NEW INGLEWOOD COUNTY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16722, 24 April 1920, Page 6

NEW INGLEWOOD COUNTY.

INAUGURAL DINNER. A PLEASANT GATHERING. * The coming into existence on April I or the Tiigiowood County Council m place ol the Moa Road Board was oeleuriited by the holding or a public din- , nor in tnc Inglewood Town .Hah on , Friday evening. It was in every way J a .success and a very pleasant evening wds spent by those present. Nearly i lot) men asstaubied, rncluamg many net. ' tiers ot the district, and a number of | guests representative ol ueiga homing local bodies ana institutions, tlie chairman ot tho'Moa. Road Board (.Ur. A, Gorkill) presided. On Ins right was the Hon. D. H. Guthrie, Minister of Lands, who represented the Government, and on his left was Mr. d. D. Jlmc, es-.VI.tP. lor the btrntford electorate. Tho other guests at tho ollieial table wore Messrs. !i. G. Smith, M.P, (Taranaki), Hy. Drown (ex-M.-P. ior Taranaki), C. A. Wilkinson (exM.P. tor Egmont), J. -S. Connctt (cliairnian Taranaki County Council), R. H. I'igott (chairman Chiton County Council), E. Walter (chairman Stratford County Council), Jus. Clarke (Mayor of Now Plymouth), Newton King, T. Taylor (manager Farmers’ Co-operative Organisation Society), and Messrs. D. Todd, J. Hunter, R. Stewart, A. Cowley (members of the Moa Road Board), Lloyd (clerk of tho Inglewood County, and G. 'Whiteside (engineer). Tho viec-ohairs wore occupied by Messrs. J. 11. Lyon and .1. Sutherland (Mayor of Inglewood). Apologies were received from the following: Tho Hon. W. F. Massey. Sir Win. Fraser, tho Hon. J. G. Coates, the Hon. Oliver Samuel, Mr. R. Masters. Mr. G. H. Bullard (Commissioner of Crown Lands), Lieut.-Colonel C. H. “Weston, Mr. A. Hunter (Hawcra), tho Mayor of Stratford, the chairmen of the Eltham and Waimatc County Councils. After the toast- “The King - ’ had been enthusiastically honoured, tho cliairnian called on Mr. Lyon to propose “Tho Government.” Tho proposer -said it gave him pleasure to couple with the. toast the name of tho lion. Mr. Guthrie, who held one of tho most important portfolios in tho Cabinet, In tho course of his remarks, Mr. Lyon spoke of the accumulation of large holdings of first-class lands, and tlio closing of homesteads. He would like to see an amendment of tho Land Act something on tho linos of the Danish land laws whereby a homestead once established was never unoccupied again. HON. MR. GUTHRIE SPEAKS. Tho Hou. Mr. Guthrie in replying said ho had regarded it as a great compliment when asked to bo present at the dinner on it being found that tho Prime Minister could not come. Referring to the formation of tho Inglewood County ho said they were celebrating an important event which ho was sure would make for the progress of tho district. It had been tho policy of tiic Government fur a long time to encourage an increase in tho size of counties, rather than a decrease, though these were special cases in connection with which it became necessary | to change that policy. It would- bo remembered that when the provinces were abolished in 187(1 it was said that better management would take place by the institution of counties, that was management in small areas. Tho history ol county management from that day to this was one that would lie a credit to any part ol the world, and of which the people of New Zealand could be very proud indeed. The speaker paid a tribute to tho men who had given tiieir .services on tiie councils; it was well that,Now Zealand had men willing to do their bit for the advancement of tho country to which they belonged and of which they were proud. He wished to say that lie had served his time on county councils and looked bade with great thankfulness to that time bacanso it had taught him a great deal he would not otherwise have learned. Ho wished to congratulate those who had secured tho Inglewood County because, though tliis was a locality well advanced now, it was a fact—ho would not say it had been neglected in the past because the cliairnian of the Taranaki County was there (laughter)— that where community cf interests had not extended in one direction tho outlying portions of the district had not received the attonion they otherwise should. Taranaki was noted all over New Zealand for its good roads, and why .should not this portion of the district have good roads. Ho was quite certain that- now