THE Thames Advertiser THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XIII, Issue 3571, 25 March 1880, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

The 31st of the current month is the day oil which the vote of £3500, for certain alleged concessions to be granted to the Borough of Thames by the County of Thames—viz,, £1000 for the County'sinteresi; in the domestic supply, and £2500 for supplying the Borough with water from the big race for fire purposes and during seasons of draught —will lapse if not previously operated upon. It is said there is an ambiguity in the deed drawn up by Mr Sheehan, and signed by liis Worship the lato Mayor and the County Chairman, respecting the supply of water for such local wants as motivo power and manufacturing purposes by the Borough, and inasmuch as the County and Borough cannot agree in the matter, the Hon. Mr Whitaker declines to authorise the payment of the money until a satisfactory and amicable settlement is come to between both local bodies. We are unwilling to interfere in the matter further at this stage of the proceedings, but would urge that Borough and County should meet each other in a fair and concilia tory spirit with a view to having the money paid over to the district at once, and settle this vexed question, there being a fear if the vote is permitted lo lapse it will not be revoted. If this is not done we fear the amount will be lost to the district, Government being quite as well pleased to see the arrangement fall through. At the same time, if the conditions are as absurd and onesided as they are represented to be, we cannot blame the Borough authorities for repudiating the action of the' exMayor in attempting to bind the Borough to such a one-sided arrangement. It appears to us that the astute County Chairman was one too many for the civic functionary when away from his advisers, and a temporary resident in the Empire City. He was a stranger, and was taken in, by legal verbiage or the blandishments of an old stager in the person of the County Chairman. The Hon. the ex-Native Minister no doubt stood to him as a friend, but it was County v. Borough, and the latter came off second best. His Worship perhaps thought some of the loaves and fishes might yet come to the humble net of the Borough after the tremendous County haul which he was mainly instrumental in bringing to the shore. In this we fear his expectations were , doomed to disappointment. In a narrative of his successful visit to Wellington on that occasion, printed in our contemporary, we find the following catalogue of brilliant achievements

"A special meeting of the Council was held this afterooon, Present— His Worship the Mayor, Ors. Brassey, Hansen, Price, and Mennie. The Mayor gave an account of his labours on behalf of the Borough while in Wellington. lie and Mr Speight liad waited upon the Government and asked them for a vote of money to pay off the Borough overdraft, and to set apart land in the Upper Thames as an endowment, and the result was, that two thousand acres of land near the Aroha block were proclaimed and set apart as an endowment, but .Government had informed him that there was no fund from which they could vote a sum of money, He had interviewed Government in respect to the petition re merging of Para wai into the Borough, and was informed that the matter had been settled before he arrived. The Government had satisfactorily settled the' Water Supply difficulty, and the Domestic Supply would soon be the property of tho Borough. In connection with tho above the following was read Memorandum .Agreement made and entered into this sixteenth day of August, 1879, between tlis honorable John Sheehan, acting for and on behalf of the General Government of New Zealand, of the first part; Alexander Brodie, Chairman of the Thames Comity Council, acting on behalf of such Council, of the second part; and William McCullough, Mayor of the Borough of Thames, acting on behalf of the Council of that Borough, of the third part. Whereas by an agreement dated the 2nd day of December, 1878, between Oliver Wakefield, Under-Secretary for Goldfields, of the' one part, and Alexander Brodie, Chairman of the Thames County Council, of the other part, the property known as the Thames Water Race was transferred to the i.Thames County Council, subject to the approval of the Government; and whereas it is intended to give effect to such agreement by the issue of a Proclamation under certain conditions hereinafter mentioned, the several parties hereto agree as follows 1. That the Government will place on the Estimates the sum of two thousand five hundred pounds, to be paid'to, the County Council, in consideration of which ' the' County Council will _ allow, without other charge or compensation, 'the use by the Borough Council of the Water Race Supply for extinguishment of fires, and help of the Domestic Supply whenever the same falls short of tho domestic requirements. To give effect to this, the nine-inch main of the Domestic Water Supply at the junction of the two services at Albert-street shall be always kept amply supplied with water, from the Thames Racc, and available for immediate use by the Borough, the valves .being kept open (excepting at times when repairs are necessary. 2. That the opening and-, closing of the valves at the junction shall be under the control of the County authorities. 3. That it is distinctly understooi that no water taken from the. Thames Ev.ce tinder the above conditions shall he granted by the Borowjhtobemdjor motive power, manu- \ lacturinrj purposes, or for any other than purely domestic purposes only. This exception not to apply to the water required for shipping. Whenever the Domestic Supply shall fall below the actual requirements of those parts of the town which are not connected with the nine-inch main, then the County Council will supply water to tho extent required, for the purposes heretofore mentioned onty, 'and subject to the same conditions hereinbefore provided in respect of the Albert-street junction, by permitting the Borough Council to connect with the Thames llace at such places as the parties might agree upon. If they cannot agree, then an engineer to be appointed by the General Government to settle the point with which a connection can best be established, regard being had to the efficiency i and proper working of the Thames Race, and the necessities of the Borough, I

