The Globe. SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 1877.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 799, 13 January 1877, Page 2

The Globe. SATURDAY, JANUARY 13, 1877.

The maimer in which various parts of the Colony have received the County system, is highly suggestive. In Canterbury the preponderance of opinion hae been in favor of the rejection of those portions of the Counties Act, which establish local self government in its entirety, and we find it to he the case in the majority of the provincial districts. That this new constitutional measure should have been dealt with as it now is, never eutered the heads, most probably, of those who originally conceived and framed it. It was the Hon Mr Ormond, then not holding a Ministerial portfolio, but sitting on the G-overnment side of the House of Eepresentatives, who succeeded in introducing into the Act, when a BiJl in committee, what is now popularly known as the permissive clause of the measure. It did not, at the time, meet with any serious objection, and, as far as the Ministers and the centralist party were concerned, it found, on the contrary, considerable favour in their eyes. Of course it vim all-important

tha 4 ; the new governing machinery! should b 8 divested of any elements which might make it too complex and burdensome. But to deal too bluntly with the remodelling work then going on in the very teeth of those rabid provincialists who were opposing it with all their might, would have been rash in the extreme. So a leap as that from self-govern-ment under Provincial form to simple Eoad Board rule, was one which the temper of the partially disorganised Legislature would not have stood for an instant. The County system, with its clause making provision for the extinction of Eoad Boards at the will of one-third of the people, was looked upon as a sort of buffer rendered necessary by the times, to which Mr Ormond's permissive clause was added, making th« padding still softer. Some months have now elapsed since the prorogation of the Assembly took place, and the public has had time to reflect upon what was provided for its future wants. In a great many instances, the good sense of the people has asserted itself. It has been generally thought that the adoption of the entire Act would, to a great extent, lead to over government, involving duplicate expenditure and the clashing perhaps of financial interests. And so it came to pass that in several counties the backbone and muscles of the scheme were drawn out, the buffer in fact thrown aside, while elsewhere others are discussing the advisability of disencumbering themselves of it. Mr Tancred, at the last meeting of the Selwyn County Council, gave notice of a resolution which he intends to move next week, to the effect that in Selwyn County also, the buffer should be cast aside. Now, that county is the wealthiest one in Canterbury, if not in New Zealand. We have substantial reasons for saying that this resolution will be carried, and that therefore the permissive clause of the Act will be adopted, leaving the Eoad Boards in full possession and enjoyment of their administrative powers, and unfettered and untrammelled by close proximity and influence of a much bigger, if not younger, brother. Taking into consideration the personel of which the Selwyn Council is composed, it must be admitted that this rejection of the Act—as such in reality it amounts to—by the majority of those councillors, will place on record an undoubted victory for the oppo nents of the old Provincial system. That the full application of the Counties Act would have proved of benefit to certain outlying country districts, has always been open to question. But in populous centres such as those which radiate from Christchurch City, it has generally been urged that the complete introduction of the Act might, on the contrary, be productive of satisfactory results. Mr Eolleston, always a determined adherent of the order of things now passed away, must have gradually brought himself to other views. The same may be said of Mr. Tancred, and as to the Hon. Mr. Hall there is no doubt but that his political opinions of late years have not been much tinged with partizanship. Those three gentlemen are certainly the moving spirits of the Selwyn Council. The County Council, shorn of the powers which the adoption of the 11th, 12th, and 13th clauses would have conferred upon it, will now only be a kind of connecting link between the Colonial Government • and the Eoad Boards, while it will; act as a distributing body to the Boards, and, in a measure, supervise their dealings with the ! Government. The Counties Act, of course, like all legislative emanations but one session, old, may perhaps require amendment in some of its unimportant features. But, as when the Act is accepted within its operative meaning, it can never be rejected again, the step which the Selwyn County Council intends taking in a few days is certainly the most prudent under existing circumstances. will those Councils of adjoining counties, who have so timorously been lying on their oars, think now? Excess of wisdom blended with inordinate caution made them hang fire until such time as they could watch how their neighbours were progressing or otherwise, with this newly introduced constitutional element. It seems very much as if but very few of these bodies were desirous of setting the example. There is but little doubt that the Akaroa Council will follow the lead of the Selwyn Council, and also reject the i Act. "I