THE COUNTY COUNCIL & ITS WAYS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XVIII, Issue 958, 5 April 1888, Page 3

THE COUNTY COUNCIL & ITS WAYS.

TO CHB EDITOR. Sis,—l have perused your report of the proceedings of the council on the 21st ult., and as such proceedings are amenable to public criticism I propose to review one or two of its positions which I think call for public comment.

Recently, land was taken by the oouncil for publio purposes from one of our old and respected settlers, who did Dot at first eleot to take what the council thought fie to offer as compensation. He, however, did not press the council for what he thought the value of the land, and tacitly accepted the offer of the counoiL It now appear! from your report" (whioh I presume is accurate) that the council, with all the imperiousness of an Oriental nabob, entirely repudiates its own offer and absolutely refuses to recognise that the settler has any olaim—conduct than which no'hing could be more opposed to all the. generally- \ received notions of fair dealing and fair play. No doubt the olairns of our friend will not rest here, but will find voice in that tribunal from which go forth (he fUts of even-handed j nation. Again, the council haa resolved that because applications have been made by private persons for the services of tbo engineer he must do their bidding on payment of a small fee, which shall be paid into the county fund! The oouncil then steps from off its lofty pedes'al of officialism and descends to compete wi r b private person;!, and—what is not impossible—nay me its influence t > orush outpriv 'ts competitors. Suohaproceeding is unfair alike toprivate enterprise and to the engineer, and i« on principle quite indefensible, and, in the council, most undignified. I' is, moreover, beyond the pr ivince of the council to pass any such resolution which, having no binding force, is pnotically worthless I Its power.-* are defined by statute, and beyond these it dares not go ; and I challenge any member of the council to point to any provision in the statute to whioh the council owes its very existence that would justify it in passing such a resolution aa this, which I feel constrained to say publio feoling must altogether condemn. The functions of the council are of a purely public character, and it cannot, like private compimes and private individuals, engage in money-making pursuits, for is it not quite oonceivable that the engineer may earn tor the oouncil under tb« new rtjgim• tbn« times the sum of money

he now receives P One would think that so long as the engineer faithfully discharges his duties to the counoil he should be free, as engineers are in other countiea, to do outside work, receiving bimself the remuneration for his services. He who does the work should receive the wage. Let ns hope that before very many sessions of counoil are held. this, ignominious resolution will disappear- from the minute-book, and that our councillors, freed from the blinding mists of prejudice and passion, will shape their measures on more enlightened -principles of public policy. —lam, etc., Fiat JUSTITIA, Naseby, April 3rd,.1888.