it had become a full-fledged county it would have as good roads as any other part of Taranaki. Referring to the means by which the position of a county was attained, Mr. Guthrie said Mr. Wilkinson played no small part in connection with the passing (if the Bill, and ho did not think Mr. Smith over lifted a finger to oppose it. The reason it got a free passage through the House was that the position had been put clearly before the members, and when the Bill came forward they knew it was a fair and just thing. In conclusion, Mr. Guthrie wished the county all success and expressed the conviction that it would make for tho advancement of Taranaki. Mr. Guthrie proceeded to refer to Government questions which had been touched on by Mr. Lyon. Though not perfect, the members of the Government wore actuated by the highest desire to do the best, according to their ability, for the advancement of New Zealand'; they were not looking for personal gain. Those present might take it from him that the Government would continue to do this. No Government that neglected tho interests of New Zealand could stand for any length of time. ■ Tho present Government, which succeeded the National Government, was on its trial. It had passed through ono session and had, he thought, satisfactorily discharged tho duties which devolved upon it. Tho part taken by New Zealand in the war and tho work of repatriation of soldiers were noxt dealt with hy tho speaker. Proceeding, lie said that it could not have been wondered at if production had fallen while 100,000 of the best men of tho country were away fighting, but by reason of the efforts of those who romaniecl, New Zealand, instead of being placed at a disadvantage in regard to finance, was placed in a far bettor position than ever before. One reason was the wise and advantageous bargain made for the commandeer of produce. As a result over 13-1 millions of British money had been paid regularly into the coffers ' and there had been no waiting until ■ the produce was taken to England, i Had the nroducers had to go to finan- s dal institutions tho position would i have been very different to-day, not 1 because the institutions would have 1 been unwilling to finance, but be- ; cause they would have horn unable 1 to do so to tho, required extent. Mr. J Guthrie compared the pre-war and 1 post-war fixed and free deposits in 1 New Zealand. In 1914 they totalled f ±.24.030.000, while to-day they totalled ■' £50,655,091. This was very encour- < aging to the people to still go on be-1 <

cause the limits of th ecountry’s possibilities bad not been reached yet. The country had to carry a heavy burden of taxation. The debt had been increased to nearly double. With increasing production and markets for produce New Zealand had nothing to fear. Speaking of Taranaki, Air. Guth- . rio said that it was a wonderful little province for the dairying industry and was known as one of the foremost I dairying portions _of the. Empire, not ' only throughout New Zealand, but also , in England, as he had learned from a ' man who had visited all the import--1 ant dairying countries recently. Ho ) was impressed with the belief that j Taranaki was the district in New r Zealand which came most nearly to the ’ Danish methods. To conclude his speech, Air. Guthrie acknowledged the j toast and tho kind remarks made coni’ corning himself. Alany expressions of congratulation to tho promoters of the Inglewood 1 county wore made during the course honoured as follows; “Tho Navy and Army,” proposed by ’ Air. V’. E. Pcrcivul and responded to j by Air. R. J. Bakewell (navy) and t Air. J. B. Mine (army); "The Aloa Road Board,” proposed by Air. R. Stc- ’ vens, whose recollection of the Aloa j Roan Board carried him back to 1886, 5 when Air. Peters was chairman; res- [ ponded to by Air. H. Trimble (a former > chairman), who congratulated those [ who had secured the new county, and . said it would need the utmost support , of tho ratepayers because the roads > had to bo put in better condition than , in the past, by Mr. A. CorkiJl (tho . final chairman), who .said he hoped tho ratepayers would take a keen interest ’ in tho now county and elect progress--1 ivo men to the council; “Tim Pariia- • ment; Past and Present Atembers,” proposed by Air. Hy. Brown, responded to by Air. S. G. Smith, M.P., who re- - {erred with regret to the tact that the late editor of