ROAD BOARDS V. COUNTY COUNCIL

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume VI, Issue 550, 21 October 1881, Page 2

ROAD BOARDS V. COUNTY COUNCIL

To the Editor. Sir, —I notice in your last Tuesday week's issue of the Mail a leading article headed Our Local Bodies. As this is at present a question of great importance to the ratepayers in this County, I have ventured to make a few remarks on the subjoct. You maintain that the Road Boards and Council should both remain in existence. There I fail to agree with you, for has not the Road Board and County Council system (which you advocate), been tried for some time past, and what is the result? We are in no better position than we were three or four years ago. So why keep up the expense of two bodies when it rests with the ratepayers to abolish the Ro>td Hoards? The natural formation of this County is entirely different from any other in Canterbury, and I am sure that if the Road Boards were abolished the Council could do the work much better than under the present system, and far cheaper. There is not the slightest doubt in -ny mind that the Counties Act was intended to do away with a great many of the small local bodies of which there is such a large number in Now Zealand. Ever since tho Counties Act was brought into force, in its entirety, in this County, some time in March 1879, the Council has always been regarded by the Road Boards with great feelings of jealousy, and as an usurper of their rights, and the consequence is that the two bodios have not, and I believe, never will work satisfactorily together. Another thing that has been against the working of tha Council is Road Board members i eing allowed to sit in the Council, for I don't care how good a Road Board member a man may be, when a question comes from his Board before the Council ho must be prejudiced to a certain extent, and as a Councillor he ought to take a view of the matter that will suit the requirements of the whole County, not the particular road district he represents. If the two bodies remain in existence, Road Board and County members should be entirely distinct. The lioad Boards have done good work in their time there is not the slightest doubt, but now that they have no certain Government subsidy and only their rates to depend upon, how are they on their rates alone to open up our roads, besides keeping the present roads in repair? They cannot possibly do it, and I am sure that every ratepayer who has given this subject his consideration will agree with ma in saying that the time has come when the Road Boards should be abolished, if on y on the question of eonomy. If the Road Boards were abolished the Council would have to appoint a thoroughly competent Engineer who would superintend the whole of the works in the County, and \t found necessary, there could be a working foreman under the engineer for each Riding, or perhaps every two Ridings, who could also collect the rates. This, I think, would be tho whole of the officers required, with the exception of tho Clerk, and I am sure that wo should fit"! that we would have very much better roads than at present. As an instance of tbe present state of the roads, you up a hill perhaps on a fairly graded road, and when you get to the top you find it suddenly ends, or on tho other side there is a rond which is not safe to travel after dark. You ask the reason why the road on one side of the hill is so much better than the other, and you are informed that you are in another road district. Now this state of affairs would all be altered if the roads were all under the supervision of one body._ Another question in favor of the abolition of the Road Boards is—wo should all be rated on the same basis of valuation, not as at present a shilling rate in one district, and a sixpenny rate in another, etc. The general idea of the ratepayers beems to be that if the Road Boards were abolished that most of the money would be spent in tint part of the County which had the greatest" representation in the Council ; now this is a very mistaken one, for this difficulty could be very easily overcome simply by the Counci keeping a separate account of all rates collected in each Riding, and any other moneys accruing to the Council from license fees, etc. At present I believe, between £700 and £800 could either be kept to a separate account for any emergency for works affecting the whole of the Count}', or advancing a loan to any Riding if necessary, or again could be distributed pro rata at certain fixed periods to each Riding account. As we are at present threatened with a double rate this next year, which is not at all desirable, I hope the ratepayers will bestir themselves, for it is quite time we had some sort of reform with regard to our local bodies. I fail to see what was Mr Shadbolt's intention by calling a meeting of the members of the different Road Boards to abolish the Council, for they have not the slightest voice in the matter, as the Council can only be abolished by an Act passed by the General Assembly. I presume his intention was to see _ whether the ratepayers were in favor of being rated by the Road Boards or Council. lam glad to see that the meeting ultimately resolved to call public meetings of tho ratepayers in the different Ridings, for I believe the general feeling in this district is that the Akaroa and Wainui Road Board should be abolished, and I learn on good authority that the petition to the Council praying that the Board may bo abolished is being numerously signed. _ What is the feeling in the other road districts, I ana not in a position to say, but judging from your report of the last Council meeting 1 should say that it was high time that the Okain'a Bay Road Board should be abolished. Apologising for trespassing so much on your spaed.—Yours, etc.,

AN OLD RESIDENT.

To the Editor,

Sir, —I saw -with satisfaction your remarks relating to our County Council and Road Boards in the Mail of the 11th insr. Until re iding them this morning I was unaware of the intention to hold tho public meeting to which you make reference), or I should have been present. I would, however, like to express some opinion on a subject fraught with con sequences so important to tho seniors of the Peninsula as are the questions under consideration.

