CITY TAXES.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1039, 24 October 1877, Page 3

CITY TAXES.

To the Editor of the. Globe. Sir, —I was informed to-day that m your Friday’s issue some writer named “Enquirer” asked after the Ratepayer’s Association, mentioning also my name. In answer I beg to inform the public that the Ratepayer’s Association is The story of its death is connected with the late city election, when certain articles, prior to the election, spoke of a pretty girl’s garters, and a Hat, or something of that sort. Now these articles were put in for political purposes, and might have been taken as chaff, but they acted as a virulent poison, and spite of all my efforts to the contrary the committee met and committed political suicide. Having attended at the death bed of the said association, I resolved on a plan to save Christchurch in spite of itself, and I wrote a circular letter to the twelve principal boroughs of New Zealand from Auckland to Invercargill, suggesting a conference between them for the purpose of inaugurating the English Local Government Act, which gives the City Council full power over sewage, drainage, water, gas, parks, museums, libraries, poor law, hospitals’ reserves, school buildings, markets, court-houses, tramways, baths, police by-laws, &c., &c. ; in fact, it makes the city supreme within its limits; it also saves the Parliament an enormous amount of labor in attending to matters that should be settled locally. This plan, and “this only,” will put an end to these endless squabbles, dirty little fag-end Acts of Parliaments, arbitrary taxes, and tyrannical engineering blunderers. Our worthy Council has deferred the matter for a fortnight ; I should have preferred to see them initiate the Conference, and lead New Zealand on in the path of local self-govern-ment. “ Enquirer ” will admit that J. W. Treadwell is not asleep. Yours, &c., J. W. TREADWELL.