The Arrow Observe, AND LAKES DISTRICT CHRONICLE. Arrowtown, Thursday, Dec 18, 1879

Lake County Press, Volume VIII, Issue 449, 18 December 1879, Page 2

The Arrow Observe, AND LAKES DISTRICT CHRONICLE. Arrowtown, Thursday, Dec 18, 1879

At the next sitting of the Lake County Council a question of more than ordinary interest to ratepayers will be discussed, which needs considering £&d deciding entirely upon its' merits, and yet is likely; unless the greatest care and most skilful management are brought to bear by the County Chairman, to be discussed in hot .blood and be decided by the. preponderance of factious feeling. The members of the Lake County Council are all most amiable and well-meaning gentlemen!, as individuals; but, like the members of all public bodies, are apt, when assembled in solemn conclave,' to lend themselves, without realising it at the time, to outside pressure from persons who are desirous of gaining some direct or indirect benefit from the resolutions passed in the Council. Iri short, in Lake County, as in everv other community without exception, there .tfre men who assume the rote of "wire-pullers," and regulate, to a greater or less extent; the deliberation's and_ proceedings of representative bodies. As the motion to which we refer is sure to set a number of these gentlemen at work, we take the opportunity of warning our County Councillors against being influenced by then!: "Bather let each Councillor sit down ddtilly before going to the Council, consider Mr M'Dougall's motion in all its bearings, and support that which is most beneficial to the County as a whole. Subjoined is the motion as tabled :

... That, in order,to economise, in the present low state of the funds, travelling allowance to members cease for the present; and, in order to. equalize more fairly the loss of time and. .amount of travelling done by the various members, the business of the Council be transacted at J&rrowtown."

v .This motion commends itself to our minds greatly at first sight by the fact that it advocates retrenchment—where;

unfortunately, very few.public bodies efer thirik of attempting it—at. the travelling-allowance (or' honorarium) of tho nVembers. This', at least, must be taken as most conclusive evidence of the mover's sincerity. The necessity of reducing expenditure somewhere has long been felt und acknowledged by the.Council, who, to accomplish' that object, have cut down the number of men employed" in', road-maintenance to the lowest possible level; : indeed, in . s,ome cases, we f <*ar the reduction has 1 been carried a little too far. However, if the QoUncil affirms! .the soundness" of Mr M'Dougall's niotion in this respect, and applies the knife' at home, some gr umblers will be effectually si fenced, i As a natural outcome of the abolition of payment—and, in fact, bound up with it—rises the question of equalising: the loss which must necessarily fall upon members in attending meetings of the Council. Mr M'Dougall, accordingly, has included in his motion the (fcufeiftion of shifting the business of the Council to Arrowtown. We hardly think a deal of argument can be needed to prove" that the loss will be more equally distributed than at present if the alteration is.made; as a perusal of the'travelling-allowance returns would soon show wliere the greatest sacrifice has to be madev We are unaware that any considerable advantage accrues to a. township through the-tran-saction of County business within its boundaries, and, therefore, are not ■ prepared to go so far; as some in our midst who would advocate merging into the County if Arrowtown was made the seat of County government; . but, on the broad principle of securing the general good of the County by aiding members of the. Council in attending to business with the least possible' loss and inconvenience, we feel bound to support Mr M'Dougall's motion, and to commend his action in bringing it forward.

We confess that we are far.from sanguine as to the result of the debate and division which will take place; although we are confident that, if the case is decided entirely upon its merits, the motion will b© carried in its entirety.