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Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1606, 28 September 1885, Page 2

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bat that was not county interests ? What benefit does the county receive for the expenditure of £300 for making roads to Messrs Mirfio and Johnston's private residences and ending there. What right had the Council to construct a private bridge for G. Barman and another or O. Doig, over the Black water Creek T I will venture to say that neither of the above would have been done only for political patronage. What right has councillors residing in town, and r.thers residing about 20 minutes n.tikoatof town to be paid f 1 lg per sitting of council, exclusive of travelling expenses ? Or what right has councillors residing any distance from town to be paid mere than reaswable travelling expenses? How can our expenditure be deemed beneficial to county interests when it takes more than the whole amount of our exorbitant rates and taxes to pay for cnileKinn, and keep our council officials in penoaaent and lucrative billets ? What benefit docs the county derive from employing a permanent oveneer at C 4 per week to oversee one or two men at work digging a bit of drain or repairing a bit of read ? I have myself, seen where the said overseer was engaged shepherding one man who was digging nut some stumps alongside the Buller Road for several days ; yet some of oar councillors have the hardihood to tell us that the county boainea co«ld not be eficiently carried on with one official less than what is at present in the Council employ, and that the work could not possibly be done for less money then what is at present being paid. Well I remember the time undof the R.ie£ Board system, when oue man could do aa much as the whole present staff, and infinitely more satisfactory, for an amount eqnat to what is at present paid to an overseer to look after one or tw » labourer*. But there is no us ; cloaking the fact ; the whole present system of county management is a miserable farce, a failure, and a fraud. What do we pay a County Engineer £8 per week and travelling expenses for. What do we pay a County Clerk £6 per week for. What do we pay an overseer anything at all for. Why do we pay a Rate Collector, in addition to his standing salary, 2/6 for erery miners right issued, wholly independent of that officer's instrumentality. He must have had a pretty good innings previous to the last County election, when rights were bought by the score to straighten the roll for the tnen pending contest I think it is lieyond suspicion now how the funds for same were provided. It would be interesting to know how the distribution of the item £415 9s lid forgetting up petitions to Parliament wa3 manipulated, also the item t'4ol 14» for Miscellaneous purposes, and £138 7s 6d for the Christchurch Exhibi tion, eta, etc. And lastly what have we g»t in return for over £2000 paid to a Chairman for the past eight or nine years T I can see nothing the Council can shew for it, except it be their large indebtedness and a perfect inundation of notices of dishonored County bills and threats of legal proceedings. On the whole tlwjr show a very disreputable record. Is it really a forlorn hope T Or can we expect ever to get eight men in the Council who will act honestly and disinterestedly for the County interests ? Past ex* perience would make such a transmutation appear utterly hopelem. Albeit, let ua stick to the motto, *\Nil Dtaperandnia." I am, etc., Sprittao*.

Our column* are open to the di*ru*aion of alt- matter* of public interest, but we are in no waif idtntified with the views of our correspondents. SPECIAL AUDIT REVELATIONS. « (To the Editor Inangahca Timid.) Sib— The Auditor-General's report apparently takes some people by surprise as showing the large amountof public monies misappropriated by our Council from time to time. I confess I am surprised too, hut vice versa ; for I believe if all was known, the amount would be found to be very imicli larger. The auditor puts the matter in the mildest form possible by stating " that the Council seemed to be under the impression that it was open to them to expend the funds of the County in any manner they considered beneficial to the County interest." Of course he could not do other wise, not being aware of the bias and political influence which predominated our County Council. Had the money been expended for the benefit of the whole, it would be some palliation for deviating to some extent from the terms of charter or statute under which councils acquire their powers, and they would have the sympathy and support of the public even should they in their zeal for the general welfare, at times overstep the bounds of legal intricateness. But as that is not the nature of the record our Council is able to produce, their sympathisers are but few, and that few as partial us were some special contributions and distributions of the public funds by the Council. It surely cannot be conducive to C >unty interests to grant a donation of £100 as a sop to aM.H. R. for no other value than that of promised political patronage. How was the County benefited by the expedition of 1881, when two Councillors (viz.) Messrs Davis and Byrne were provided with funds from the public purse to proceed to Wellington to transact their own private business. I was not sorry to hear that they did better their position considerably at the time,