J&tst, were opened by the Caairman, and and were found to be—Messrs Kyadale & Co., 18s 6d par chain of lorinaiion ; Jtlß for the bridge; and, for extra drainage work, 5d per cubic yard.—Mr W. Q,welJ, 26a per chain, iuo<tiding bridge ami 51 per yard for extra work.—Mr Birmingham, 27* per chain of formauon j £ls for bridge; £9 lor culvert and 6d per yard for extra work. —Mr Lhurs, 25a per chain; £25 for bridge; and 5d per yard tor extra work.—Mr Joshua Smith, A2s 9d per chaiu of formation, including bringe, and 6d per yard for extra work. Councilor Kitkwood moved •* Tuat tne tender of Messrs JEtysdale iad Co., oemg the lowest, be accepted." Seconded by Coancillor Camming, and carried. SLAUGHTERHOUSE LICENSES.

Licenses to slaughter cattle were granted, on amplication, lo Mr B. Brown, of Tiupiri, and Mr Jas. ohirley, of R inginri. AMIABLE THOUGH HUNGRY. Before adjourning to luno >, Councillor Wbyte m ived a vote of .hanks to the Chairman for th • manner in which hj:» had conducted die business of the county since is establishment. Councillor C arks seconded, and the Cuairmau replied. WAER.\NGI ROAD. The council resumed at 2.30 a.id the chairman read a report by Mr L\ G. Sandes upon the Waerangi road which he had been employeJ •>y the Council to lay out, and after i considerable deal of discussion as to ways and means Councillor Lesiie noved that tenders be advertised for at once, that the contribution promised by the settlers about £7O be obtained by Councillor Gall for the Council.

Councillor Clarke seconded, and the motion was agreed to, when C mncilior Kirkwood moved that iu order to permit the work to be finished during the fine weather, the tenders bo|ca led for within ton days and that the chairman with Councillor Cummiug and Whyte form a committee to receive and accept on behalf of the Council. The ant ion was seconded by Councillor Gall and carried. ! PIAKO -CAMBRIDGE ROAD. In aecordance with a resolution passed at the last meeting in refe rence to a sum of money proposed to be given to the Cambridge riding, either to gravel the Hamilton and Cambridge road or to help to open a new road from Cambridge to Piako. Councillor Kirkwood reported that he and Council lor Clarke had ascertained the wishes of iheir cointitiiHUts in the matter and found the general desire to be that the money be s,ieut in opening up i he new roa I—lie therefore move J tnat any County funis accruing to trie Cambridge riding be handed over to the Cambri ige Highway B mrd for the specified purpose of constructing a r >a>l from Cimbridge to Piaki. The motiou w«is seconded by Councillor Com uing and earned. HAMILTON—PIAKO ROAD. Councillor Whyte drew the attention o£ tiie Council to the state of the Hamilton—Piako road which is

partly in thd Highway District of Kirikiriroa and P arl >y n^a;^ he stated that a money had been coMributei- ~h|£ private Aindividualsk |||j was fltfjk uncompiited e Wi to assist M the g| fH|#f. *k e moved thai any§|maoMing td bW Kxnkxtm V|ri® Mp "Cojuxtj/ funds bVgiven ftTtGe'KirikiriaMj district board forjjhe purpose ©F improving th& Tawara road. that it would be better to at onoe vote a definite sum for the purposes above tnentignedf-he,. ..wpald . fore ask 'CounbUibf Whyte to withdraw hismotion, and- he moveld instead that the sum of £IOO Ife granted to the Cambridge ißoard, and £7O to the KirikiriroVßbard, tj be spent in improving the • roaa between the Piako,- Cambridge add Hturilton. This., motion seconded by Councillor Gall, and carried, •' • -' ; '" ; * "'.■ : -'■'■"-•' j MEETINGS OP CO U NCIL. Councillor Gall suggested that a meeting of the Council every second motitn instead of monthly would be sufficient. Councillors objected, 8 ating thai they had found hitherto that tbey had as uuch work at their meetings as they could get through with in one day, and they won d not wish to sit for two days, at a time.

Councillor therefore, moved, aud Councillor.,, Leslie *eomdel—"That the» meetings lor the future be held monthly, at the. hour of 11 a.m. on the Friday on or before fnlf moon." Agreed to. . THE HAMILTON FBRRV APPROACHES.

Councillor Whyte proposed that a mum of <£3Q be spent in improving the approaches to the Hamilton Ferry. At present they were in a very dangerous state, and as thw County derived a revenue from trie Punt, it was only right that some of it should be spent on the road.

Counoillor Leslie seconded the motion, and it was passed. The Cuairraan mentioned that the lessee of the Puut had been irregular in his payment of the reut lately. It was unpaid for Nove über, and was now twelve days overdue.

The Clerk was instructed to write to Mr Potter, aud request immediate payment of trie November reut, and more punctuality in the future.

THE READJUSTMENT OF REPRESENTATION. In accordance with public notice given, Councillor Whyte brought forward hw motion for conformation "That the representations of Ridings in the County be more equably adjusted by allotting- three members to Kirikiriroa, two to Cambridge, one to Tamahere, and one to Rangiriri." . He stated that, as be hal already given good reasons for bringing forward this motion, which was carried without division at last mpeting', he wou'd not further occupy the time of the Council, except to ci 11 attention to the extraordinary discrepancy between the Electoral R 11 df »he Cambridge Town Board and the Rate-book. In the former, some 370 independent electors were shown, while the latter contained more than a hundred less names, so that in matter of population Kirikiroa really stood in a better position th?in he bad previously stated. He concluded by moving that the resolution be confirmed. Counc llor Call seconded the resolution.

