CONFERENCE OF NORTHERN COUNTY COUNCILS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9489, 19 April 1894, Page 6

CONFERENCE OF NORTHERN COUNTY COUNCILS.

[bt TELEGRAPH.— correspondent.] * >.; i v Whangarei, Wednesday. rt A conference of delegates, from the whole of Northern County Councils, commenced here' to-day, ]' at ■' half-past ten a. in. " The following is a list of the respective representativesr present Hokiauga County, Mr. T. . Holt; Bay of Islands ! County, Mr. J. Press; iWhangarei County, Mr. A. H. Maaon ; Hobson County, r Mr. A. E. > Harding; . Otamatea Council, Mr. J. Isbisfcer .;* Rodney County, Mr. T. A. ;■ Giibb. ■ ■ There were also present the following Whangarei councillors : Messrs. R. Forsythe, J. McKenzie, Mallabond, - Ormandy, aiad Minchin ;"from other councils Messrs. Hall, and Ariel. , *, j Air. A. H. Mason in • opening the ; proceed-, ings, briefly explained the reason for convening the . meeting. Mr. : Mason was ';: elected: chairman. ..; f'<i . ,C> ,', : K.;- -:;, >'• *"

'•;..;.> letter FROM MR. Houston. '•->• \ A letter; was received from Mr.: Houston/ regretting*- that he -~-' could "not attend, but - appointing : Mr. :' ; Thompson '■ jto !■ appear, for him, to 1 whom he had expressed , his opinions as follows :—(I) That the Government be i asked to take • over the main road through each county ;■ (2) That ; the i Government be ; asked vto deal more liberally withthose counties that are affected with the gum traffic, in the same manner; in which - ; f they deal with goldfields; (3) That the present Charitable Aid Act be repealed and that the Government <; take over .'and , maintain a hospital < and i cease paying : subsidies •:■ in this respect,"andS that the county be a separate ana independent Board to manage its own hospitable and ■'.. charitable : aid, . that Ino local body be asked to contribute towards the costs of anv « patient >; sent :by , them ,to the hospital unless, such persons had resided in, that ,district: for a 7. per.iod; not less than ' six -: months ; • a scale of charges ;• to be drawn : out by. the ; Government to be paid by local bodies for all patients; sent to. them for treatment; i 4, ■ that reserves be set apart in each county for the benefit of that county; 5, that a uniform system of by-laws should be enforced throughout the northern counties; v 6, that counties should - ; have the control and expenditure of all grants ; 7,' that all survey plans done by counties and at their expense should '■■ be examined by the Survey Department. free of costs 8, that the audit of the county account should be paid out of the consolidated revenue, as provided for by the Counties Act. . : ;:. I

SUBSIDIES TO LOCAL BODIES. ■ ■■■)': The first subject dealt with by the Conference was | subsidies •to local bodies. |3 It was opened by Mr. Gubb, who said the subject of finance; was what required most consideration, as the funds at present were totally inadequate for requirements. ' He i thought the Acts 1885 and 1886 were absurd, and said something must be done to amend the Acts. Last year the rates collected in Rodney were £540, and the Government subsidised to the extent of only £201.; The Government would \ not give any subsidy, on arrears. He complained of the want of uniformity, in levying, rates. A subsidy ' should be paid on the amount of rate "collected f in' a county.'.;;. He> moved,' " That in the ■ opinion of the conference the Government should be requested ;to get the Local Bodies' Finance Act amended ; (1) the amount of subsidy ! to be increased from 10s to £1 on all rates v collected (2)' that the subsidy be paid on the amount of county rates received and not as rat > present, on ; , that collected by road boards-?' .;.,. ■:■; ■.-. ~ > ' i : Mr. Holt moved, ' That the Government should be pressed ; that subsidies and grants to local bodies should be arranged to be paid : in the spring instead of as now in the winter." Mr. Press seconded. '■ - ■.•■ l .\ i - ' Y ' " .; Mr. Ariel thought the subsidy should be made to County Councils/."; :-.--"; ■■'-- '■'. : Mr. Isbistbr strongly recommended that Mr. Holt's motion should be passed.';- ,"n. $ Mr. McKenzib proposed, "That; Messrs.; Gubb's and Holt's _ motions' be converted into one." '■"" ' '-'--..■ ' (Mr. Holt's motion .was put to the meeting and carried. ' . ' '■-'■- Mr. Press moved as an amendment to Mr.j Gubb's motion, in the first clause, " That the subsidy should be increased to 40s instead of 205." - r-£v. ; ' ~,-■-;--:•-;,v- vpW: . This was seconded by Mr. Holt, but the amendment was subsequently withdrawn. -. p ' -M./Gobb speaking to the first clause of his motion, said that he thought it a mistake to ask too much, :as wealthy, counties in the South would not require it. ; ; , ' .' < .'•-■'-" ; Mr. Gubb's motion was put to the meeting and passed. '