4. That all expense of connection is to be borne by the Borough. 5. That it is specially understood that all the mains and services belonging to the Domestic Supply are to be kept in thorough repair, co as to prevent waste. 6. That the Government will place oil the estimates the sura of one thousand pounds, to be paid to the Thames County Council, in consideration of which the County Council will hand over to the Borough Council all the interest now held by the Couuty in the Domestic Water Supply—such interest being now estimated at two-eighths of thewhole—and will also assist in making good the transfer by the Parawai Highway Board of the intorest now held by that body, and will do all such other acts and things as may be required to complete the title of the Borough to the three-eighths interest as above. » 7. That should the Parawai Highway Dis* trict merge in the County before the transfer of its share to the Borough is made or is complete, then the County shall be deemed to hold such share as the property of the Borough, and will transfer it at once without I further consideration.

8. That the sums above mentioned are to be paid over to the County Council immediately that the same have been voted by Parliament, and on completion of the terms and conditions above set forth. 9. If at any time, by reason of defects or for other reasons, the County Council should determine not to repair or renew the 20-inch main now connectin; with Albert-street and their reservoir, they undertake to connect immediately therefrom with the nearest or other best point on the liue of the nine-inch mains belonging to the Domestic Water Supply .south of its present termination, near the Governor Bowen Hotel, in Owen, street, the Couuty paying the expense of such connection. John 1 Sheehan. ' Alexander Broke. Wm. McCullough. Signed by the said John Sheehan, Alexander Brodie, Win. McCullough, in the presence of— James Mackay, ; Special Commissioner. Wellington. 16th August, 1879. Let us analyse the brilliant success of this mission, for which the delegate .re. ceived a vote of thanks, and something more substantial, on his return. In the first place no borough overdraft was liquidated, -which was the chief objectof the mission. The endowment at Te Aroha was arranged for long before, during the Mayoralty of Dr Kilgour. The settlement of the question of merging Parawai into the Borough is still as far off as ever, and we have yet; to learn that the " Government have satisfactorily settled the water supply difficulty." The fact is, the Borough are not at all likely to give their con. sent to an arrangement so unsatisfactory as that embodied in the memorandum of agreement sighed by the exMayor, and the burgesses would have serious grounds /or complaint if they did any such thing. It' will be seen from the part we have printed in italic that all rights and privileges now possessed by the Borough must be handed over to the County, involving the loss of an income amounting to several hundreds per annum, The stipulation is as absurd as it is un-business-like. It means the stoppage of supply to local industries so far as the Borough is coj> cerned, and it would be absurd to lay down fresh pipes from an unknown distance to replace the same on behalf of the County. Besides, the Borough, or rather the Domestic Water Supply Committee, has acquired certain rights and privileges, and a certain annual ifr come from a judicious supply of water fdr local and manufacturing purposes, and it would be a robbery of Borough ratepayers to relinquish the same in manner proposed in the forgoing agreemeat. In the name of the burgesses we protest against it. Why should the Borough relinquish its right and title to 30 gallons per head per diem which Government secured to it out of the water of the big race when handing the same over to the County? Besides, the revenue to be relinquished arising from water used for local manufacturing purposes and motive power within the Borough amounts to about one-third the revenue of the Municipality from'rates. As it is, the Borough is called upon to provide drains for carrying away water and tailings under the control of the County, and from which the latter receive a handsome revenue; but under the monstrous agreement given above the Borough would be left still worse off. It is this act of folly on the part of the ex-Mayor which has retarded the laying of the nineinch mains along Pollen - street, because it was found that nothing could be done towards providing funds for the purpose so long as this agreement existed in its present unsatisfactory form. Those, therefore, who have so long lamented the helpless condition of Shortland in the matter of its water supply, and the absence of proper mains, will be able to put the blame on the right shoulders instead of ciying out against representatives whose hands have been fettered in consequence of thefollyaudincompetenceofpredecessors in the management of municipal affairs.