PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2232, 28 October 1886, Page 3

PIAKO COUNTY COUNCIL.

The usual monthly meeting of the councl wa-. held at the Borough Council Chamber--, Hamilton, yesterday. Present : Messrs W. L. C. Williams (chairman), E. Mac'oui, W: r. Chcpmell, W. T. Firth, H. Uruuskill, D. Murphy, and J. B. Smith. Wilson's Road, Waioroxgomai. — The Clerk reported that the necessary steps had beon taken to open this road, and it had now been gazetted. Mr Chopmell pointed out that the road had, contrary to the iNual practice, been se.sted in the chairman, conncillors and inhabitants of the county. He moved that the cleik write to the Government to tv>k why the land w.i-% not vested in the Crown. The motion was seconded by the- chanman and cauied.

Clark k 3 Drun.— Mr Mackv wr.ito, stating that the money spent on the di un had been waited, owing to a misunderstanding. He thought the council were Bot treating him fairly in asking him to dean out the diain, seeing that the engiueec had given him permission to iill it up. Ihe pniper course for the water was in another direction, "Rather than ;,<> to ln\v, he would cliun out the dnin.— The FOmjineer reported that .since the letter was written Mr Mucky had told him that he ■tyoutd not cWn out the drain, and he (Hip engineer) had accordingly taken legal proceedings.

Hosiuru, v\n Cn viur\i;r,K Aid.— Mr W. M. Hay, solicitor, \woto, in an.su er to a letter from the council, as follows : — Hamilton, 23rd October, 188<>. Chas. Tuck, Esq., the clerk of the Piako County Council. Sir, — I have carefully considered the Question submitted by yon for my opinion as to the likelihood of your council b-jing successful in an appeal undor section 2~> of "The Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act, ISSS," against the justice of the delpatld* made for contributions bv tho Thames Ht^pit.xl Bt>ard, and tl>e Thames and Coromanddl United Charitable Aid Board. I am of opinion that the appeal can be made, and should be successful in reducing; the contribution to a fair and just amount. ' The council ha* no doubt to some extent, prejudiced- the case by not taking prompt action in the matter, but I cannot find that they have done anything which could bo con^tiucd into an acquiescence in the justice of the demands. The council would be quite justified in resisting payment of such large sums on a much weaker case. They are trustees of th^ money, find as such it is their duty to exhaust all legil means of resisting such demands before paying them. There are two courses open for the council. 1. To appeal under sections 25 and 41 of the original Act. 2. To decline to pay until sued by the demandant boards, and an ad verso judgment given. The council may pursue either or both of these courses, and I strongly advise them to take both. In the one easj they wou'd remain liable to pay the amount d°cid°d to b«s just by the commissioners, and in the other they might avoid payment of the whole amount, notwithstanding the decision of the commissioners, as it is open to considerable do lbt, on ground--, meritorious as well as technical, whether the contiibutionb can be reovered by action. I fe >r thit the money already paid by the Colonial Troisarer to the denundant boards cannot be recovered by any process of law. The powers given by section 28 of the amending Act for recovering contributions are very large, but in the face of manifest injustice, coupled (in the case of judgment in the council's favour) with illc gality, I do not think these large powers would be exercise! by the Government, who would no doubt re-t satisfied with the decision of a court of law. The operation of section 30 of the amending Act being suspended until April is unfoitunate, bosides being a gross injustice to your c mntv. I have no hesitation in saying that while there is no absolute certainty of success in the appeal, there is every likelihood of it, and whatever the result may be it is the clear duty ot the council to appeal, and to exhaust all legal nmans of resisting payment. The opinion of yours faithfully,

W\r. Macurkgor Hay. The secretary of the Thames United B>ard wrote acknowledging the receipt of contributions due up to August 17th, and intimating tint the B>ard would ta lce legal step? to recover th 3 bita:ic3 up to the 31->t March. —A. letter from the Premier's office was received, civonn? a, copy of the Gazette containing notifications in connection with tlifi election of the now board. — Tn? C^r'c siid it w, mid be nijeos.iry t.> Jiold a malting on th ) 17rh November for the purpose of electi.ior two members to sit on thi new board. — The Chiirm.m siid they nvsht as well di^cu^s the question, and -50 a\oid the need of having more tlnn a quoru'T. on the 17th. T.i >ngh it was not necessary tint tin member-, of the Hospit.il Board -should also bo humu'hms of tho council, he thought ifc desinble to elect th a ,tn f iv »'ii ai'ion^-,t their imnbidy. — Cr. Murphy s'lgg^-t^d that they should noiuin'ite a couple of gentium, who c i.ild be form illy clrct^d .it tho in vtmg on the 17th. — It »vas ultimately .igroe 1 that a qnor.uri shniild attend the meeting, the solecti m of representatives to ho m.ide at thAt nnet'ng.— Regarding Mr HajV opiuion, the Chairman pointed out th.it it was wiitton upon a cisc \mt to him before tho Attorney-General's opinion had been made know \ —The Clerk t»\id that it would, in vi ra w of tlu fact that the Thames Board had threatened them with an acti r\, be nec^siiry to adopt one of the courses propc sed by Mr H.iy — Mr Chcpniell sn i in his opinion Section 30 of the Amended Act was simj)ly snrpluMgc. The section uhic'i eff 3^t id then was 49.— On thei m )tion of Cr. C'.iepmoll tlie 'nitter was loffc in t!.e hvidi of tho c'liii.ir.n, who wai enj)* wered to t>lco tho nucvary steps t > protect the council, by appealing or otherwise.

