THE £5000 LOAN PROPOSAL.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXII, Issue 224, 14 October 1897, Page 2

THE £5000 LOAN PROPOSAL.

The committee of ratepayers ap« pointed to further the River Board's £5000 lean proposal, met last nigbt m the Council chambers, Mr W. Oarr occupying the chair. The principal business was the investigation and correction of the ratepayers' roll for the purposes of the forthcoming poll. The committee engaged itself m this work for some time, and concluded it by passing a resolution recommending the River Board to obtain the opinions of three solicitors on the question a? to whether deceased persons' names appearing on the valuation roll should be placed on the imended roll of voters, Those members of the committee deputed "at last meeting to ascertain from settlers m the Dillon's Point district whose lands would be traversed by the proposed banking whether they would claim compensation were asked by the Chairman if they had any report to make. Mr Birch produced a letter from Mr Albert Gifford agreeing to allow the Board to construct works on his property on either route; and the other members said that they had no report to make, as they had not had time to interview the settlers they were individually appointed to ap« proach. Referring to a suggestion made m the newspapers that au engineer should ba engaged to supervise the proposed works, Mr Carr said that Mr Cuthbert m submitting his scheme of flood relief, undertook to visit the works occasionally. But

the Board w-«re n<i adopting Mr Cutlibort'e scheme h its entirety on this occasion, and perhaps Mr Cuihbert would not be inclined to visit the district to supor^'sq a modified contract. However, io was a matter that could be settled after the poll had been taken. In answer to Mr McKay, settler m Dillon's Point district, Mr Oarr said that the Board had not yet de* cided which route of banking it would adopt. Mr McKay said that he had come to the> conclusion that the "back" route was tho better one, not only because it would involve no compen Bdtion, but because he thought it would be more efficacious than Mr Cuthbert's line.