STRATFORD NEWS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 16, 19 June 1913, Page 3

STRATFORD NEWS.

STSATFORD COUNTY COUNCIL

FROM OUR RESIDENT REPORTER,

Office and Job Printing Works: Next N.Z. Loan & Mercantile Agency Co., Broadway.

Telephone No. 113.

ORDINARY MONTHLY MEETING

At the ordinary meeting of the Strutford County Council on Wednesday there ! were present: Crs. Hathaway (chair-i man), J. Christoffel, Anderson, Smith, I Were, Rogers, Young and Walter. j MIDHIRST MATTERS. Tlie Under-Secretary for Lands wrote that the Department had no knowledge of the land purchased for the old Manganui Road Board for cemetery purposes at Midhirst, but had no objection to vesting the title of the Crown portion of the cemetery (one acre) in the County Council, whose duty it was to provide a cemetery when necessary.—The chairman said that the late chairman, Mr. Joseph Mackay, had gone to a great deal of trouble in procuring the land for the extension of the cemetery, of whose original area a great deal was waste land in creeks. But it seemed impossible to trace the vesting of the new acre.—Referred to the riding members, with power to act. v'The same committee will endeavor to locate the deeds of the Midhir,st Town Hall, which; became the property of the Council when the Manganui Road District was merged into the county. The engineer had already supplied , crushed stone to the Midhist Dairy Company for use at Pembroke road creamery, as requested by the secretary. Approved. WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT. The' executive committee of the New Zealand Counties' Association wrote that in, view of the high premiums local authorities were called upon to pay for insuring their employees agakist accident, it had been suggested that their interests would be better served if they were empowered by legislation to establish a fund or funds, either individually, if financially strong enough, or in such associations, or groups, as might be agreed upon amongst themselves, for the purpose of insuring their employees against accident, etc. Before anything further could' be done, the association required sufficient data to warrant it, and asked for a return showing the total premiums; paid each year for the past ten years, and also the amount of compensation paid over that period. The councillors generally seemed in favor of some improvement on the present arrangements. ESTIMATES. The -engineer submitted estimates of expenditure for the coming year. The summary is as follows: North riding, £3130; South, £llO3 12s 6d; East, £4063; west, £2621 10s; Mangaehu, £,1320; total, £12,333 12s 6d. This, the engineer noted, didimot include administration, but this would probably be more than balanced by the subsidy on rates. . ' ENGINEER'S REPORT. Mr. E. C. Robinson, county engineer, reported that the' season's stone-crush-ing operations had been brought to a close with the completion of re-metal-ling and maintenance work on Lower and Upper Pembroke roads. The plant had .been brought back'to Stratford and hdusg in the new engine-shed. About one, mile and a half of the Pembroke road had been re-metalled at a comparatively small cost, and when the rolling was completed the result should prove satisfactory and be an indication of what was possible on other roads now that the Council was in possession of a roadmaking plant. As the roller was required on the Pembroke road for scarifying during the re-metalling operations, it had. not been possible to complete the rolling of the new metal on York, Denbigh and Radnor roads, but these would be attended to. The bridge over the Gentle Annie stream, on the Cardiff road, had been re-decked and tarred. The concrete culvert on Beaconsfield road, to ; replace the old bridge, had been commenced. The completion of the metalling contract on the Mangaehu road had I been suspended until next season, about | 1414 chains remaining to be done. It had not been found practicable to continue I the,carting out of the shellrock pit at a price anywhere within a reasonable limit, and the recent broken weather had put the proposition out of the question till next spring. The contract for suply of shell rock on roads in the Mangaehu riding was proceeding slowly. The erection of the roadman's cottage on the Manaia road was in progress. With regard to obtaining metal for Sentry Hill, he had visited Wanganui and discussed the question with the District Railway Engineer. As a result, he had to report that there seemed to be no likelihood of being abte to rail material right from the pit. No existing line could be used, and the cost of a siding would put the project out of the question. It therefore, became a matter of carting to Sentry Hill railway station. Two courses appeared to be open to the Council: (1) to undertake the crushing and cartin" itself; or (2) to let such work by con° tract. The estimates in connection with expenditure on roads for the forthcoming year had been prepared, and were before the Council. Pressure of workin connection with this had prevented his attention to a few minor matters, but these would be seen to forthwith SPECIAL RATES. It was decided to strike speeial rates as follows: West Riding. Cardiff-Waingongoro, %d; Brookes and Brecon, y,d; Hastings, y+d; Rowan, y 2 d. I East Riding.— Waiwiri road, y,d; Gordon road, y 2 d; Toko road west,' %d; Beaconsfield road (lower), %d in the £.' North Riding.—York road, y,d- Radnor road. Id; West Monmouth, y,d; Stanley, Cross and Croydon, y,d; D~enbigh, Id; Salisbury and Salisbury north VA and y 4 d; Beaconsfield and Mountain' including Kent Terrace, 6y,d ' THE GENERAL RATE. Notice was given to move at next meeting to strike the following general rates:—North Riding, East Riding, 2y,d (last year, 2d); West Ridin" •2y 4 d; South Riding, I'/.d; Mangaehu, 3d in the £. METAL SUPPLIES. Cr. Walter moved that tenders be called for 0000 yards of crushed maintenance metal, to be delivered on trucks at the Sentry Hill railway station —Cr Were seconded, and the motion was carried. GENERAL MATTERS. The request, of the Eltham Dairy Company to remove some earth from the bank on the side of the Skinner road in connection with the approach to the Chcal road factory, was granted, subject to tne foreman's supervision. A settler on the Huinga settlement (loko) complained of the large number of straying cattle on the road there.— The ranger's attention will be called to the matter. The Minister of Public Works acknowledge,! receipt of the Council's resolution relative to clearing slips on Manga road | i.nil said the matter was being enquired into. The. Council would be further communicated with. A further application will he' made for the loan (approved) for the extension of Regan street west. Accounts totalling £1230 were passed tor payment.