CamiMudgk Taukanga Road.— A letter was roomed from the Public; Works Dopii'tmdut, intunatiug that, there were no funcU available for expenditure on tbU ro id. — Cr. M lo'ean haul .ib >at £3~>oo hid b33n expondel om bridi^a whuh, from bavinpf n > appr.i.iches, wero teally iiaele^s. — Ssvuiwl o mu'JiU'iis co'nniented on the folly of building bridge? and leaving them without apprn.ichph, and Cr. Brun^kill said there was littlo doubt th.it many of the .structures would bo de.stroyed by fire. — The Ghaiiimn looked upon the whole work as a mistake. He hid always opp;>3ed the construction of the r.iad. — It was resolved to write to the Government, drawing their attention to the .state of the bridges in Question.

Rovn at M^vuwvharv. — Mr Geo. Walker, jim., wrote asking the council to expend £10 on the road between the Mmgawhaiu railway station and the Alan#awhero bridge.— After some dis-cu?Mon as to finances, in the course of winch the clerk said the overdraft was in a healthier condition than' it had been for some tithe, the request was, on the motion of Cr. Maclean, deolineil. „, Tl AT- 1,1 -XT 1"1_..

SnAKi'E->»unY Tload. — Mr E. Y. Cox wrote, a->kin;* thaounqil to vote 5100, to bo apent by .1 committee con&i>tin« of Mp.h&rs Roche, Herries and the writer.— The Cleric reported that £7-1") had been allocated on the strength of three special rates and subbides which had yielded £739.— Cr. Murphy said the road to Shaftesbury was in a very bad condition, and something oucfht to be done without delay, as it was getting worse and worse. He would, however, movp that the matter be deferred until ne\t meeting, in order that Mr J. C. Fiith might be piesent.—This was aecondLd by Or. Maclean and carried.

The Success Mini?.— The manager of this mine, at YVaiorongoniai, wrote, asking the council to extend, the tramway to the fnmo from the head of Butler's spur grade. He pointed oat that the mine pos^ebsr.u an abundance <»£ payable quaitz and tho council would ther°foie materially increa-e the revenue by acceding to the lequeot. It would not ba nece^ary to conduct a tiaxk as one existed.— Cr. Murphy strongly suppoited the prayer of the application. Too hne was only ~H chains in length, and Jje had it From the" tramway manager that there were sufficient sleepers and lails on the ground. The applicants word ready, if the council were not willing to undeitake the work, to do it themselves, piowded the council would mike them a grant of £10 and supply the materials the ti.imw.iy to vest in the council. He was quite huo that if the work were cayried out a large access C,f tramway revenue would be leahxH.— The Chairman said the raiN an<l .sleepers were on the ground doing no good He thought the council should vote £10, and give the materiala.— Cr. Murphy suggested that the tramway manager be asked to report. He could tell them that Mr Gavin h opinion was that it would be better to. allow the applicants topmfonn tho woik, asa it could not be done for £10.— It was 10oolved that a hiibsidy of £10 be granted in ail of the work, tho said work to be execute 1 under the supervision of the tramway manager.

Thu Tur Track. — ivlr Uavm, tiie manager of the tramway, forwarded Ins report dealing with the proposed tiack l-> the Tm mines. He had gone carehilly over the ground, but suggested that bef me •xnv work was undertaken that it bJwi*l4 thoroughly prospected by com-

potent persons.— After some discussion it was roM)ived on tho motion of Cr. Murphy th.it the council tike stops to h.wo tho wirlv ciriied out without delay, as far as fund*, in hand (£9O) would permit, and tho council apply to tho Government for a subsidy upon the amount required to comnleto tiaclc.

Thk Tuamway.— Mr (Ta\in sent in his usual teport. The lato bad weather had done lvi material damage, though woik had been delayed for some days. Some improvements had been effected in the machine! y of the tramway. The total revenue amounted to £71 2- (id ; the working 1 expenses, l">(» 2s f»d, in addition^ to which re pans, &c, had cost €23 Os fid: m iking the loUl expenditure €7!) 3a 3d.— Sumo discu^ion then onsuod in regard to the fees ehaiged for up freight, reference being nude to the larg* quantities ()t coal taken up. —The Clerk was authorised to ii^truct the manager to charge only what would cover the expenses of haulage.

Wunor-Mu'AUU'A Ro\i).-Cr. Chepinell, on behalf of the Wattoa "Road Board, apnlud for a prant of £40 to construct a bu'dgc .md appioachos on a ]>mtion of tins r>>ad, now nnd< r construction, running through tho M.it.unata Road Di^tiict. Ho a. lasted that tho council levy a rate of jd in tho £ upon the Matamata liding.— Cr. Firth stroncly ohjectid to this proposal.— Gi. ChiM>iupH s.\id tho Matamata Road Ho.udjn times past handed hundreds of pounds back to tho (io\ eminent, 'father than levy tho l.itos nocess.uy h\ order to retain it. TTo moved that tho rate be struck. — Cr. Murphy said a smaller rate would do. A farthing rate would realise €145.— Cr. Smith seconded tho motion.— Or. Firth moved and Cr. Maclean seconded ,m amendment that the rate be not evied. —In reply to Cr. Firth, Cr, Chcptnell said that -tho road was being constructed out of loan and i would prohibly co^t about £2000. After some fiuther discussion the amendment was canied.- -Cr Maclean *aid the matter could bo gone into when Mr .T. 0. Firth returned, as ho quite recoßimed tho necessity of tho work. ' ,

Thk OVKRtniAFT. — The Clork reported that the overdraft at present amounted to Acorn NTS.— A number of accounts were passed for payment, and the council rose.