WAIKATO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 939, 29 June 1878, Page 2

WAIKATO COUNTY COUNCIL.

A special meeting of the Waikato County Oouueil was held yesterday afternoon, for the purpose of considering the pi'oposed amendment in the representation of the ridings. Present: Or. Claude in the chair, Crs. White, Gall, Leslie, Clarke, Kirkwood, and Camming. Or. Clark in moving the motion of which ne had givon notice read the following comparative stateent: Cambridge Biding:—Number of inhabitants, 1010; electors, 340; area, 27,92J , rateable value, £13,18? 13s 3d; rates collected to March, 31, 1878, £525 17s 2d; publicans' and auctioneers' licenses, £140; butchers' fees, £4O. Total, £705 17s 2d. # „ Kirikiriroa Riding:—lnhabitants, 581; eleotors, 201; area, 107,738; rateable value, £13,511 19; rates collected to March. 31, 1878, £413 9s sd; publican's license, £2O ; butchers' fees, £O. Total, £433 9s sd.

They would see by those figures that he was only seeking bare justice for Cambridge, and that if he were to strive to exact due representation tor that riding he would ask for four members for Cambridge and three for Kirikiriroa. He thought they would all agree*with him as to the immense advantage of keeping this county as strong as they possifely could, and the only way they could do that was by dealing out evenhanded justice to all parties concerned. If they resorted to the rule of right other ridings in the county would be seeking for fairer fields. He was fully aware some Councillors had been much exercised lest Cambridge should become a Borough, but that after it had obtained its representation the Kirikiriroa Riding would be considerably worsted in consequence of such occurence. He did nob come there with flimsy tales, and as a representitave of Cambridge Riding had made it his business to enquire of the leading persons in (the town of Cambridge, who had stated that so long as the Council gave them justice they had no desire to go into a Borough. And if he knew the temper of Cambridge rightly, they were not so green as to reduce themselves from a fivsfc-class riding into two comparatively insignificant bodies. As a whole they were an important body, but if divided into tw? parts they would not be so important. There weie very arbitrary powers granted to them by the Counties Act; the eyes of othercounties were watching their actions in this malterj and he trusted it would not be said that it was the first county to' take advantage of those arbitrary powers. The Cambridge riding had nothing to lose by separating itself from Kirikiriroa, but lie did not think the latter could say it would lose nothing'by severance from Cambridge. The Kirikiriroa people might say they had got rid of a troublesome lot of fellows, but they would not have the

same weight in the country by themselves as to be able to go to the Government and- pull the strings when they wanted to, t and wi.ilst many people would be anxious to join a rich and important riding, there were few willing to link themselves to a large, but poor and scattered riding. Some people kid stress upon the large area of Kirikiriroa—lo7,737 acres ; but when they took from that 86,000 acres belonging to the Swamp Company and looked at the country between Hamilton and Ngaruawahia he did not think there was a great deal to bo proud of. He would simply leave the matter to their seuce of justice. He might say tuere was talk some time ago of Cambridge joiuing with other ridings in other counties, and forming a county. Some Councillors might think such a scheme would lapse from want of power to carry it out, but he could assure them that it was simply the kind manner in which the Council had been working that prevented its baing attemp-' ted. So loilg as the Council worked harmoniously, he, as a representative of Cambridge, would do his best to ensure their sticking /"'together. But, if the law of might we»*e going to rule in the Council, he would be the first to put his brains to work in order to see his way out of it. Those who know the temper of the Cambridge people knew tbey were not the people to sit down end cry over spilt milk, but would endeavor to find their way out of the difficulty. He begged to move,

That the representation of the County be amended by taking one member from Tamahere and adding one each to Cambridge and Kirikiriroa, making eight members in all. Or. Leslie had very great pleasure in seconding the motion. The mover in describing the temper of the Cambridge people in reference to separation from the rest of the County of Waikato had detailed most strictly anp truly the feeling of Tamahere; and although they were but few in number yet with the exception of two ratepayers they held to each ether like wax, and were determined in the event of their riding being extinguished to assist in forming such a county as would put the present Waikato County in the shade. He was peculiarly situated in regard to the amendment of Or. Uumming. His colleague went in on the same ticket as himself, declaring as an honest and truthful man that he would work his best for the district he represented, and now what took place ? A. most unheard of proceeding !—a member bringing forward a motion for the abrogation of the district he represented. Hejjheld in his hand a petition from the ratepayers of Tamahere on this subject, signed, \'e believed, by every ratepayer in the district, except Mr Cumming and Captain Steele, to the following effect: —

