COUNTY AMALGAMATION.

Wairarapa Age, 4 May 1937, Page 7

COUNTY AMALGAMATION.

GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSALS. OPPOSED. REFERENDUM DESIRED. WAIPUKURAU, May 3. At Saturday’s meeting of the Waipukurau County Council, councillors in no undecided; manner expressed the opinion that the Government’s proposed amalgamation proposals did not meet with their approval. The chairman, Mr A. C. Russell, said: “The Government says that if the counties don’t take voluntary steps for amalgamation, commissions may be set up to tell them what to do, and that they may be worse off. However, I do not thii-.k under the decision of a commission we would be worse off than we would be under a voluntary agreement. We’ve got to put our backs to the wall ar.d fight for our little county.” ‘ The whole idea to-day seems to be that if a man possesses something, everyone else should have the right to share it with him,” he continued. “If there is to be any amalgamation it should be only by a vote of our ratepayers. The present Government is a democratic party and has always professed to believe in referendum. If they stand by that we have nothing to fear, but the trouble is that, any Government looks where the votes are coming from, and unfortunately at present the towns are ruling the country. All the agitation is coming from the towns and the chambers of commerce, but we know more about our counties than anyone else.”

It was resolved to support the action of the Makara County Council in the matter of asking for a vote of those affected. —(P.A.)