HEM ITS FOR COUNTIES' OONFER- ! ENCE. Cr. Young moved a remit with regard to subsidies on local bodies' rates, which should be apportioned to the ridings on the basis of the rates collected, instead of on a valuation basis as at present. Tn his opinion, the backblocks settlers were entitled to more subsidy than the less remote districts, where there were facilities and proximity to the towns. The county clerk (Mr. C. Penn) said that there seemed to be nothing to prevent the Council doing this. Motion withdrawn. The chairman moved a remit that subsidies he granted to local bodies according to rates collected, on a graduated basis. He mentioned that in the South Island many counties were levying only a farthing in the pound. Here the full legal rate had to be collected. Taranaki people were building up a great industry, and their land was contributing far more to the revenue of the country than the lightly-rated sheep country. Carried. The chairman moved afurther remit to give power to local' bodies to tax all sluts up to, say, two guineas; instead of the present uniform tax on both sexes. This would tend to bring about a big improvement in dogs generaTly. Cr. Young seconded.—Carried. On the motion of Cr. Smith the following remit was carried for forwarding to the conference: That it is desirable, in the interests of contributing bodies, that before any expenditure is authorised for the erection of new hospital buildings or for additions to existing buildings, a conference of any such contributing bodies be held to consider ways and means and the necessity for such buildings; and that the wealthy be taxed direct for the upkeep of hospitals. The chairman also submitted a remit: That the Government be asked to license motor-cars according to horse-power, and that the money thus raised be applied to the revenue of the various local bodies, according to the length of metalled roads in the various districts.—Carried. Cr. Walter moved a remit i,o ask the i Government to remove the duty and half extra freight rates on hardwood timber for local bodies' purposes.—Carried. The chairman moved: That the Government be asked to pay subsidy on all rates collected by local bodies, except rates collected for paying interest on loans, Cr. Christoffel moved that a remit be j sent to the conference that amending legislation be introduced to provide that the system of election be changed back to the old system, where the members were appointed to the board by the contributing bodies. He mentioned that at the present time the county representatives were, with one exception, nominees [of the Council. But as the result of the next election it might be that no county 'councillor would have a seat. "We find the 'money, but we have no say in the spending of it." PERSONAL Mr. Wm. Hathaway, chairman of the Stratford County Council, has been appointed to represent the Council at the [ Counties' Conference.. STRAY PARAGRAPHS Mr. John Smith, county councillor, has been interesting himself in the matter of extending Page street as far as the Waingongoro road, with a view of providing a shorter route to Mount Egmont. He mentioned to the Daily \ews reporter yesterday that such a road would make available a lot of capital suburban land. One of the landowners concerned was willing to give a roadway through his property; another would give half tne area required; whilst another hesitated before agreeing to give the five and a half acres necessary, although he recognised that the road would be of great value. Mr. Smith states that both the Stratford and Dawson's Palls Mountain houses would be easily accessible from the top of the new road, which would, have an even and easy grade, with only | a couple of small culverts.

"I would ask that the county ranger visit this riding more frequently, as it is unfair to any workman to have the batters of the roads continuallv broken down into the water-tables." Thus the East Riding foreman in his report to the Stratford County Council. One of the councillors said there was a general complaint that the ranger did not visit the East Riding much in these days. Another councillor: Does he visit any riding? The other: Whr, is he dead, then? A motion was tabled to the effect that the ranger's attention he drawn to the complaint, and this was passed. Cr. Walter said, "He has had his attention pretty well drawn to it this morning."

The rates on some of the York road farms last year amounted to lOi/id in the £ on the capita] value. Of this 2 J / 2 d was by way of a special rate struck by the County Council at the ratepayers' own request. Prior to last year the special rate, again at their request, was 3d in the £. Now the road has >en re-metalled, and is in capital order. The special rate for this year is only a half-penny.

The particular men are the men whom we like. They appreciate our clean and cosy saloon, the absolute cleanliness everywhere, promptness and excellent shaving and linirdressing. Tobaccos, cigars, cigarettes and all'smokers' sundries are fully stocked—At Sharp's. The King's Birthday does not. cause any s'l-ua t excitement when it falls in midwinter, as does the present Sovereign's birthday. It is not much of a tune for out-door gatherings, unless you are clothed in warm underwear, a good suit, and topcoat from "The Kash" (Maiden and Marshall, proprietors).