THE Grey River Argus. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1866.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 137, 27 November 1866, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1866.

The last mail from Christen urch places us in possession t)f the report of the first portion of the debate in the Provincial Council on the West Coast Estimates. The statement made by the Provincial Secretary and a condensed report of the speeches will bo. found in another column.. It is now tolerably easy to understand the position of affairs in the House, and to realise the extent of the misfortune to , Westland which the resignation of^f&Government will, most probably entail/* The estimates'^pb-? niitted to the House for this portion of the province appear to have been framed with due regard to existing circum. stances, and with the exception of one objectionable item which needs some explanation (if(J,OOO for the/ Christ, church .and Hokifcika Road) there does not appear to be much to complain of in the direction in which the revemies of |the -district are proposed to^be expended. '•From the tenor of ' thtr debate we are inclined to think that we misinterpreted our telegram from Christchurch an* nounciug the retirement of the Execuf tive, and that it was on the whole subject of the Estimates for the province that the Government chose to resign. The opposition to the general financial : policy of the late Executive secnisio have been based on the allegation that the estimated expenditure both in East Canterbury and Westland was excessive, whilst objection was taken to the course adopted by the Government in separating the accounts, and treating Westland financially as a distiuct district. The proposed on the . West Coast also* did not go down well with many of the members, and we rather . think that if Messrs Williams and Jollief form portion of the new Executive no Commission will be appointed. The for Westland brought forward ; by the late Government place the anticipated revenue for the current year at £157,975 ; and the expenditure ■j&t [ This large revenue was |||>ected to be derived from the^fpllowW% stmrces : — Customs, £45, 1: O(Pp gold licluty, .£50,000 ; miners' rights, licenses, &c.,. &c, £29,000 ; <watenneu's and auctioneer's liceuses, tfe.c. 3 LI 050 ; electric telegraph, £2500; sale of . larid $ .'. £30,000, and other small items. During the preceding financial year the .expenditure on account of Westland is stated as having- exceeded the- receipts by £59,785. ■' W m the particulars of the past oi of the An-oposcd future expeucli-

ture we are not yet acquainted, but we can gather this 'much*, that the great proportion of the expenditure proposedfor the current year.. by the recent Executive was spread over an iafinitude of necessities large ami small, conveuieutly classed unaer the term " miscellaneous," We trust that if the new Government make any curtailment in the estimated expenditure they will at bast allow -the item "miscellaneous" to remain intact, and cut off say the £30,000 put down for the Christchurch and TTokitika road. Probably however the Westland Estimates will not undergo' so much shearing as many persons might anticipate, but we quite expect- to find that the Commission arrangement wiU ? be knocked on the head. And we confers we hardly know whether to be glad or soi-ry in either case. The^sort of thing proposed by the Government" was it appears not to be one. in any way invested with 'control over the expenditure of the local revenue, but simply to report to the Government on tlie best mode of administering the affairs of the district. No doubt the report of such a Commission would contain many valuable suggestions, and information that would enable the Executive of the day to cawy on. its work with greater facility. But wo would certainly prefer to see a larger representation in the Council and a responsible minister *Lli the Executive. Commissions seldom etfect anything but a long delay in the action of the Governmem| Why did not the Government come boj&y forward with a scheme of their own for administering the affairs of Westland 1 The subject has been debated long enough, and we are much surprised that after all the Government should be driven to asking for a Commission to recommeud the course they shcmLdi adopt. Tlie " Lyttelton Times,"' which" may be regarded •as (bbe . : e^pneut of Mr Moprhouse's viewvdefenlls the proposed course of the Goveffiment, and as there is some reason in' what it says, we give apportion of our contemporary's remarks in another column.