The Globe. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1026, 9 October 1877, Page 2

The Globe. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1877.

Last week we called attention to the provisions of the Christchurch District Drainage Act, 1875, Amendment Act, 1877, now before the Assembly, and endeavoured to show why it was undesirable that it should become law. Since then Mr. Wynn Williams bas written to the Press and the City Council on the subject, but he bases bis opposition to the measure upon different grounds to those taken by us. This is what he says : This Bill is one to amend the Drainage Act of 1875, and it is intended, I believe, to give the Board power to levy a one shilling rate, to pay interest and sinking funds on loans, in addition to the power already given to levy a rate of one shilling for general purposes. The Drainage Board will therefore have power, if this Bill becomes law, to levy rates to the extent of 2s in the £l. I believe very few are aware of such a Bill having been brought in, and it does not appear that either of our three members in the House have taken any notice of it. I suppose they do not consider that it affects ns very much, and that we can bear up to, say 5s in the £l, without actually coming to grief. I think it is high time that something should be done with regard to the powers given to the Drainage Board, and the sooner the better, otherwise we shall become eaten up with rates. Now if the Bill really did give the Board power to levy rates to the extent of 2s in the £, the conduct of those who are endeavouring to pass it could not be too strongly condemned. But however objectionable it may be, such a construction cannot be put upon the measure. The object of the gentleman who introduced the Bill, is to make a distinction between the city and the suburbs, and remedy what lie considers an injustice under the present Act. We do not think, as we have shown in a former article, that the Bill will secure the end aimed at, and for that reason we hope it will be withdrawn. At the same time we deprecate the course taken by Mr. Williams. A careful examination of the Bill, will we think, show that he is entirely mistaken in the deductions he makes. Clause 50 of the Drainage Act, 1875, reads as follows :

It shall be lawful for the Board, and they are hereby respectively authorispd and required once in every year for the purpose of this Act, to make and levy a rate equally upon all rateable property within the district, and no such rate made in any one year shall excee i the amount of one shilling in the pound on the annual value of such property. The above clause expressly limits the rating powder of the Board to one shilling in the £, and as the fourth clause of the Bill before the House says that it is to be read and to be deemed to form part of the Christchurch District Drainage Act, 1875, we cannot see that there is the slightest doubt on the matter. At any rate we have the assurance of Mr. J. Evans Brown, who is in charge of the Bill, that he will never consent to more than a shilling rate per annum being imposed in any part of the district.

The special news, regarding the extent of the Indian famine, which we publish elsewhere, will surely have the effect of rousing the citizens of Christchurch to take some action in the matter. Some idea of the extent of the disaster may be gathered from the fact that it has been found necessary to construct railways to the stricken districts to supply the hundreds of thousands of starving people with food. The famine has passed all control, and, in the famine belt 3,000,000 are expected to die. Surely we in New Zealand are not selfish enough to calmly allow so many of our fellow subjects to die without making some effort to send them aid. But whatever is done must be done quickly, and some one must head the movement. “What is his Worship the Mayor thinking of ? He ought at once to call a meeting and get a committee organised to collect subscriptions. If, however, Mr. Gapes neglects to do what appears to be his obvious duty, perhaps some other leading citizen will take his place in this respect and set the movement on foot.