DIRECT ACTION

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXII, Issue 4731, 21 December 1938, Page 5

DIRECT ACTION

POSITION OF COUNTY COUNCIL. SUGGESTION DEPRECATED. The position of a County Council should “direct action” be taken by ratepayers in seeking redress was given by the Waitomo County Council chairman, Cr. W. A. Lee, when at a meeting of the ratepayers of his riding on Monday evening last, he discussed the following resolution, carried at a previous meeting of those ratepayers: “That ratepayers take no individual action in the payment of rates until a decision is reached.” “I hesitate to agree that anything in the nature of direct action is meant,” said Cr. Lee. “The County Council is elected by the ratepayers, but it is elected to carry on the machinery entrusted to it, and it will just have to go on doing its duty.”

Mr. T. N. Snowdon said later in the meeting that if he was given support by others, he would be quite prepared to take his part in direct action.

“You know the dangers of such a procedure? If you have a receiver in office, do you not know which people he will tackle first?” queried Cr. Lee. After the latter had given the reasons why some rates had been raised this year, Mr. Snowdon said, * “My rates v/ere £2 10s a year when I came here.” “So were mine—but then I couldn’t go up to Hamilton in an hour and a half,” smilingly replied Cr. Lee.

“And I’m not so sure we weren’t the better for it,” countered Mr. Snowdon.

When reviewing the position at the end of the meeting Mr. J. F. Roberts said it was not expected that Cr. Lee would be able to support the resolution regarding the withholding of rates—that was a matter for the ratepayers which would have to stand over until the general meeting.