The Southland County Council.

Southland Times, Issue 4843, 23 January 1884, Page 3

The Southland County Council.

0 TO THE EDITOR. ' Sir,- I cannot let this opportunity Blip without showing myj-appreciation of your full and impartial report of the Southland County Council's meeting which appeared in your issue of the 12th inst— it being in my opinion the only fall report that has appeared in yonr columns since the beginning of the Ceuncil, end I sincerely hope, for rhe interests of the ratepayers and advancement of Southland county, that you will long continne to give as full reports as you have done on this ocsasion. In doing so I am sure you will greatly improve the working of the Council as well as enlighten the ratepayers as to what is going on. Hitherto we have been pretty well in the dark as to what was going on. The most of your readers will have seen by your report of the 12th inst. that the motions that Councillor Kinross brought forward were lost, including one requesting the Governor to sanction an overdraft of LIOOO in excess of the amount of the year's revenue. This motion the chairman ruled out of order at the request of Councillors Richardson and Baldey, and it was therefore not put to the meeting. By doing so, I think the chair man exceeded his duty a3 chairman, as in my opinion the motion was a fair one, and it lay wiih the Governor to say whether the request was reasonable or not. Councillor Kinross was also denied any assistance from the other members; and still, in the face of this, Councillor Richardson proposed the expenditure of LlO ia the Awarua riding against the stern objections of Councillor Kinross, member for the riding, the motion being carried by those who had just before so strongly opposed any proposition of Councillor Kinross's — an act which I have no hesitation in .saying was in my opinion very nngentle'oianly and unbecoming in a member of the Council. I certainly think that the member for a riding is the fiteat member of the Council to know when and how to lay out any moneys that may b« available for hiß riding • and I fail to see what right any other member has to interfere with another riding in matters of this sort. In this particular cebb I certainly think that those members who carried the above motion have not done to Mr Kinross " as they would he should do unto them" — in fact, if such actions are allowed to pass unnoticed, there will be little use in some of is attending the meetings at all. If the business can be managed by two or three members, and they are allowed to rule supreme, I cannot see the use of putting the country to the expense of supporting nine. — I am, &c, Thomas Black. Lameden, January 13th, 1884.