THE Grey River Argus. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, .1867.

Grey River Argus, Volume IV, Issue 256, 3 September 1867, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, .1867.

Although the Annexation Committee have not yet received any direct commuuication from the Nelspn Government as to its willingness to give the movement its support, they piay we think assure themselves thatnp obstacles will be raised \n that quarter. The opinions expressed by Mr Commissioner Kynnersley to the deputation that waited upon him on Saturday, although expressed with proper reserve, lpft no doubt as to their tenor. No one is better able to appreciate the necessity of a re-adjustment of the j^esent boundary than Mr Kynnersley, and we shpuld fancy that not the least forcible argument why the Nelson Government should second the efforts jiow being made to effect an alteration, ■is to' be found in the division of the Customs revenue of the port of Greymouth. The present arrangement for dividing the import duties equally between the two provinces does not pretend to be based upon any accurate data. If it were possible to assess the dutiable goods imported at Greymouth and consumed in the province 'at Nelson, we have no hesitation in saying that the Government of that province would find that it is deprived, of a very large proportion of its legitimate revenue. And even if in the settlement that must take place between the two provinces with regard to the liability of the Grey district for any portion of the Canterbury debt, it should become necessary to "assume a tolerably large amount of such liability, it would be more than compensated by the receipt of all the revenues of this port. Sup posing that the Nelson Government entertain the annexation scheme favorably ; and that the General Assembly ■< does not object to it ; and that Canterbury will agree, providing that the legitimate debt of the district is taken into account, the amount of that liability will most .probably be referred to a Commission. We do not anticipate that in any case any attempt will be made by Canterbury to charge the Grey district with, anything but its fair proportion of what is called the Westland debt — which, by the way, is under process of reduction, and has never yet been, fully proved. We will assume, however, that a sum of, say L 20,000, be debited to the Grey district as its proportion of the cost of the overland route and the over expenditure in Westland, and that Nelson has to borrow money to meet this liability. Nelson is now in a good financial position, and it could have no difficulty in raising a loan for the purpose. Now an eight per cent, loan for L 20,000, redeemable in ten years, would only entail an annual charge for interest" and sinking fund of about L2BBO. We maintain that the Nelson Government would more than save this sum by the change, merely in getting its pi'oper customs l^evenue, while we are very certain that xinder the same liberal system of management that has worked so successfully on the Nelson gold fields, the Grey district would increase its" revenues much beyond the annual charge on the debt. It has been suggested that possibly an exchange pf territory might be made, by giviug to Canterbury the Arnuri block, which, although in the province of Ndlson, derives all its supplies from and sends all its produce to Christchurch. But there are difficulties in. the way : in the first place all the land in the Amuri has been sold, and the money expended by the Nelson. Government ; in the next place the transfer would be no benefit to Canterbury, inasmuch as she already, enjoys the monopoly of trade ; in the third place, the landowners of the Amuri would have to be c onsulted, and it is quite possible they might object to the change. It appear tp be the most convenient course simply to have the boundary shifted to the Teremakau, and leave any settlement between the Governments of Nelson and Canterbury to be arranged by arbitration. We do not anticipate that Canterbury will offer any serious objections to the proposal, and the General Assembly will be chiefly guided by considerations for the economical and efficient government of the district. Apart from the numerons complaints of maladministration against Canterbury, the strongest argument in favor of the proposed plan of annexation is that it will' very materially conduce epgiremv and better ad.

ministration of Government. And we fully believe that the Annexation Committee can embody in their petition so many cogent reasons in support of this view of the case, that the Assembly will not hesitate to accede to the prayer. It is the duty now of the Committee to push on its work withput delay. The session of the General Assembly is closing in, and. no time, should be lost in taking the necessary steps to secure the consideration of the petition. The Committee will no doubt vigorously perform its tak, but ->y,e must remind the public that without full and liberal support outside, the Committee will be powerless. The "sinews pf war" will be required, as there will be certain necessary expenses which the public pught tp be top willing tp defray. A canvas will be made in. a day or two, and we trust that every person interested in this matter will subscribe willingly to the fund.. .