THE WAITAKI COUNTY BOUNDARIES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 93, 8 August 1876, Page 2

THE WAITAKI COUNTY BOUNDARIES.

PUBLIC MEETING.

A public meeting called by requisition was held, in the Volunteer Hall last evenin"- to take into consideration the question of°the Waitaki Boundaries. There were about 250 persons present. His Worship the Mayor was voted to the chair, and commenced by stating that the business of the meeting was so well understood by all those present that it would need no explanation from him, neither would it be expected in his position as chairman that he should make any lengthy remarks on the matter. The subject would he hoped be fully and freely discussed by the resolutions. He would confine himself by simply saying that any one having the interests of the town and county at heart ought to take himself to see the matter thoroughly and impartially discussed, as the decision they came to that night would be forwarded to the House, and on it depended the future welfare of this district. He hoped, for all concerned, that the meeting would give the speakers a fair and patient hearing, and endeavour to exercise their voice iinitedly for the public good.. The Chairman read the requisition convening;tlie meeting, and called upon Mr. Clowes move the first resolution. said that the resolution he honor to propose was as follows : " Thatin the opinion of this meeting the boundaries set forth for the proposed County of Waitaki are eminently unsatisfactory, inasmuch as. they by no means correctly describe the district of which Oamaru is the focus of trade and the port of export and import, and are in defiance of natural boundaries, which, in the opinion of this meeting, should be had regard to as one of the most important' considerations in any such division or allocation of-territory as Tinder the Counties Scheme is proposed." He said he felt considerable diffidence in undertaking the first resolution. He waived that when it was pointed out to Mm that that part of the proposed - County, where the most glaring injusjbicejyas, was that part of the country which he had no hesitation in sayin? he knew intimately.. He might say that hedid not altogether agree with the resolution, and was not the father of it, but moved its adoption in the hope that the meeting would come to some definite decision upon it. In a matter like that they could not expect to have it all their own way, but must be prepared to give -..and take. In looking at the map laid before the meeting he was astonished to see that the county of Waitaki was the smallest county of all, and that the Oamaru district they had always flattered themselves it was a very important one—had almost been squeezed into the sea. There was no getting over the fact that between this amfthe Waimate district, there was still a natural boundary, and although we should soon shake hands across the river, and get to know one another a great deal better as time went on, we could not now expect the Waimate district to form part of our County. Then, following up the river, there was the whole of the Hakateramea County, a most valuable tract, the produce of which had always been sent to Oamaru, although in the Canterbury Province. He thought it would be unwise on the part of the meeting to ask for this, as it was, and always had been, distinctly a part of Canterbury. But when they followed up the river further, and came to Christian Hille's ferry, every one would be astounded to find that the boundary of the Waimate County actually crossed the river, and was not to include the following valuable stations :—Kurow, Bugged Ridges, Otematata, Omarama, and Benmore, and lie also believed the Kyburne. Now, if the river was to be taken as a boundary in the one case, it should be also in the other. If, on the other hand, it were intended to make the natural features of the comity a guide in forming the county, why, in the name of goodness, did they not include the whole of the Hakateramea County in the Waitaki County ? He felt that the whole district was thoroughly in earnest about this matter, and would go into it in that spirit, and was sure that if a proper expression of opinion was forwarded to the members for the district to lay before the House it would carry great weight, because it would bear upon its face that it was right and just. It would be unwise to ask too much, or they might get nothing ; but in this case the saying, " Blessed is he that expecteth nothing, he shall not be disappointed," would not hold good, for they did expect something, and meant to get it. In this matter he thought that they ought to be as wise as serpents, and —when they got what they wanted —as harmless as doves. Mr. Proctor seconded the resolution. Mr. P. Aitchison had an amendment to propose in reference to this County Scheme and the alteration of the boundaries. The Chairman explained that Mr. Aitchison's amendment was scarcely in order, as a resolution would be moved on which he could not make the amendment he (Mr. Aitchison) now wished to place before the meeting. Mr. Faxconer would like to ask a question before the resolution was put to the meeting. Could Mr. Clowes give a reason why he was not satisfied with the present County Boundaries. Mr. Clowes thought he had already given good reasons to the meeting, but would repeat them. He pointed out that the present arrangement took away five or six of the largest runs from the district, some of which were over 200,000 acres each. ,That he thought was a sufficient answer. (Hear, hear.) The resolution on being put to the meeting was carried without a dissentient voice.

