A REPLY.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 152, 13 August 1881, Page 3

A REPLY.

TOTHE- EDITOR, -Phi.— l think lam called upon to reply to Ur. Hayns' pertinent remarks, Contained m his letter which appeared m yoor issue of last Wednesday. He commences by asking if the interests of the Jfayor (meaning me) has ceased at lerrace End, or if there be such a body w , B ° rou S^ Council as the Public Works Committee? To both of these CTV 1 answer as *> J1 °ws.—My interests have not ceased m Terrace End • put, on the contrary are steadiltf increasSSL?i. m * yea £ . tQ y ea n and I sincerely Bope that such increase may continue for S!^ y u ar8 L to come « While wishing Wch to 'be the case, Ido admit, and from »o fault of mine, that there is an apparent IMNnfleofany Borough interest & coa.

nection with anything like an improvement of roads at that end of the town. This may arise from the fact that the Mayor resides there, and cannot always be poshing forward its public waits m the same manner as a Councillor could and ••voul'l do, and, may I add, m the past did do. Ttiis I feel confident will be admitted by the majority of the ratepayers, inciudingMr. Hayns himself. While dealing with this question. I may just inform Vfr. Uayns that there is a Public Works Committee still m exis enee, and to that body is referred (as he well knows) all matters connected with road improvement. If Mr. llayus reads the exhaustive reports of the Council meetings published m your journal, T '"are say ha has noticed an attempt on my part to have thi? particular road properly graded, and i hereby efficiently drained. I then pointed out the importance of this work, and showed that the amount of traffic on it to bo greater than upon any road lending into the borough, stating at the same time that it was one of our principal entrances to the town, and fronting our public cemetery. These reasons should carry weight with the Council, considering also that while estimating our road expenditure out of the loan, the whole of Main-street grading had been provide^ for. This work was, m the usual manner, laid before the Public Works Committee torepoitupon— that is, recommend or otherwise. The committee, much to my astonishment, recorameaded that tbe work should not be undertaken, it being too expensive. I freely admit that this manner of reporting was anything but fair to this portion of the town, considering that the bulk of the work done m the past was done out of funds subscribed by the ratepayers, viz., Main-street, from the junction of Fitzioy-street to the Railway Crossing, near cemetery ; the formation and metalling was paid for by mystlf on the understanding that the money would ! be refunded m three months. The result was, thatl took debentures for the lot— the first taken by any one. The south side of the same street, from Fitzroy-street to Terrace-street, was done m a similar manner, chitfly by myself. The footpath from Deard's up to the Terrace End Railway Station was made by the owners at their own expense, except a few chains opposite the Hospital, which to this day have not gone one load of metal on them. A great portion of the other work m and around Terrace End has been done at the expense of the ratepayers purely, but I am not aware that Mr. Hayns was ever called on to pay anything. The present price of metalUna: from railway crossing to Vogelstreet, is being done by Gilles and Henderson, who m the meau time pay for it and take, up debentures for the whole. My object m thus naming these works is to show that the ratepayers m this locality have manfully helped themselves m the past, and were, I think, duly entitled to have the neccssaiy expenditure required to put the main road m something like decent repair. I still hope that j before I leave the Council, with which 1 have been intimately acquainted since' iis origin, this important work will be carried out free from any more cavilling, as it is absolutely necessary to admit of the large and increasing traffic which is being c'aily carried on over this portion of the main road into our town and railway connection. Mr. Hayns may rest assured that I will lose no opportunity of pressing what I look upon as v just claim which the ratepayers have upon the Council. The present season of the year is all against operations m road making, and Itbiuk Mr. Hayns will admit that little beyond repairs can now be done on the road. If he has a grievance against the Council through loss sustained by flood waters from imperfect road construction or neglect, he has his remedy by taking the usual steps m such cases, and he has a perfect right to do so. He closes his remarks by asking if all the loan is expended ? or if there is a line drawn across certain localities, whde work shall be left m its next to primitive state ? My reply to these queiies, that the loan is not yet exhausted ; nor am I aware that any particular line is laid down which regulates the expenditure of money m any favored part of this part of the town to the detriment of others, my experience m such matters is this, that if a just expenditure is to be carried out, the ratepayers must exert themselves to see that they are properly and evenly represented m the Council. This lies m their own hands, by using discretion m this important direction. At the present time the east end of tbe town is not fairly represcted, and perhaps Mr. Hayns, or some one else wishing fox prosperity m road making matters^ will offer themselves at the next election for councillors, then they will find that it ia not quite so easy to get just what they may consider is wanted, or what may be even right to expect. It is only by representation m the Council that wrongs can be righted. I am glad Mr. Hayns has opened up the subject, as be has, by so doing givenjme an opportunity of showing the other side of the question. I will just add, that since I have had honor of being Mayor, my desire has been to do justice to all parts of the town but while saying so, I never expected to give entire satisfaction to every ratepayer m the town. I look upon this as an impo«sibility, and am not disappointed that one of my nearest neighbors should be the first to grumble.— l am, Sir James Linton.