ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 8148, 20 April 1887, Page 6

ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The Mayor presided at the usual fortnightly meeting of the Ashburton Borough Council on Monday, and Councillors Eeid, Harrison, Friedlander, and Williamson were present. The debit balance at the Bank was reported at £1470 15s 4d, and the income received since last meeting amounted to £GG IGs 4d. The Council passed accounts amounting to £59 13s Bd. A circular was received from the Buller County Council, covering resolutions passed by that body, in which the principle of administration of charitable aid funds by Local Bodies was supported, the means suggested for raising the necessary funds being—that Government should levy from property and incomes two-thirds of the required amount, the remaining one-third being left to be raised by rates by the districts interested. Councillors appeared to be of opinion that any system ought to have the Council’s support which would provide an efficient means of local administration. The Board sitting in Christchurch was unsatisfactory, inasmuch as country members found it almost impossible to attend, and the resident members, from want of local knowledge, were apt to overlook the claims of country poor, and so give preference to the claims of deserving poor in the city, of which they had knowledge. The Mayor was authorised to interview the County Council on this subject, and also to confer with the County Chairman on the subject of convening a public meeting to consider the question of a local celebration of Her Majesty’s Jubilee. Meanwhile, the circular of the Christchurch Jubilee Committee on the subject of raising funds for the erection of a Home for the indigent poor should lie on the tabje until after the next County Council meeting. The Charitable Aid Board forwarded statistics showing the amounts required from each of the Counties and Boroughs within the Board’s jurisdiction, and requested payment of the Borough’s quota, £43 Is 3d.' The usual reports were read, but they contained nothing of public importance. Some minor business was transacted, and the Council adjourned after a sitting of less than an hour and a half.