MONEY FROM GOLD DUTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20840, 6 April 1931, Page 10

MONEY FROM GOLD DUTY.

FUNDS FOR RIVER SCHEME. WAIHI COUNCIL'S POSITION. [FROSI OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WAIHI, Saturday. The liability of Waihi under tho Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers Improvement Act, 1910, was raised at the meeting of tho Borough Council by a letter from the Secretary to the Treasury, stating that the Minister of Finance had directed that tho exemption of gold duty bo reduced from £6OOO to £SOOO per annum as from April 1. The reason given for tho reduction was that since 1924, when it was considered that £6OOO would bo required by the local authority to finance the municipal services, the finances of the borough had shown some improvement, sufficient, in fact, to permit of the council increasing its contribution from gold duty toward the river improvement scheme by a further £IOOO. 111 tho course of a vigorous protest against the proposal,, tho Mayor, Mr. W. M. Wallnutt, said that tho council was being penalised for exercising economy and prudence in tho administration of the affairs of the borough. Any reduction mado would be a breach of the arrangement entered into in 1924 with the then Minister of Finance, who had stated that the deductions for tho rivers scheme from gold duty accruing to the borough council should be made only from collections fn excess of £6OOO. Tho council was the sole contributing body under the Act aad the power to rate tho rivers district had not been exercised, which was manifestly unfair and an injustice to Waihi. Tho original idea of gold duty had been to provide funds for the construction of roads, but the duty carried 011 it was apparently considered a good riiilch cow and the money had been collared for other purposes

A committee was appointed to go into the matter and take whatever steps might be considered necessary in opposing the proposal.