The Arrow Observer, AND LAKES DISTRICT CHRONICLE. Arrowtown, Thubsday, April 29, 1880.

Lake County Press, Volume IX, Issue 468, 29 April 1880, Page 2

The Arrow Observer, AND LAKES DISTRICT CHRONICLE. Arrowtown, Thubsday, April 29, 1880.

The vexed question of Council Chambers is likely to again engage the i attention of County Councillors on Monday next, and we, in common with the ratepayers of the County, sincerely hope that a decision of a satisfactory, common sense, and above-board nature will eventuate. It is, certainly, far from creditable to any representative body that a subject such as this should be allowed to remain unsettled by reason of its being relegated to small sub-committees who may he (we do not say are) worked upon and swayed by outside influences. Taking the late decision of the Council that thoy will not submit the matter to the ratepayers as conclusive, we ,cohtend that it becomes their duty to deal, as a Council, with the question, .and not to surrender their responsibilities (as they did at last meeting) to any of ..their number. To do so evidences either a want of courage or a desire to play into the hands of wire-pullers (and there is every appearance of such existing) outside of the Council. The Work of a sub-committee in a case of such importance should be (and in any wellregulated body would bo) limited to enquiry and report, whereas the County Council has, without the slightest show of reason, placed the outlay of £llOO in the' hands of three members. "Without impugning the integrity of the sub-committee, we say that the principle is utterly unsound, and one which, if pursued, will soon bring the Council and its members into disrepute. These remarks may seem severe, but we feel Convinced that they will commend themselves to all who regard the ques-

tionW involving the principle that no J opening should be left by the Council : whereby the County funds may b'e misapplied or wasted. ! , Th'e mischief of conferring so "much' power oh a sub-committee (if there is any truth in the letter of " Snarleyow " which appears in' our correspondence column) is already apparent, that committee having agreed to purchase, at what appears an exorbitant price, two vacant sections itt Queenstown for' the' purpose of building County offices. We learn from another source that the sub-Committee propose to erect buildings which will Cost about £1200., thus making a' total" expenditure of l some £ISOO to gain little more than the Council at presont secures for a rental equivalent to; interest; on £f 00. "We are at a* loss to'understand the anxiety of the Council to expend so large a sum on unproductive . work, except on the hypothesis—and this we believe is at the bottom of it—that,' once so' muoh money is laid out* on'brick's and mortar at Queenstown; the' County town removal ghost will be, once and for ever pu.fr a\vay from their gaze. Jf this be the mainspring of their action we can assure them that their fears of such a movement being revived are groundless: No such step will ever be taken unless the Borough of Arrowtowrx' is merged'into the County; and, if such meiging were to take place, not all the buildings that can now be' erected would stand in the way of the County business being carried oh at what would then become its only possible centre. But our County friends may rest assured that the proceedings of the Jast few months have done much to remove the veil from County affairs, and that, for some time to come, Arrowtown, is likely to maintain its integrity as a corporate town, in preference to' entrusting its destinies to a foreign' and antagonistic body. Under these circumstances we would advise Councillors to husband the resources' they have, or', when'the subsidies and land fund are gone, they may find themselves with a costly building and all the necessary appliances for administering a large revenue in a highly majestic manner, but without funds to administer.'