The Ohinemuri Gazette AND UPPER THAMES WARDEN. SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1892.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume I, Issue 28, 25 June 1892, Page 4

The Ohinemuri Gazette AND UPPER THAMES WARDEN.

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1892.

"Iwill aroundunvarnish'dtale deliver. 77 —Othello, Act 1, Scene 3.

We have read with delight the humorous copy written by various pundits, in regard to the proposed alteration of County boundaries in the Thames andTauranga Counties. If the discussion doesn't do any other good it "will at any ,xate serve to exhibit the . huge and grotesque ignorance on- County matters, generally, displayed b.y a few experts in this connection. Such a tit-bit as the foot-note to the letter in the. Thames "Advertiser" of the 20th (which we publish elsewhere) is, for iustance, remarkable for its power of showing what a man doesn't kaow

about a given subject. We.' desire our readers to carefully con it and paste it in.their hats as being a marvel ;of contemporary literature. Says this i-sage.: "It is clear the Ohinemuri i County cannot, undertake the,prqper maintenance of the road from Kaueranga bridge to Hikutaia." Is it, now.?. " Separation^would be deplorable.'' Oh! indeed! " The main road from the Thames would be neglected and totally ruined." "WelU well!! Also he cannot -believe that the ratepayers of Totara will "be so foolish iasto be made tools of, <&c, &p. Does he know that ©hioemuri nas paid £2000 of a -war indemnity alias. Auditor-General's award,' to the Thames County siuc'e 1885 j that it, has made miles and miles of main road at a cost of £4 to £BNper8 N per chains ithat it has supported, .to the extent of thousands, the Thames Hospital and the Thames paupers.; that desoite all its internal empiricism and and mismanagement it is now emerging from all its troubles, -free "from debt, and holding the proud position of the premier 'and richest "County in the Auckland-province,-and that that very separation from the Thames, which is so deplored, has been |its salvation. Observer our critic:: "But the fact is, that the .prime mover in the matter, is a gentleman who desires separation because it would relieve • ;him of; the necessity of paying Harbour dues to the Thames .Harbour -Board." Marvellousi marvellous! Njte the argument. If Totara joins Ohinemuri Mr Bagnall will' cease to pay Harbour dues. Such nonsense would be beneath criticism, were it not spoken ex cathedra, and consequently believed by many who look to>a newspaper for truthful information and swallow all I the rot given them. The iGtazette ' was the. first to propose that Totara should "join Ohinemuri. Its reasons are, briefly, that Ohinemuri needs • Total a geographicaljy and that Tofcara needs Ohinemuri financially. For the former it is absolutely essential to the welfare of this'place that; Ohinerauri" should be a harbour district, rrlt-cin only be so by having, within its boundaries, land .impinging upo.n.an estuary or arm of the-sea. This is Totara. This is Eopii. We assert j that Kopu, --as a port—#Jo natural-har-bour of the Hauraki district, is not getting its deserts at Lho hands of the Thames/ Whoever lives to see it— it may not be inthis generation—Kopu will be the Mi!lw?ll—the docking and shipping cnntre —in a -.vord -the Port, of the -whole of this Valley. Neither log-rolling nor billet-coßservation, legislation nor yoastiness cm stop it. It is an Act of Nature. . The Thames County—which is another ■ word for the. Thames Borough, CAanot.be expected- to see this—or if it sees at, to 'admitlt, and theOhinemuri County is the right body to take it in hand. More jthan this, the riv^r itself must, be under the-control of a Harbour Board or it can not be properly conserved, and,-in the eDraiou of Ministers with whom the Chairman o?'the'Ohinemnri County has conferred, a 'Harbour Board can only be constitute^ where the (Jou*hty borders on an arm of the soa. (see :See. -242, " The-Counties Act. 1886"), We cannot admit the argument that the ''Riaraes water-raco is. not an asset of the whole Thames County. True, the Auditor^eneral iv his award as between the two .Counties in 1885 did not^ei-edit Ohinewith ito share. .Why.? Well, simply because Ohinemuri was in the unhappy position of having no one to plead for it and put the case as -it really was. Just imagine Alexander 'Brodie, Edwin Wise Hollis, James A. 'Miller, Alexander Aitken.. and other giants in County afi'iirs, finance and law, with years of experience at their back and all the figures and details at their fingers ends, opposing one poor unfortunate individual wiio knew as much about County matters as the writer of the foot-note ,in the "Advertiser" and other pseuflo critics in this district. 'It was the 'Pacific Ocean to a dose of salts, and of course poor Ohinemuri had to pay np 'its £2000, the water-race not beiugj taken as an asset, simply because Its very

existence as a County property wag 7 almost unknown to the then representative of this County. But for all that, it was a County asset. Carry the argument to its logical conclusion. If. the Thames County were dismembered, to whom would the water race belong? Hi it belongs to the County, it belongs ■ eommensurately and, proportionally to : „ every Biding of the County, and if Ohinemim was robbed by reason of the stupidity of its representative in , times go"c 'by, it is. no reason why Totara shoulS be robbed to day. Advice being cheap, wej will [dispense some. To the Totara people we would say,,'join "Ohinemuri, but remember,, that you must' carry your own debt and in, the 'fight regarding your; liability don't rely oil yourselves or any tin horn politician among you. Get a thoroughly good lawyer, -pay him well,.and get the best Committee you can, to put the issues plainly -to him and so to'; the AuditorGeneral. Your own revenue will maintain your main road well,— 'thai your own representative must barrack for; for the rest you must work out your own salvation. To the -Thames County Council we would say—let it' go. The Thames BoFOUgh~and you are all Borough men virtually, is the natural owner of the water-race and it must eventuallyfaU in. the Borough's hande. Bless your souls-r-yow know., don't you now? -.' To Mr TL.J. Bagnailwe would say, let; some one else run the movement, it looks (too muck like the action of a defeated candidate: for you to touch it, and in -regardst© - the "Thames, Advertiser"; and somep other papers that we wot ; of,. we f©si - that it is useless to say-anything., •