We, the undersigned ratepayers in the Riding of Tamahere, County of Waikato, most respectfully bring before the members of the County Council the great injustice that is threatened by the proposal to do away with the Riding of Tamahere by dividing it between Cambridge and Kirikiriroa, and we appeal to the members of the Waikato County Council to prevent such an arbitrary and unjust act; and we are lost in astonishment, that such a proposal should emanate from one of our representatives, viz., Cr. Cumming, who was placed in that position by us on his solemn promise to faithfully uphold to the best of his ability the interests of Tamahere. We have no desire to be represented by two members in the County Council, but strongly object to the Riding of Tamahere being done away with or altered. (Here follow signatures.)

The division of Tamahere, proposed by Councillor Cumming, was a most extraordinary one, and displayed a remarkable ignorance of the district Cr. Cumming was representing. He appealed to the honor, to the justice, and to the decency of that Council to say whether or not Tamahere was to be burked and murdered, and the first stab to be inflicted by one of its own representatives. Well might he exclaim Et tu Brute / He would not waste any words. If it was a foregone conclusion, he might speak in rain, even with the tongue of an Angel. Before he sac down, however, he would appeal to the Councillors, not to lend themselves to a despicable proposition. Cr Kirkwood in supporting the motion observed that after the remarks of the two previous speakers there was very little left for him to say. He had expected even handed justice from the Council, but Crs. were making use of their power to rub out an important riding. So far as Cambridge and Tamahere were concerned he would not feel very much alarmed even if the Council succeeded in carrying Cr. Cumming's resolution. He feltquite sure that Cambridge would be the centre of one of the richest Counties in the Waikato district and was not at all afraid on its account.

Cr. Gumming' wished to reply to charges made against him by Or. Leslie. He was not aware that he was looked upon as a Ct\ for Tamahfire. He was elected for that district on the understanding that he was to be turned over for Kirikiriroa. He regardeil himself as a third member for Kirikiriroa.

Cr. Leslie : You have certainly acted as such.

Cr. Camming : It does not require two of us to represent 25 elector 3.

Cr. Leslie : I ask Cr Camming as an honest man to say whether or nob he did not go in to represent Tamahere? I can produce witnesses who heard him say be dicL

I can see now he was a wolf in shcop's clothing. Cr. Curnmiug: I can produce men to substantiate what I say, that I was to turn over to Kirikiriroa.

Cr. Clark said the question simply was did Kirikiriroa or Tamahere return Cr. Gumming as its representative 1

