The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1877.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 50, 9 January 1877, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. TUESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1877.

Local self-government as embodied in the Counties Act may now be said to te fairly inaugurated. The County Councils met on Thursday, and, so far as the reports have reached us, the proceedings appear to be of a satisfactory character, the Councillors, like sensible men, settling down quietly to their work. In Otago, which has been represented as the hot-bed of Proviricialism, it is stated that the chief questions that have engaged the attention of the County Councils are, fixing the place of meeting, appointment of Chairman, and other preliminary matters. This would seem that even in Otago it was not intended that the Act should remain a dead letter, indeed the Waikonaiti Council resolved to bring the whole Act into force. A similar resolution was adopted by the County Council of Buller, on the West Coast. In Cans terbury very similar results have followed the first meetings of the County Councils; two have, however, determined that they will be only distributive bodies, namely, Geraldine and Ashley. In the latter Council there are three members of the late Provincial Council, Mr. R. L. Higgins, Mr. Marmaduke Dixon, and Mr. Isaac Wilson. Mr. Higgins, who, in the palmy days of the Provincial Council, was famed for making long speeches at late hours, spoke, according to the reports, no less than seven times at the J meeting, clearly demonstrating to his own mind that every thing was illegal and wrong from the beginning to the end. When asked how he proposed to remedy the evils he complained of, he at once withdrew within his shell, and said that '' it was the business of. those who had committed errors to propose remedies." Very patriotic and truly philantrophic this ! According to Mr. Higgins—lf a man through an error of judg- . ment gets into a mess, instead of helping him out of it, the proper way is to say to him, " You. have committed an error it is your duty to propose a remedy." Mr. Marmaduke Dixon, whilst in the Provincial Council, was an orator of a very similar calibre to Mr. Higgins, and was very fond of informing the House that he had been Chairman of several Road Boards. We were rather surprised at finding Mr. Isaac Wilson in such company, as we always gave him credit for being a man of strong common sense; however,'it would appear as if he too had a hankering after "the flesh pots of Egypt," for it was upon his motion that the Council divested itself of power, and became merely a distributive body. The consequences of the action thus taken developed themselves sooner probably than the mover and those who acted with him anticipated. We cannot, however, do better than adopt the words of the report in describing what followed:— " The Chairman said that as the Coun- " cil had.passed the resolution rejecting " a portion of the Act, they would have " to abandon the claim to the half grant " for Walmakariri bridge. Mr. Wilson " thought -that it was quite competent to " recommend the Government to hand " the money over to the adjoining Road " Boards. " He would move that the " Government be requested to hand the " £4000 over to the Avon and Eyreton " Road Boards for the construction of " the Waimakariri bridge. The Chair- " man said he would inquire into the

" matter, but the resolution could not be « put." Mr. Wilson must be extremely verdant to suppose that any Government would"'hand over such a sum as £4000 to a divided authority to expend. From what point of view, in such a case, would the bridge be built—the Avon or the Eyreton? ' In strong contrast to these almost puerile proceedings are those of the Akaroa Council. In the first place the choice of Chairman has been most happy. Mr. Latter is a gentleman of few words, but he has strong common sense, and is possessed of thorough business habits. Although no great talker, he has the art of clearly expressing his meaning in a few sentences, and the services of such a man to preside over the sittings of the Council are invaluable. Briefly, but decidedly, Mr, Latter intimated his intention cf going in for working the Act in its entirety, believing that it would be to the interest of the Peninsula to do so. We trust that the other members will follow the Chairman's example. The decease of the Road Boards is only a question of time; their mission, like that of the Provincial Councils, is accomplished, and they will become absorbed in the County Councils. Before concluding, we would express our satisfaction that Mr.. Rolleston has been unanimously elected Chairman of the Selwyn County Council We are not surprised at the late Superintendent's acceptance of this post, after the noble sentiments he gave utterance to at the. Akaroa banquet, and we trust that in his new sphere of action he will be able to carry on that work for the benefit of his fellow colonists in which he has so long been actively engaged.