Mr. Headland moved the second resolution, which was as follows :—" In order to give effect to the foregoing, this recommends that the boundaries of the said County of WaitakL should be the same as the boundaries of the Waitaki General Assembly Electoral District, such a division having the further advantage of making the electoral division and County division, so far as this district is concerned,. co-terminous." He did not know that it is worth while to say much on this resolution, as Mr. Clowes had shown very clearly the folly of cutting the runs ..out. Mr. Clowes had said that he saw no reason why they should have made such extraordinary boundaries, but he (the speaker) thought there was a very valid reason, - so far as Canterbury was concerned. They all knew that the Timaru people had in contemplation the construction of a breakwater, and it was very natural they would like to obtain a quarter of a million acres on which to raise money for the building of this breakwater. There was a gentleman in Timaru named Mr. Stafford, and he thought he had had a great deal to do with this boundary scheme. Whatever might have been done by tacking on country to Waimate on paper, nature prevented them from using Timaru as their port; they must bring their produce down to the natural outlet, which was Oamaru. Mr. Falconer seconded the resolution. Mr. Aitchison then proposed his amendment, which was to the following effect: —" That there be added, as a part of the County, the following runs on the Canterbury side, viz., Station Peak, Hakateramea, Gibson's, and Douglas's. The amendment was seconded by Mr. N. Lane. Mr. T. Y. Duncan believed in sticking to the resolution as put by Mr. Clowes, and keeping the river as their boundary. They had good grounds for doing so, as the river was a natural boundary, and on the face of this they might get what they asked for, but he didn't think they would get anything on the other side.—(Hear, hear.) _ Mr. James Lees did not think it would do for him to say much, as he had the honor to be Chairman of the Waimate Road Board, and it might be considered that he was giving an interested opinion on the matter. Before the Waitaki River was bridged, the whole of the wool from station people came down on this side of the river, but now that a road had been made to Hakateramea, the produce would be sent down to Waimate, and on by the railway to Oamaru. He certainly thought they would make a mistake in wishing to take anything from the other side of the river. Mr. Lees was asked several questions. One of them was, Had|he.(Mr. Lees), as as Chairman of the WaSnate Road Board, received ' any communication on the subject of the County Boundaries from the Chairman of the Waitaki Board 1 Mr. Lees replied in the negative. Mr. Falconer agreed with the remarks made by Mr. Duncan, and thought they should stick to the river as their boundary. He hoped Mr. Aitcheson would withdraw his amen^m^nfT^ ; '' -,-■--<-*- After consulting with his seconder (Mr. Lane), Mr. Aitcheson agreed to withdraw the amendment. The resolution was then put and carried unanimously. Mr. S. Gibbs moved the next resolution, which was as follows : —" That copies of the foregoing be telegraphed by his Worship the Mayor to the members for the district in the General Assembly and to the Hon. Premier, asking the members to their utmost to carry out the wishes of this meeting." After what had been said ho woiud not detain them long as far as the County scheme was concerned he should have preferred the natural boundaries as they were far more easily managed. Many of the counties were large and no doubt unmanageable, and seeing there was no settled population in a portion of the County as now mapped; out, he thought the proposition as carried by the meeting a very fair one. If the resolution were sent up to the members for the district, and brought before the Government, it would be considered a fair and reasonable one, and the Government would no doubt give proper attention to the proposals. He was very glad that Mr. Aitchison's amendment had been withdrawn, as it would have imperilled their demands,. The motion was seconded by Mr. J. S. Anderson, and carried unanimously. Mr. H. Aitken, in moving the next resolution, said that it was merely a formal one, and simply asked for a Committee to carry out the resolutions, and friends to defray expenses that the Committee might be put to in canvassing the district. He had not filled in the number of gentlemen who should be appointed on the Committee, but he thought that in matters of this sort a small committee was the best, as it was impossible to get a large number to meet. The resolution was as follows :—"That a Committee, consisting of seven gentlemen, be appointed for the purpose of preparing and obtaining signatures to petitions to the House of Representatives in support of the above, and to take such further action during the session of Parliament as they may deem necessary in the interests of the district; and that a subscription list be opened for the purpose of defraying the*expenses of the action to be taken." The proposition w r as self-evident, therefore he need not say anything - further on it. After a short pause, during which no seconder came forward. Mr. Hossack wished Mr. Aitken to show what Oamaru would gain by the resolutions just carried. Mr. Aitken explained that the present boundary cut off all the unsold land in the present Waitaki country, and all the feed and produce would now go to Canterbury. It was generally supposed that this was

done to assist in providing funds for the construction of the Tiniaru Breakwater.

Mr. Hossack: Thank you. I will second the resolution then. (Laughter.) The Chairman pnt the resolution ■which was carried unanimously. A Voice: Is the subscription limited. (Laughter.) Another Voice : Will some one go round with the hat I Mr. Hossack : If the gentlemanj has never gone round more with the hat wian I have done, he won't hurt. (Laughter.) The Chairman then announced that he was prepared to receive nominations for gentlemen to serve on the Committee. After several gentlemen had been nominated, Mr. Procter was proposed, but he declined to act, and said that he did not see the necessity of a Committee being formed or a subscription being raised. He considered the resolution as proposed by Mr. Gibbs, and unanimously carried, was quite sufficient without anything further. It was much better to forward the resolutionby telegraph than to get up a petition, which would take three weeks to do, and cost £25. Mr. J. T. Evans, with a view to test the feeling of the meeting, would move, " That Mr. H. Aitken's resolution be rescinded, as it would be a very tedious, and also expensive, process. Mr. J. J. Ham seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. A Voice : I'm afraid the subscription business has cooked the job, Mr. Chairman.—(Laughter.) Mr. Headland proposed that subscriptions should be raised in the room to pay for the cost of telegraphing the resolutions. He was not aware that there was any fund to defray the expenses. Here a number of gentlemen were observed making tracks for the door, notwithstanding the Chairman's request that the meeting should not disperse till the business was concluded. Mr. Procter said if the Municipal Council could afford to pay an Inspector of Nuisances £175 a-year, they could well afford to pay the cost of sending a few telegrams. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings.