MR. SMITH, M.H.R., AT ORMONDVILLE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3592, 16 January 1883, Page 3

MR. SMITH, M.H.R., AT ORMONDVILLE.

The Omiondville Road Board met at noon on Saturday. Mr "W. C. Smith, M.H.R., was present, and stated that the County Council had granted the request of the Board for the services of the road overseer to lay out a road between Makatoku and Papain, and that the Council had not moved such a resolution as was generally believed to have been earned at the late meeting of the Waipawa County Council. The overseer would lay on' the MnkatokuPapatu road to the best of his ability, and then hand over the plans and specifications to the Road Board, that body spending the money on any part of the road which it thought proper. The grant of £450 which was obtained from the Government (with so much trouble) would lapse on the 31st of March next if a portion of the money was not drawn and contracts let for work enough to expend the balance of the money by that time. He would strongly advise the Board to use dispatch in this matter, so as to lose no part of the grant. In reply to Mr G. Henson, Mr Smith gave his opinion greatly in favour of keeping a Road Board, and advised the members of°tho Board to be unanimous ; and, rather than give up the Road Board, (which being a local body, would understand the requirements of the district) to try and get their district made larger. He could understand that, where money was to be expended, there would always be some ratepayers who ■would not think they were dealt fairly with, but there would be far more dissatisfation if they were an outlying district with their wants attended to by men living many niiles out of their district. Messrs Brabazon, Fothergill, Baines, and Henson then spoke on the subject of the Ormondville cemetery, and asked Mr Smith to try and obtain a piece of ground for another cemetery, as the present one could never be used for that, purpose, and up to the present time those having interments to make had to go to the Norsewood cemetery, a distance of between five and six miles from the nearest part of Ovmondville. Tliis Mr Smith promised to attend to, as also some other matters. Mr Shuirar then proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Smith for his many efforts in behalf of the Onnoudvillc settlers, both in Parliament and in the County Council, saying at the same time that, though the proposition came from him, hehaduever been asupportcr of Mr Smith, quite the reverse, having in fact tried hard to get Mr Smith's opponent at the general election returned for Parliament ; but, since Mr Smith's election, he (Mr Smith) had worked so hard for the district that many who were strongly against him before would not be quite so earnestly working against him in future, even if they were not on his side.