Three Cheers for Cr Terry of the Shire of Flinders and Kangerong Vic Aust

The Shire of Flinders and Kangerong wasformed by amalgamating the Flinders and Kangerong Road Districts. The former had listed ratepayers geographically which had made propertieseasy to identify,by looking at parish maps and the latter had listed ratepayers alphabetically,which made it easy to locate their assessments. When the shire was formed the Kangerong alphbetical listing was continued.
DEPRESSION,WALKOFFS,WHOM TO RATE, ALMOST BANKRUPT, JIM LITTLE BROWN

FIND REPORT TO COUNCIL RE TRYING TO LOCATE OWNERS OF PROPERTIES. LOOK IN TERRY ENTRY IN SHIRE OF F.JOURNAL.

"Helpless and Hopeless State of Affairs." A COUNCILLOR RESIGNS FROM THE FLINDERS AND KANGERONG COUNCIL.
Mornington Standard (Frankston, Vic. : 1911 - 1920) Saturday 2 September 1911 p 3 Article.

"Helpless and Hopeless
State of Affairs."
A COUNCILLOR RESIGNS
FROM TIIE FLINDERS AND
KANGERONG COUNCIL.
The Flinders and Kangerong shire
will soon have to alter its name. A
wag has suggested "Shindies-and
Hanged-if-we'll go on.' Certainly it is
in a continual state of unrest, and the
peculiarities of its management would
perplex anyone. Some of the coun
cillors are shrewd, level-headed busi
ness men, fit and able to grapple with
any ticklish municipal problem, but
others think their whole and sole duty
is to slang-whang each other, and to
fill in their spare time slap-banging
the printer who asks for their adver
tising and doesn't want their cheap
and nasty printing. The shire coun
cil's doings during the past 12 months
would give matter for an interesting
book. Their secretaries come and
holiday as long as they can by the
seaside, and when things get too un
comfortable off they go in search of
more congenial company.
*-At the last meeting` Cr Terry form
mally handed in his resignation, ac
companied by a letter which all through
said "Enough! enough!" Cr Terry
wrote :-"After due consideration I
resolved to tender you my resignation
as a councillor of the west riding of
the shire. There are several reasons
which have led up to my action, and
after having thoroughly considered my
duties to the ratepayers, to my fellow
councillors and to myself, I can see
no other alternative but to vacate my
seat at the council table. The reasons
are several. 1. The appalling state of
the main road from Dromana to Sor
rento, the starvation amount spent on
same road as compared with the large
amounts spent on the making of a new
road-a benefit to a few cabmen and
visitors during three months of the
year on which road rates collected are
a mere bagatelle, also the conditions
on which this, the London Bridge road,
was constructed being, in my opinion,
a disgrace to any municipality which
would for one moment entertain the
matter. 2. The financial position of
he counicil is far from right, and I con
sider the revaluation of the whole
Shire is an absolute necessity, and
when I moved to that effect my motion
was defeated by a large majority. The
council by throwing out this motion
showed that they were satisfied with
the present state of financial muddle.
3. The reports from the Public Works
Department from time to time have
proved up to the hiltthat the council
as a body are totally unable and in
capable of extricating the affairs of the
ratepayers from this chaotic stale 4.
The endorsement of the ratepayers on
August 24th, 1911, proved that the
majority were in favor of the present
helpless and hopeless state of the affairs
of the council, which must before very
long reach a critical stage, the result
if which will be no credit or honor to
those in office. It will no doubt be
laid at my door by some 'honest' men
that I am deserting my post when the
ship is in danger. I have thought of
this, and after having made attempts
to alter the course pursued by the
council I have been defeated. I reco
gnise that it is useless to stem the
drift that is going on, for things are
worse than they were twelve months
ago. I thank the councillors of the
east and centre ridings for their good
fellowship and courtesy since being a
member of the council ; as to the other
nembers of the west riding, I have no
thing to thank them for but opposition
to my best endeavors to serve the rate
payers, which, if they had stood to me
as men who wished to alter the hor
rible muddle we, as a body, are in, I
think things might have been different.
Asa protest, therefore, Sir, I tender
you my resignation, for I consider my
good name and reputation would be
at stake, being unable to alter the
chaotic state of the council's affairs."
(P.3, Mornington Standard, 2-9-1911.)

'SORRYENTO.'
To the Editor of "The Standard."
Sir,--Ratepayers at Sorrento,
now feel the loss of Ex-Councillor
Terry, for when he was in the
council he kept things in order,
and saw that every officer did his
duty: But since he resigned his
seat, things are drifting back at
Sorrento to the same groove as they
were 20 years ago. Boxthorn is
growing on the sides of the roads
and in private properties, and
apparently that by-law is now
deadl; cattle and horses are per
mitted to wander at their leisure
about the roads and streets all day
and night, and even closet pans are
allowed to flow over, and nobody
seems to care. People are continu
ally complaining, but without re
dress, so now several people are
emptying their own pans. No
wonder our finances in the shire
are in such a deplorable state, as
the outstanding rates and pan
rates in Sorrento alone, are enor
mous, and run into over three
figures. There are several who
have not paid their pan rates for
the last four years. "'Why"?.
Yours, etc.
SORRYENTO. (P.3,Mornington Standard, 16-12-1911.)

EMBARRASSMENT is a mighty powerful weapon against any government or beaurocracy in a democracy.

A COMPARISON.

1910. Robert Henry Adams,200 acres, Wannaeue; 60 acres and buildings Wannaeue.
1919. Robert Adams,200 acres and buildings, part crown allotment 19, Wannaeue and 6A Wannaeue.

Crown allotment 20 Wannaeue (between The Avenue and Parkmore Rd)had been reserved as Wannaeue Village and was alienated in about 1877, about five years after the Rosebud Fishing Village was declared. Section 19 (191 acres) was sold by Robert Adams to a developer who subdivided the area bounded by Pt Nepean Rd, Parkmore Rd,South Rd and Adams Ave. The rest of c/a 19 reverted to Robert's ownership as well as several of the subdivision blocks. The 200 acres would have been much of c/a 19, and c/a 6A of c/a 20 (19 acres and 4 perches.) The 60 acres on c/a 20 was actually 5A of c/a 20 consisting of 59 acres and 12 perches.

While the difference to you might not seem great, and the description in 1919 is by no means perfect,Cr Terry's resignation had made ratepayers aware of the reason their potholed roads and crumbling bridges could not be repaired. The shire had nearly become bankrupt because over the years knowledge of the ownership of many properties had been lost and therefore no rates had been paid on them. If an owner or occupier of a property was discovered,the assessment would be found in the alphabetical listing under O (for owner) or even in a supplementary assessment after the councillor signatures confirming that the original projected revenue and expenditure had been accepted.