Youth Had Its Day At Bay Council Table

Northern Advocate, 13 June 1947, Page 7

Youth Had Its Day At Bay Council Table

(Special) KAWAKAWA, This Day. SCHOOLCHILDREN must be more intelligent than they used to be. The rising generation cannot be going to the dogs, sir, after all.

The whole of Form V. at the Kawakawa District High School was ranged round the walls of the Bay of Islands County Council’s meeting-room on Wednesday—attention of every child, boys and girls alike, trained on the speakers as they rose to make comment or put motions, and on the chairman and county clerk as they propounded the business of the council.

Admittedly, the children were under the eye of their teacher, Mr G. Utting, but that did not seem to be the whole reason for their obvious attention. They looked genuinely interested. It was a heavy agenda, with good meaty items of roads, bridges, reports and finance—a gargantuan dose of finance, for it was the annual meeting and the chairman reported in detail and at length on the council's position ARMED FOR THE FRAY The county clerk (Mr J. L. Rayner) had provided each child with a copy of the agenda, the chairman’s annual report, the engineer’s report and a monumental four-foolscap typescript on local government, outlining the history, constiution, powers, administration. financing and conduct of local bodies in general and of the Bay of Islands County Council in particular. It was heavy stuff for any councillor. even, but those children sat through it all and still appeared interested. When question time came there Was some reticence, but after Mr Utting had broken the ice, a schoolgirl of 14 or 15 put the poser of the day. “I notice at the beginning of your annual report. Mr Chairman, that you list the percentages of rates collected —9G.4 European and .032 native. “Why is this difference and what are you going to do about it?”

Dead silence. The chairman (Cr H. T. Atkinson) rubbed his hair and looked around t’c council table for help that was not forthcoming. But councillors were smiling broadly.

Of course, the council cat would forget to create a diversion at the proper moment; he was on other business bound. “Go ahead. Mr Chairman, it’s your pitch-in,” said one councillor, obviously very pleased that he did not have to give the answer. Cr. Atkinson launched himself into a detailed explanation of rate assessment, land tenure, court procedure and the remedial stop-gaps that had been utilised by county councils to date.

As he finished he was fortified by Cr H. T. Bates, who rose to tell the children that they should know that the root of all governmental evils today lay in the outmoded monetary system. Time would not permit of dilation on this topic, but he would recommend to them that they should study the subject whenever it was possible to do so. The questioner expressed herself satisfied with the replies given her. But a mere Pressman was left wondering if the Bay County Council, at any rate, will ever again invite children to hear its deliberations and ask questions afterwards.