The Globe. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1028, 11 October 1877, Page 2

The Globe. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1877.

A motion has been tabled in the City Council for consideration at its next meeting which is of very great importance to the city generally. We refer to the proposal to divide the city into wards. On more than one occasion we have advocated this course, as we feel convinced it would be for the general benefit. Up to the present time, however, no steps have been taken towards carrying the scheme to a practical issue, and we are glad to find that though somewhat late in the day it has at last been brought forward. In many of the cities of the colony the ward system has been in force for some time and has been found to work admirably. It ensures a fair representation of all parts and prevents a monopoly of power by one portion or section of the citizens. The business portion of the city naturally converges towards the centre, and hence under the present system there is a danger ol that particular part being more than fully represented to the exclusion of •thers. But under the ward system ;ach quarter of the city would have Us representative —that is, the residents if they think fit can elect one of their own number— and of course the interests of each, together with the general interests of the city, would re-

ceive a clue share of attention. The only wonder is that it has not been adopted before. We have often heard complaints that the southern and the northern portions of Christchurch have been neglected, and the wants of the favoured centre attended to, but still no one was found to advocate the adoption of what would prove an effectual remedy. The system is simple in the extreme; there are no complications, nor is the expense greater than at present. That it is a vast improvement upon the system of municipal representation nowin vogue, cannot be denied. It affords the advantages of local self-government to all, in the fullest possible degree. Each part or division has a voice in the distribution of the rates raised within its limits, and also, by its representatives the opportunity of making its requirements known. We are not aware whether the mover of the resolution contemplates financial as well as representative division into wards. This appears to us to have a very important bearing upon the question of division. If the dividing the city into wards under the motion contemplates not only that each ward shall send representatives to the Council, but also that the rates levied within such ward shall be expended on works therein, then the question of division becomes a somewhat difficult one. Of course it would be manifestly unfair — always supposing that financial division is contemplated —to so arrange the boundaries of the proposed ward' that the large ratepaying portion of the city should come into one district entire. Any scheme of division, it is clear, to he equitable, must provide for each of the four proposed districts containing a portion of the more thickly populated, and, hence higher rate-paying, centre. Without this, what we may call the suburban quarters would be left with but scant funds to do the works necessary in them. Besides, the work in the centre is all but done ; in the suburbs, on the contrary, it has yet to be carried out. Hence the expense in the latter will be very much greater. We are not raising these questions, by any means, to throw cold water upon the proposal ; far from it, we hope to see it carried out. But it is only right that the Council should have the main points clearly before them in considering this important question. We are induced to believe that, taking Colombo street for the dividing line in one direction, and Hereford street in another, four wards will be able to be created, each containing a fair proportion of the large ratepaying properties. Be this as it may, we feel sure the project will receive careful and intelligent consideration at the hands of the Council, and we hope the result of those deliberations will be the establishment of a system which will give us, in a yet higher degree, the benefits of municipal self-govern-ment.