LAKE COUNTY. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Otago Witness, Issue 1501, 21 August 1880, Page 21

LAKE COUNTY. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

August 12th. Our experience of the County system goes to prove tbat it is certainly no improvement on that which it Huccepde:!. As a form of local self-government it is an abortion. Cliquism, favouritism, and log-rolling lead to disputes and scenes at every aittiug, to the evident injury of the brst interests of the County. As a Board of Works or a Road Board, it U a glaring mistake. Where there were formerly competent engineers employed to lay off and watch over important works, their execution is now left to inspectors without the qualifications for tho positions they fill, and whoss failings and shortcomings are taken advantage of by those under their supervision. The consequence is that in many cases no adequate return in labour is regeived for the money >

expanded, leaving the tracks and by-ways as well as the main roads in a deplorable condu tion. Thus, while the Councillors are cavilling! as to who is to have the largest slice of the loafc' ia the cupboard, the money voted during thea last skirmish is being idled away. I know that, there are a few honourable exceptions of real working bees— men who do their' work faithfully, and give the full value in retjurn for the wage they receive—but they are.,but few. What kind of a figure our Council will cut when they shall haVe arrived at real financial difficulties remains to be seen. ■;:; The completion of the Waimea Plains Railway formed quite an event in the history of the district, and the fact that we were able to* Bhake hands with gentlemen on the evening of the day on the morning of which they had left Dunedin had a most hilarious efface. The commotion ia the Fourth Estate afe Arrowtown promised at one time to become, quite an exciting affair. It will be ramemwred that Mr H. J. Oope entered an action for h.*>el against the proprietor of the Arrow Observer, and now the editor of that paper has brought a counter action against Mr Oops for abusive language, but at the eleventh hour all this tribulation, whioh in America would have been considered sufficient cause for half-a dozen shooting matches and at least a dozen corpses, ended, to the utter disgust of an expectant and appreciative public, in smoky but not brimstone smoke. The whole affair may now t» considered as amicably settled, unless, as ifl reported here, that " Capting " Jackson Barry, who as an author, ex-quasi-emigration agent, and "lecturer," feels himself aggrieved by having his name mentioned in the same paragraph with that of Mr Cope, takes action against the proprietor of the Arrow Observer, and opens the hubbub again, which would form an attractive chapter in the second edition of the " Capting V book. A number of gentlemen met for the purpose of bidding farewell to Mr J. D. Macaliater, latepostmaster at Qaeenstown, last Thursday, at Eichardt's Hotel. Mr Macalister during- his short stay at Queenstown made many friends, whose well wishes will follow him to Invereargill, his future destination. A somewhat boisterous and consequently futile meeting of the Wakatip Steam Navigation Company was held on last Monday week. The Company appears to labour under a difficulty of the most serious nature— namely, afinancial one— aud it will require great skill on the part of the management, and no small amount of sacrifice on the part of the shareholders, to bridge over the difficulty. Captain. J. Densom, late of Port Chalmers, has been selected from about forty other applicants to fill the position of oaptain of the Mountaineer, rendered vacant by the resignation of Oaptain. J. Patterson.

A late land sale of about thirty-eight aores afforded another proof of the value of land in the neighbourhood of Arrowtown. The land, besides being fenced, is unimproved, yet it fetched the handsome figure of Ll3 12s 6d per acre. This little fact speaks volumes, The election for a County Councillor foe Arrow Riding resulted in the return of Mr A, O. Thomson, a gentleman well qualified by ability and eduoation to fill positions of much higher publio trust, which no doubt some day he will be called upon to undertake. The election was a lively affair, and reached its climax after the close of the principal pollingbooth, when the Returning Officer refused to declare the state of the poll until the returns from outlyiug booths had been received. This atop, although in accordance with the Local Elections Act, being a departure from tho usual line of action, gave great umbrage to the eleotors, who had waited some considerable time in a drizzling rain outside the booth to learn the result of the polling at Arrow town. The feeling of being sold in such a manner led to a great amount of good-natured " barneying " and chaffing. However, the electors had to wait till about nine o'clock that night before their curiosity was satisfied.

An important meeting was convened on a few hours' no tic 3 on last Saturday nigbt week, for the purpose of urging upon the Government the necessity of a dray.road to Macetown. The meeting was well attended, and the business for which it was called closely adhered to throughout the evening. Resolutions in favour of petitioning the Government for a drAy.road wera carried unanimously, aud an influential committee appointed to bring the matter under the favourable consideration of the Government. The meeting was called at the instance of Mr A. O. Thomßon, the newly, elected member for Arrow Riding, and MrW. Jenkins, Mayor of Arrowtown, presided. Tendeis are called for the Arrow Waterworks, and the season having now so far advanced that interruption from frosts need no longer be feared, there is every probability that the works will bo completed before the end of the year. And there is great reason for wishing for such a consummation. That Arrowtown has so far escaped the iofliction of epidemics, etc., is in the greater measure to be ascribed to the nalubriousness of the climate than to any steps taken by our civic fathers to keep the town clean from filth aud nuisances. The police have la'elycome to the assistance oi the Corporation by prosecuting delinquents under the Town and Country and Impounding Ordinances, and by the judicious selection of a test case have shown tbat the breaches of the above description are comeatable in spite and independent of hhe Corporation Bye-laws. The geological specimens lately presented by Dr Hector to the Arrow Athonaeom are now classified, and exhibited in two splendid glass cases furnished at cost price by Mr E. IPoord, who also presented the Arrow Museum with a stone chisel, found some years ago at the Arrow Falls.

At last, after many years of agitation, 735 acres of land are to be thrown open under the deferred-payment nystem at the head of Lake Wakatip, aud it is to be hoped that this will be the forerunner of settlement in that direction.