WEST COAST.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3, 19 December 1898, Page 1

WEST COAST.

C [COREESrONDKXT " CaVTEBBURY . TIMES. "J ; GREYMOUTH, Dec 2. LOCAL ELECTIONS. ' The municipal and county elections on the West Coast passed off very quietly this year. ,l So far as the municipalities are concerned, *- there was no opposition in any of tlie five •_ boroughs, while in the Grey and Buller couft- ». ties the chairman was elected without opposi sition. At Reefton there was a tie between i Messrs Trehnery and Irvin, and, it being del tided to draw lots, Mr Tannery's name came - out first, and he was declared. elected. At c Westland, out of nine councillors there were j- seven candidates, and, after a deal of ballot- _ ing, Sir Dungan was elected chairman. HOKITIKA BOROUGH FINA.VCK. • A case of very material interest to local ' bodies was decided by Mr M'Parlane at s Hokitika tbe other day. The Hokitika Bos rough Council sued Mr Bevan, ex-M.H-R., for rates. The latter, who has been debating | the question in the papers for some time past, refused to pay, and defended the case - upon the grounds that, first, more monsv J had been struck for the special rate thaii was necessary ; secondly, because wrongiul transfers had been made from one account | to another ; and, further, that the books [ had been very badly kept. In giving his j evidence Mi- Bevan declared that the striking and transferring of rates was a public I scandal. The Magistrate .gave a veidict for i the .defendant, remarking tbat the borough • books .were beyond his comprehension. The \ Council is now in the unfortunate position' ; of being unable to erifpr-.*- the collection of • its rates. In evidence it came out that a number o£ the councillors had not naid up the last rate, and in some instances were behind with the previous year's. The present Town C'erk explained to the Court that he had only taken office a short time ago, and was not responsible for the sUite'.of the \ books. '•'-■-. ; • ."mv\*™_nyp. ; boards:";". .*-. .*; ;.(: Ne.lgpn.hasi set- Ke^ jsea-»ncl the example of., transacting the* "business of "the" 'district it has charge of, by visiting the localities remote from the centre . and holding. Board meetings in them. For a long time past Westport has been agi- ; tating for the establishment of separate Land and Education Boards, and the member for the district has been forcing the hand of the Government, as much as possible. The Land Board has endeavoured to meet the desire by holding periodical meetings at Westport, and the Nelson Education Board, not to b?. behindhand, on Monday decided that the next meeting should be held at Westport This may possibly gratify a few people in Buller's capital, but the* majority look upon it as a wilful waste of public money, as the travelling expenses of members and officials will be very considerable. But then, I presume, members desire a holiday and if the country will pay the piper, so much the better for them and worse for the country. No good can possibly be done by this stupid tionA SCHOOL TEACHER. Tlie goods folks of Westport and the Nelson Board of Education have a serious dispute in hand. After much debating, the former has agreed to create a district high school nt Westport — this at the request of the inhabitants. To get a good start, all the present staff have received notice terminating their engagements. The Westport School Committee, backed up by the parents and a large number of residents, desire to retain the services of the head-master, and have petitioned accordingly. The Board, however, declined to entertain the petition, affirming that a University man must be placed in charge. Feeling on both sides was roused to fever heat, and the Government was applied to. Mr Seddon has taken up the cause of the teacher as against the Board, and has said he will see that the present master is re-instated. How he is to manage this if the Board holds out is difficult to say, for in such matters the Ac. is very explicit. ) WESTI'ORT HARBOUR BOARD. Some members of the Westport Harbour lioai'd desire to have very enlarged powers, and at a meeting a proposition was made by Mr O'Repan that the Government be approached, in order to get an amendment to the Act in the direction of allowing the Board to expend money in making land endowments, the intention being to have a good dray road from Westport to Mokihinui, a small settlement twenty-five miles north of Westport. The mover argued that the expenditure would increase the Board's Revenue, although he was careful to abstain from details in this respect. The proposal was supported by another member, but others were afraid to branch off in this line of expenditure, and the decision was adjourned for a future meeting, Mi; O'Regan expressing his determination to proceed ' further in the matter. The Westport Harbour Board has agreed to offer Captain Leech, ex-harbourmaster, £100 as full compensation for loss of office. Some time ago the parents of a young man employed by the Board, who was drowned while in the execution of his duty, applied to the Board for some aid, but none could • be granted. The young man had a small salary. Captain Leech had a good salary for many years. The one lost his life, the ' other his billet. The one Avas refused any compensation, the other gets £100. Tet there are three Liberal members of Parlia- ■ ment on the Board. ' . — _________ i