When the proposition for establishing a County Council was first promulgated, I actively supported it, being influenced ** thereto by considerations akin in their character \o those which you have piven expression to, in the article to which I have uinde allusion, aud of which therefore the repetition here is needless. Thb opinions I entertained then I entertain still. At the Rarn(> time I am constrained to admit that the* results of the actions of the Council hitherto have wofully disappointed my expectations, and if no reasons existed for anticipating improvement hereafter, I should be disposed to concur with those who vociferate " away with it." When first instituted, one of its immediate acts was not only impolitic, but also unreasonable and unpatriotic. The act I thus stigmatise, was that by which the members awarded themselves an honorarium. In condemnation of this pro-

cedure manifold reasons can be adduced

Of these the more obvious may be f enumerated thus : It was impolitic, for if an intention for good work were entertained by the Council, popular sympathy would have facilitated its achievements. impulsive effect of popular sympathy on all enterprises, large or small, good or bad, is generally admitted, and is as oil to the axle. Hence the magnitude of the ■efforts—too often unscrupulous—made to secure it. The Council secured their honorarium, but thereby forfeited a claim to popular eympathy. They got the -» whistle, but they paid too dear for it, Again, their action was unreasonable, for thore are in the Peninsula local bodies

who render to their respective localities H greater benefits than any rendered by the Council, and this without honorarium. Our local bodies are, as they ought to be, numerous, but that they should receive fees for their services is alike impracticable and inexpedient. Impracticable because the cost involved would be oppressive ; and inexpedient, because it is a duty to a people having liberty as we have, to render such public services, affecting their own well-being and that of their neighbors, without remuneration. Liberty is our natural right, but its possession involves responsibilities- that cannot be ignored, and the exercise of rights is as inseparable from the observances of duties, as the dews are from sunshine. Certainly some of our politicians are profeseing to mourn for the liberties we have lost; but this is mere twaddle and unworthy anj intelligent man's attention. What we lack is not liberty, but the knowlodge of the proper way of making use of it. We have the tree, but the blight of ignorance detracts from the quality, and is detrimental to the quality of its fruit. The possession of constitutional liberty by A people does not necessitate by that people the possession of a knowledge of their duties and rights, any more than the possession of a chest of tools by a man will make him a carpenter; or the possession of books, pen?, ink, and paper „ will make him a scholar. And yet without such knowledge of duties and rights, liberty is little more than is a head without brains. The only comprehensive means we have ol universally supplying this mnch-to-be-desired knowledge, is to be found in the

existing Education Ordinnnce. This most •admirable enactment, if loyally administered, is pregnant, with greater good to the settlers of this colony, then ever was Mngna Charta to the Baiors of Runnymode. Let the hard-han ed and the eoft- I hfinded, the good and the bad, hold it fast in its integrity, for it will reveal the secret of rendering their liberty productive, and enable them to participate in its fruits. But this is a digression, yet 1 commend the subject to the consideration of the many who have given it little attention and recur to the Council. Ite r.ction, besides being impolitic and unreasonable, was also unpatriotic. The Peninsula settlers have for several years had to contend with many difficulties, not ordinary ones, for they were to be expected, but exceptional ones which diligence and foresight could not avert. Wβ have a noble harbor, but the advantages it is calculated to confer are at present unattainable. Our capital consists largely of our climate and scenery, as the Premier told the settlers at the Akaroa Banquet; but these, like the harbor, are virtually unproductive by reason of the absence of suitable means of locomotion. These were drawbacks the settlers had to contend with, the existence of which was well known to the Council. But apatt from these which were ordinary difficulties, there were the exceptional ones, such as resulted from the extraordinary reductions in the value of their principal marketable production?. These were unprecedented here, and their influence was very widely and severely felr. At such a time, and under such circumstances, a Council actuated by patriotic influences would have displayed some consideration for their fellow-settlers. A careful economy would have been practised, and anything in the character of self-conferred honorariums would have been widely avoided. I know that reference has been repeatedly made to the remuneration received | by the members of the House at Wellington, but there is no sufficient analogy to justify a similar proceeding here. The Representatives have not only a long journey to take, but are also often detained months from their homes, and if remuneration were not accorded, ninety-nine oat of every hundred o£ the settlers would be virtually disqualified for representing their fellow-men, how much-so-ever a modicum thereof might be distinguished by fitness for the duties appertaining to the mission. Whereas the members of the County Council have merely to endure the absence of a few hours and a ride of a few miles. To the allegation, that without such inducement settlers could not be found to accept the position and its responsibilities, I say " try it," and if the result prove that the Peninsula cannot produce half-a-dozen men to undertake the necessary duties without any species of remuneration other than that resulting as the fruits of their efforts which they enjoy in common with their fellow settlers, then I would say " perish the County Council till the men existing have given place to others of a different type." Good institutions are useless if suitable men do not exist to administer them. But I do not believe for a moment that such men canr>ot be found, but I believe they will ho fuund, and tli.it the prosperity of tin; IVnintiiiia will annually and in an ■incp.'iiMii"' !>o promoted Uironijh 1 .'• 'insiru'.iietitiniiy. Dut the Council ■iih tin: Beards. not absorb them. Tho influcnco of the

various Road Btfards must be concentrated in the Council, and directed by it, if that influence is to bo potent. Any antagonistic elements in the constitutions of the two bodies should be unhesitatingly eliminated. Though different bodies, they like man and wife should be one in their aims, the latter being principally the promotion of the prosperity and wellbeing of the Peninsula population. Still, if either Council or Road Boards is to be extinguished, I should without the slightest hesitation declare in favor of the retention of the latter, holding at the samo time that the extinction of the Council was a retrogressive movement of a serious character, and likely to be very detrimental to the progress of the Peninsula.—Yours etc., G. R. JOBLIN. Little River, Oct. 13,1881.