the Inglewood Record , (Air. T. B. ilamerton), who had fought f in season and out of season for tho . county, had not Jived to be there that night; by Air. C. A. Wilkinson, tho [ ) late member lor tilts Egmoiu clector--5 ale, who expressed the opinion that . the whole question of subsidies to lotal . bodies and taxes for the upkeep of i roads was ripe for revision and should i be tackled by Parliament without dei lay: and by Air. J. B. llinc, who paid . a tribute to the work, done hy Air. Wilkinson in the absence of tile speaker in preonring the way for the Inglewood t'ounly Bill, and said that when AJmister ol Internal Affairs he had intended to prepare a Bill for local government revision but was not going to give it out until he had the whole power of the county councils behind him; he was in favour of a tyre tax for the upkeep of roads; “.Mercantile Interests,” proposed by Air. J. W. Winfield, rspponded to by Air. Newton King, who, in referring to the commandeer of wool and produce, said it was quite time the people were given some information as to whether file commandeer was to be continued after Juno or not, and by Air. Taylor; “Tho new Inglewood County,” proposed by Air. J. Clarke, responded to hy Air. Corkill, who said ho thought a forward move had been made; two of tile most important points on which the members of tho hoard had been dissatisI fled wore dual control of roads and the amount of money going out of tho district ; thanks were due especially to Afr. Wilkinson for his efforts during the absence of Air. (line at the front mid to Air. W. T. Jennings, ALP., Hon. O. Samuel, Afr, S. G. Smith, ALP., and everybody in the district who had assisted in obtaining the county; Messrs. R. Stewart, D. Todd. J. Hunter. J. H Lyon also responded; “Local Bodies.” proposed by Afr. A. Afarshall, responded to hy Messrs. J. Clarke (.Mayor of New Plymouth) J. Sutherland (Mayor of Inglewood), J. S. Connett (chairman 'Taranaki County Council). E. Walter (chairman Stratford County Council), R. H. Pigotc (chairman Clifton County Council. Air. Connell, congratulated Air. Cork ill on tho grit he had shown in lighting for the county and the manner in which ho had taken advantage of all the opportunities given him. Ho was sure that but for these opportunities they would never have been in tho position ns they wore that night to congratulate each other on the establishment of n nowcounty. AVhat ho (tho speaker) had done in opposition had been (lone as what ho considered his duty as chairman of the Taranaki County Council. Now it was all over he had. nothing to regret. Mis having any personal feeling in the matter was out of the question. Referring to the, wheel-tax.’ for which he iiad had to boar a good deal of odium, he said it was adopted simply as a protest against, the present system, and urged combination of all bodies concerned in the rending question to impress more forcibly the need lor reform. Tho. 'Taranaki Council had now made application for toll-gates, not because they thought they would get thorn, but because they were going to "ping away” until something was done. Ho regretted to have to say he had it on good authority that nothing was to lie (ioiio at tho next session of Parliament, in spite of the unanimous resolution passed by the last | counties conference, that it ho a recoin- i inundation to the Government to deal with tho relorm of local government matters. “Farming Interests,” pro-I posed hy Mr. Nowion King, who said that more care or thought should he exorcised in connection with the land “boom” now in progress; responded to by .Messrs. D. Todd and J. 11. Lyon. “Tho AMsitors,” proposed hy Air.' R. Stewart, responded to hy Messrs H. R. Billing and S. G. Smith, ALP., the latter remarking that Taranaki had suflered in. tho past more from lack of unity than anything else. “Tho Ladies,” proposed by Air. R. Bucklev, responded to by Afr. AV. E. Porcival. “I ho Press,” proposed hy Air. J. Sutherland, responded to Jiy the representatives of tho newspapers present. During tho evening an enjoyable musical prognynrao was contributed by Messrs. R._ Darlow. li. Goddcs, A. .Hewlett, AV. H. Goldsworthy, and F. Partridge. The accompaniments were played by Alossrs. H. Wood and J. butlierlaud. The l ,ea^1 tho chairman was anally drunk and tho gathering dispersed in the small hours, after singmg “Auld Lang Syne,” and tlio National Anthem.