BOROUGH COUNCIL.

West Coast Times, Issue 2908, 27 July 1878, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The Council nie^ Hfe hai^pasl 7 p.m. Present— The\ Maydn JVifesSrs Walker, Lihsu-om, Tait, Crdira; Jobiiston, and Hatil^n. . , Tile raiHutfk; of the 1 last meeting were read ahd cbtltlrmbd.

COHEESPONIifeNCE.

Mr W. H: Spence, applied for a .rebate on_the. usuSl. To,wn. Hall charge, on the occasion of the Archdeacon's welcbnie, in consequence of the weather being jjp unfavorable. The request was granted.. A letter from Mr R, Campbell, iii reference to his sldugtiter-yards was received, but not dealt with. A number of applications to mine on public streets wer^e redelved, and variously dealt witb. Som4 w^re . referred to the Public Wor^.<plHi£t||;.hutthe applications of Williams and party, and Connor oiid party, were granted. . A letter was received .from Mr P. Zohrab, thanking .the Council for bis {lupoiatnaent as Borough Inspector,, add promising to do his diitj? in his capacity.,.,. A number bf smYilt works' were dealt with: The amounts of the receipts since". l'dSfr meeting weres.aid to be £44 lls ; and the payments, £30 13s, FINANCE COMMITTEE'S REPOBT. The following report was handed in :— Your committee have the honor to report that, with, his Worship, the Mayor; they waited on the manager of the Bank of ( Ne.w Zealand for the purpose bf to obtain a further. amount of byerdraffc. The manager, however, requires the Council to carry- but the arrangement made some months ago with the inspector, viz.; to have tlie" balance reduced to £2,000. (as at present) after Ist July, an,d ;tb farther reduce it by £1000 on the Ist 1879.. ; A letter approvecl of By your copmittee has Keen written to the Harbor Board; applying for a reconsideration, of the question of nnyment of portion of.wjngdam. Letters and telegrams have passed between llie Cbiilicii andtne Govcmiiient .reßpectlb|; subsidies on rates and deductions for hospitals, {iiid „a full financial statement of : accounts has been promised By the Gbverqme'nt which Will be laid before your Council oii receipt ! Uiereof, In the meantime, your comoiittee cariri'db reebniipend the Cbiiiicil, to undertake any wbrk's of JnaghUu'de^ uhlii a further financial sUtehienfi is brougnt tip. The report was received and 'ad'op^id. PUBLIC WOHKS COMMITTEE'S BBp'oßT. The following report wia also received And adopted :'■ — Your committee have the honor to report that the lighting of street lampa by the Corporation commenced on tlie 20th instant, :ind it is,. the intention of the committee to have all the lamps (26) extinguished ab inidliight for, the. present. . . . „.,.. Your committee have, inspected the, Janip>i ; iind Jfincl 'theiii. all iii good order; a fe\^ of those lately erected require /an extra coa,fc pf paint, whicli the Gas Coihpahy agreed to have done.

, ( G6VJ3RNMENT SUBSIDY. . The. following very important letter was also received : — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 17th July, 1878.

Sir,— Referrihg to the telegraphic com|p'ondence which has taken place between yourself and the Hon. the Prinie Mim'ste* upon the subject of hospital management and the paymeut of subsidy to the Borough fund, I have the honor to enclose herewith, a statement of the account as it stood between the Government and the Borough on the 3pth June last, from which it appears that tlie Borough fund was at that date in debt to the Treasury to the amount of £447 17s Bj?i

Had the Council seen their way fa aid .the Ilospital oh the terms nj'entioned in, the circular letter from this office, .^dated s(h.of starch last, the sum of £742 6s Would not have be debited tb the Borough, and the subsidy for the half-year, amounting to .£514 4s Bd, would have been credited. This would have produced a balance in favor of llie Borough on the 30th tTune last , of £294 8s 4d; thus :— Cr. by full ciib3idy for half-yeir 1 ,, 4s 8d; Dr. Borough to balanqe d.u^.on 31st Becember, 1877, £219 16 4d; CtJ. By, Ml'ari^e, £2^4 8s 4<i. I observe by a lett*e*r from the Town Clerk tliat he .questions ,the accuracy of the Treasury figures, and clairiis credit for^payuienis nia'de to tlie Hospi'tS.l Committee and Benevolent Society, during the September quarter of 1877. Upon this I must observe tliat the statement of the account made by the Treasury officers is, I t ani assured, absolutely accurate, and is drawn out in the same way as that in which similar accounts have been rendered to all other Borough Councils in New Zealand. ( . The credit clainie'd by the Clerk for payments to the Hospital and Benevolent Society cannot be admitted,asthp>e payment! were made Before the system suggested Jin the circular of sth March, which the.borough declined to accept, could have come into operation, and whilst the Government were paying two-thirds of the gross expenditure of the Hospital. \ I am, &c, G. S. Whitmohb. After a few unimportant matters the Council adjourned.