Councillor Leslie had no objection to the takiug of one member from Tumabere, but he doubted the promiety of addinjf one at the present t : me to Kiriki-iroa. The motion, he said, was premature. Cambridge was progressing rapidly in population aud in rateable value, and in <» very short time would equ>il Kiri. kiriro u In the mo ith of March next, .:he annual returns would be rendered by boards, which would enable the Council to come to a better conclusion than at the present time. He would oppose the confirmation of the motion.

Councillo - Clarke produced a formidable array of figures, to prove that Kirikiriroa was not entitled to an additional membei. Cambridge riding had 364 electors, and will, or ought to collect £545 during the current vear from and license fees, while the district generally is progressing more rapidly than Kirikiriroa. He agreed with Councillor Leslie that the motion had been brought forward too soon. March nexb would be time enough to decide the question. Councillor Kirkwood wouM agree to postpone the question till after the 31st Maroh next, and Councillor Cummin? said, although Councillor Clarke's figures did not tend to alter his opinion, he did not see much harm in allowing the matter to stand over till 31 *t March.

The Chairman was of opinion that the figures did not; much alter the case; and, provided it was ' understood definitely that the question would be settled in time to avoid interfering with the next general election, he would agree to the postponement, The motion was shelved for four mon'liK. Councillor C : a*ke drew the attention of the C mncji to clause 60 of the Counties Act. He did not think it was that the Council should hive tie power to alter the representation without being subject to the not r.»val of the Governor. Councillors appearei generally to differ .Vnm C uncillo.' Clarke ; the Goverror meant the Ministry for the tine being, and it was urged that car local affuirs might be managed wi hont reference to thorn, j Tin's concluded the busiuegg of j the meeting. '

RESIDENT MA.aiSTftA.TES gpnggt ■ ooattT. | W. N. S«»r«.uck . Bq., R. M.) P Mj , VAGRANCY. i jfipiiaoj Miys, George Mays, ylpljiam HaakiiH, and Djuald ptclntyre were charged by C justabte Mttrray with a breach of subsection 5, section in a piaoe of publioj r resort, to wit, bathing in the Waikato'"river, ne*r HimiU ton West r and : , East, on the 27th NoTOmbet.- " : . ;Iho r lads were under • tha imprest, sidn they. cx>nld baTheiai the river afterf-fi jp?nii? and pleaded guilty. I ; TKe dfra'rge was dliruissed on payment of costs, 6.ij"6d. T ., N. R. Cox v Regan.—Claim £5 '9ij 3d. | Noi.defencfe. -Judgment for plaintiff, with co-its, 14*. Claim £'3 ss. A. farther adjournment of this case was applied tor defendant to pay. costs. ..of adjournment, and plaintiff's reasonable expenses—on the ground that a 'very material witness was not to be obtain< d as yet. Adjourned accordingly to 14th instant, r v

Beale v Hollowiy.—Claim £& 165.. Adpimied tu-the 14ch ibs^ w Licensing coukt, 'tuwtiZ ■./. TON. T Thursday, December 6, 1877. (Before W N Esq, R M, (Ctjairnjwi), A Cox and 8 8 Qrahim, E*qs.) Alexander, Crawford applied for a license for a house, to be called the Piako Hotel. There was an objection filed by F Strange, of Piako, against the granting of the lie use ; also a memorial against it, signed by a number of. householders of the district. John Wood, landlorl of the Nottingham Castle tiote), Piako, sworn, stated, that the a.:com:nodation he provided was quite .sulfijieut for the district—that he was even now building some exu'a bedrooms tor working men. There was not sufficient trade to support two houses.

To Mr Crawford—l nuy have sent a man to your house, b.-c .use I could not accommodate him. John Turnbull, sworn s tid, I am a settler residing- at Piako. The Nottingham ' Castle fl jtel is too good for the district, is well conducted and kept very clean. I .iever heard any complain s about tho house or of exees-ive I do not consider there ia autfijiant trade for two hotels. 1 rem« iiber when Mr Crawford had a license fo> the Piako Hotel. That house was not a suitable place for a hotel. To Mr Crawford : Y~urs was the only hotel there then. You otdy commenced to make improvements when the talk of another house was made. lam perfectly satisfied witb Mr Wood's house.

fredrick Strange, sworn, said I am * farmer residing atWaitoa. I of en pass through P»ako. I know Mr Wood's hotel. It is conduced very well, and his charges ure reasonable. I have stayed at Mr Crawford's before Mr Wood's houae whs rrected. Mr Wood's house is supeiior in every way. I do not consider there is room lor two hotels at Piako To Mr-Crawford: t had some very good meals in your house and plenty of bad.

Mr Crawford oulle 1 on B B Baale, who was sworn, and said I was Wood's hotel for two days. I was charged 3s for meals and The attention I rec -ived w*s very good, except on the last morning. James Walker, sworn, said I reside at Piako. I kue*/ the Pi.»ko H.jtel. Every time I was there I was well satisfied. I thiuk two houses would be good for trade. W S Harp, sworn, said I am a carrier and storekeeper. I both the houses. Mr Wood's charges are most exorbitant. He charges 3d for a s*n.»ll glass af beer; Is 3d for a bottle of beer ; and 8s for a bottle of brandy My opinion is that another ho: el is required.

W Neilaon, sworn, said I reside at Hamilton. I remember going to the Piako. I wanted some refreshments which I got at Mr Wood's. On the Sunday afternoon, Mr aud Mrs Wood had gone out for a walk. There was no water iu the tad-room jug. I bod to wash at the creek. To Mr Hay: The House was clean. I paid ail I was tsked for. I was not charged for washing. The application was refused. COMMERCIAL HOTEL. The license of tbis hotel was transferred from W Walker to W Pearce.