THE DISTRICT RAILWAY.

Waipa Post, Volume XII, Issue 945, 22 May 1920, Page 5

THE DISTRICT RAILWAY.

EXIT THE OLD COMMITTEE. VOLUNTARY ORGANISATION CEASES. A meeting of the committee which conducted j,he preliminaries leading to the establishment of the Te Awa-mutu-Putaruru railway district was held in the Farmers’ Institute last night, for the purpose of approving accounts before the handing over of the books to the Recently-installed Railway Board. Mr F. Quin presided, and there were also present: Messrs F. A. Kurth, A. G. Weather ell, N. M. Lethbridge, and S. Pratt. In opening, the chairman explained the purpose of the meeting, and in the course of his remarks said that the committee had arranged finances to conclude the preliminaries, and approximately £79 of the £IOO arranged for had been expended. The Board was placed in the position at this moment of having no finance available, and it was to be decided whether the committee would extend its finances to meet the cost of election and the early expenses of the Board. As to old expenses, a legal opinion had been obtained, and as the Act stood the Board had no power ,to take over' the preliminary expenses of the committee. Representations had been made to the Government through Mr F. F. Hockly, M.P., to amend the law on lines similar to the amendment to the Electric Power Boards Act, whereby the preliminary expenses of a voluntary committee could be taken over by the elected Board. Mr Lethbridge said the Board had already agreed to the principle of accepting the liability of the committee. No matter what the legal aspect, it was a moral obligation to rel : 3ve the committee of the undertakings it had entered into in an essential work of constituting the district. The Boards keenly desired an amendment of the law on the lines suggested. Members made appreciative reference to the work so capably rendered by the secretary (Mr J. G. Wynyard), who had given his services in the interests of the movement. A grant of fifteen guineas was made as an evidence of the committee’s appreciation. (

The secretary submitted a statyment showing the present financial position. On the receipts side £74 2s was shown to have been received by voluntary contribution, and the balance of £74 16s was raised by way of bank overdraft. On the expenses side the total amounted to £B9 14s 3d, made up by the cost of preliminary survey, valuation rolls, plans of the district, conduct of the election, and stamps and stationery.—The balance-sheet was submitted was for mally approved and outstanding accounts amounting to £SO 17s 8d were passed for payment. ~ Before the meeting closed a vote of thanks to the chairman found a ready response by applause. Spealy ers referred to the genuine and maintained interest which Mr Quin had taken in the movement since its inception several years ago, and to his effort the present forward state of the negotiations was largely due..