THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1868.

Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 361, 7 May 1868, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1868.

We believe that the General Assembly will meet for the despatch of business sometime in the early part of July. As several important matters affecting Westland must come before the Assembly, the County Council will most probably l>e called together in the first t week in June, for the purpose of con- ' sidering and adopting resolutions which will form the basis of legislation. Amongst the subjects that will demand the attention of the County Council we may mention, Education, Hospitals, the re-appovtionment of the Canterbury debt, Regulation of Road Boards, the Annexation of the northern portion of the Grey istrict, Public Houses, and perhaps two or three others. The first named question is one that will require the most careful consideration. The existing system of giving aid to schools is unsatisfactory and objectionable on several ground*). In the first place the division of the amount of the Government aid into uumerous petty grants, reduces the valueandutilicy of the assistance to a minimum, whereas, if directed into one central channel, its influence would appreciably be felt. But beyond this fault of the present plan, there is j the necessity of establishing an enlarged system of public education on a broad national basis, The Board of Education will, we understand, hold a special meeting, on the 20th inst., for the pin* pose of discussing the question and drawing up resolutions to be submitted to the County Council, The special committee on Education appointed by the Council to enquire into this matter will also present a report on the subject to the Council, In all probability therefore the Council will be able to adopt a system which will be suitable I to the' requirements of the County and the circumstances of its population. Probably it will be found that a nondenominational and secular system, sup? ported by local rates and grants in aid by the Government, will meet the case. It is not probable that the arrangement pi\ posed and carried by the CV'uty Council with regard to the maintenance of Hospitals will be found to work "well — simply on account of the great difficulty of obtaining the requisite amount of public contributions. It appears to lie necessary that means should Ie devised for making coutribu-

tion towards hospitals generally compulsory. A reference to the statistics of the hospitals in Westland will show that nine-tenths, or even a greater proportion, of the patients are miners, who, as a class, contribute nothing towards the support of these instifaitions, The idea has been mooted of filing a tax for hospitals upon all miners' rights and business ijcenses, and a small rate upon all householders, and indeed some plan of this kind seems to be the only one that offers any chance of securing an equitable contribution from all classes of the community, The County Council will probably take this question into ! consideration and recoinme'ul legislation on the subject, The re-apportiomnent of the Canterbury debt, is a subject that must occupy serious attention, If there is to be any hope of a more favorable adjustment by the Assembly, the County must be able to make out a thoroughly good case ; and it will be necessary that the Council should examine jninute-Jy every phase of the question. We believe that after giviug Canterbury credit on a liberal scale for monies actually expended within or upon the distriqt, it will be found that the present charges against the County revenues can be materially reduced. Nearly allied to this is the question of altering the northern boundary of the County by annexing a portion of the adjoining province. We have on so many occasions pointed out the objectionable character of the present boundary that we need not now refer further to the subject. We have no doubt that the Council will be furnished with arguments strong enough to induce it to memorialise the Assembly on the subject. It is absolutely necessary that some legislative steps should be taken for regulating and controlling the Road Boards. At present these bodies appear to be under no restraiut, there being no special law for their use. The Road Boar<j Ordinance of the province qf Canterbury is not, as we at first thought, a general measure, but only applicable to special districts therein mentioned. The County of Westland Act authorises the Governor in Council to make all necessary regulations, but still it would be desirable that those regulations should originate with the County Council. Amongst other restrictions which we think it will be found necessary to impose will be that of prohibiting the Boards from incurring debts beyond a certain amount. That there is a necessity for this has been plainly made evident by the, Grey District Board, which h:is entered into contracts and incurred liabilities without any de. finite means of liquidating them, It may be haul that the Board did not receive the necessary information from the Government, but that does not alter the facts, The amount of surplus revenue at the disposal of the Board for the month of March is only about £50 in all, whilst for the month of April it is doubtful if there will be a single shilling. How the works are to be carried on except on the personal responsibility of the members of the Board is a puzzle to us. In addition to the subjects above mentioned it is probable that some further amendments to the Westland Act will be proposed. Then we have besides the framing of a new Public House Ordinance as oue of the necessary labors of the County Council, so that its next session will be oue of considerable importance,