LAND ENDOWMENTS AND ROAD CONSTRUCTION. Mr. Jsbistjsr-moved a motion similar--to that passed; at the Conference in Auckland, as follows :—;" In the opinion- of the Conference the Government should set apart endowments ; that one feasible plan for adjusting the admitted claims of North Auckland iu the matter of financial assistance for road construction is by endowing the local bodies with the revenue derived from the sale or lease of land and che timber.?':--i > Messrs. McKENi;r£, Holt, Mallabond, Press, Ariel, Gobb, and Ross • spoke, at considerable length on the subject. -;.', •... ; Mr. Harding said that in the South, when the roads were made, the country was comparatively open, and therefore they were easily constructed, ' and < in T the : right place, but in th» 'North the land was so heavily timbered it was impossible to make the roads in the best places, and there was therefore a very good case to put before.the Government for special relief. ■■{•, /; ;, , : ' Mr. Minchin, also spoke. ...•'_-• - V The', decision of ; the Conference was de-, ferred until after lunch. ;'" ■" ,»' /

DOG TAX. Mr. Press moved ".That•■.therr-:l»,?a. uniform rate throughout all the counties." .•> This was seconded by Mr. Isbisteb. : v^.-' 2 ; Mr. Gobb moved; an amendment, that the i Mr. Harding said he thought it quite unnecessary to make the rate uniform. 7. The motion was parsed, and the Conference adjourned 5 for t: lunch, ; resuming at ;y ten minutes past three.r ;v VV ? Hv : :; : :'?."■''■, RATING AND ACQUISITION OF NATIVE LANDS. > Mr. Holt moved, ."That in the opinion of this Conference, steps should be taken to individualise the titles of native lands, and to facilitate the acquisition of native lands.'*-;, . ;Mr. [Press ; saidi.this matter affected his. county very much, on account of the largo extent "of native lands in his county. He thought the Conference should propose some plan to tho Government for dealing with native lands.''' >J :-•*■■ : : ~p] ■ A : sub-committee was formed to report on the subject. -..'/ :''■?/& 4 ■'=[-•■>: •■■ ■■:' ' <-'■'\'■'. •'.•: ' - CHARITABLE AID. ; Mr. Holt moved, " That 1 this: Conference is of opinion that the Hospital and Charitable Aid Act in; the, present | form ;is .; found to =be such as will: not : conduce to the welfare of the I people of | New - Zealand, and, that the members of Parliament will be acting in the best interests of their constituents by using all their powers in the direction of repealing the v same at the coming session of Parlia-

ment." *>:>■;■-■ ":]'■-■■' ■'!■: •■■: '.,'. Y"- : - '„C : -i/' ' \ Mr.' Mallabond, chairman jof the Chantable Aid Board, said that he had watched the progress of charitable aid \ for the last \ four years, and had: noticed that the Board was terribly imposed 5 upon : by. men, women, ; and children. * Gumdiggers i get on the spree, and whilst drunk get an arm or a leg broken, and after spending a big cheque came.. on i the Charitable Aid Board. The lict as it at present stood was quite a mistake. The rates should be collected by the Government, and this could be done .at less expense than at present. 'i- ■' ■ ■■?*(-' -"' ■"""*''"'■:. :•--'■ :, :-v ; " ■'-:-.■ ■ •''-■ :• Mr. Gubb said he was pleased with the remarks of Mr. Mallabond. He quite endorsed j his opinions. y The amount for charitable aid in his county wasgradually increasing. Last year it 'amounted to £132,t equal to 13 .per cent, of the total revenue, y and it was 'only creating paupers. | .;'•••-..■ :... ■ Mr. Holt said there was no doubt that the present Act tended to create; paupers, he could not at present suggest a remedy .without some consideration.-' '• , Mr. McKenzie said he was in favour of the Charitable Aid Act, but he i thought it might be amended. At one = time there were always a lot of'subscription,' lists, in most of the' f shops in town, but since the Charitable' Aid Act was in force J the subscription lists had considerably decreased, 1 and ; that made charitable aid more generally supported.^ • v iMr. -Thompson said that she was quite of the opinion' of '■ Mr. Mallabond, and he knew!■ Mr. Houston was of the same opinion. He. thought the Act should be;at: once repealed, He knew of several persons who were receiving charitable aid but who were not entitled to aid in any way, being quite able to earn their, own living. . ' >■• ': ; Mr. Mason, quite coincided with the remarks'- of :Mr.;Mallabond,;and also those of, Mr. Thompson. : ' ■.--....;;,