Cr. Whyte thought that no doubt Cr. Cumming, in the course he was taking, believed he was acting in the interests of Tamahere. Or. Leslie in answer to this would refer the Council to the petition he had read. Cr. Whyte said, one of the gentlemen who had signed the petition had said that if the proposition had been to abolish the Highway District altogether, he would have supported it. The Council then divided on Cr. Clark's motion as follows; For Crs. Clark, Kirkwood, and Leslie. Against: Crs. Whyte, Gall, Cumming, and Claude. The motion was consequently negatived. Or. Cumming said he would move the motion of which he had given notice and which he brought forward in the conscientious belief that it was calculated to benefit the Tamahere Riding. The major .portion of what stake he had in the country was in that district, and it was not likely that he would do anything inimical to its interests. It would be a good thing if the Tamahere highway district were done away with altogether. It was standing between two flourishing districts, doing nothing—the roads r? being impassable,—rand it would be for the benefit of the .riding for it to be divided as he proposed. There were only 27 electors altogether in the riding. It was distinctly stated and understood that he was going in nominally for Tamahere to be turned over for Kirikiriroa immediatelv upon being returned. He could bring clear and decided proof of that; it was stated in the presence of Mr Leslie. As for the petition, it was possible to get people to sign anything of that description in favor of almost anything. The amendment of the boundaries whioh he proposed would stand for years to come, unless, of course, the threat which had been held out was carried into effect. The majority in the Council had often made concessions where they could have carried matters with a high hand. No one with any sense of justice could help acknowledging that his proposed division was a fair one, and, knowing the state of the roads and everything in the Tamahere Riding, he was convinced that, if carried, the motion would result in ultimate good to that district. He begged to move:— " That the existing boundaries of ridings be altered, and the representation of the County in Council be amended by dividing the Riding of Tamahere into two portions as nearly equal as may be convanient, the one portion to be added to the Riding af Cambridge and the other portion to the Riding of Kirikiriroa." The motion as originally made described the proposed division, but, on Cr. Leslie pointiug out inaccuricies in the boundaries, it was amended as above. Cr. White supported the resolution for three reasons. It appeared, to him to be the only fair way of adjusting the representation without increasing the number of members. The second reason was, that the interests of the two ends of the district concerned were distinct and separate, and that the great majority of the ratepayers were not interested in any works required to be done in the northern end of the district, which had consequently always been neglected. His third reason was that the riding only contained a few people, raised hardly any money, did next to nothing, and did not deserve separate representation. Of course the Tamahere people were quite at liberty if they chose to amalgamate with another county. The other portion of the present county had not benefitted much from the connection. The Tamahere people had been good, sturdy beggars all through. t'r Clarke opposed the motion. There never had been a more unjust and unreasonable proposition made to any public body. It was a most ungrateful proposal, because it was Tamahere that had given Kirikiriroa a preponderance of power in the Council. It would have been easy for Cr. Leslie to have returned a Cambridge man for Tamahere, but he conscientiously believed that Kirikiriroa was entitled to additional representation, and would not do so. As far as Or., jOumming was concerned, he had never heard a more pitiable attempt at justification than that gentleman had made on the present occasion—namely, that he was returned by one riding to represent another Such an explanation might d.o for a schoolboy, but would never receive credence by any man of common sense, and he was astonished to hear Cr. Cumming make such a lame statement. That gentleman had in a most cruel manner betrayed his constituents. Reference had been made to the roads of Tamahere. Now, if the county could deal with the Road Board and wipe It out it would do some good, but that was beyond its powers. "Why did not Councillors come forward honestly and say: "We wish to cut Tamahere in two in order to get the balance of power. We know Rangiriri is at our command, and it will give us 4 fc> 3 In agitating for roads on behalf •£ Tamahere Councillors were not seeking to benefit that locality but to confer advantages upon Cambridge and Hamilton. The roads referred to are of no use to Tamahere but a main thoroughfare to Hamilton and to Cambridge. Neither of the latter places had contributed a farthing towards the road, while Tamahere furnished small amounts of rates had contributed £2O. He could understand Cr. Whyte being anxious about these roads, because he had large properties at »ach end of the district. It was no use wasting words over this matter—it was one of might and not right. If the gentlemen on the other side had simply come forward and said, "We want the balance of power," they would have been respected for their honesty. But, when they came forward and said, " Tamahere does not do this, and does not do that"—. making it- a cloak for securing a power in the Council which they knew they were not entitled to —they deserved the contempt of every honest man.

Cr. Leslie said Tamahere had contributed most liberally to the Hamilton and Piako road. In fact the Tamahere Eoad Board had unselfishly spent a great deal more upon outside roads bhan upon internal ones. Cr. Whyte knew as well as possible that the district in question had given £SO towards the Piako road, and his complaint was a most ungenerous one. Cr. Whyte did not know how much they had spent, but, while every other road, board levies a rate of 8d and 9d in the £, Tamahere only raised 3d. Cr. Leslie said that of that threepence twopence was devoted to roads outside the district.

The Chairman, in alluding to the remarks that had been made about the balance of power, said that the action of the Council had shown that those who had the power had not misused it. Cainbridge had always had its full share.

The figures and all the arguments had been discussed befoie, and it was not worth while to go over them again. lhe motion of Or. Cumming was then put and carried, the following words, which were inadvertently omitted, having been inserted, " And that the representation be amended by giving three members to Cambridge, three to Kirikiriroa, aud one to Rangiriri. This concluded the business for which the special meeting was called.