THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, MAY 19, 1870.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 676, 19 May 1870, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, MAY 19, 1870.

Tftr, ispritiriuatijri 'of the subject- upon ;~ which we last wrote, viz., the propositions which are open for adoption by the Committee to which the proposed petition to the General Government was referred for 'revision" at the last public meeting, we have to-day to express our surprise at the apathy which has been, displayed by the . Committee on this important subject— indeed, the most important public subject which has ever been, committed to the charge of any body of men here. The existing evils of the manner in which the present form of government is administered ;arje felt by jevery thinking, man in the district ; everyone desires that some- . r thing should be done immediately and intelligibly to put an end to these evils ; „ the tune for doing it could not be better chosen than the present, when practical arguments in favor of a change can be found in abundance; and the task of • leading the way out of present difficulties, * ty proposing a reiriedy, has been entrusted to a Committee: of citizens, who have, as yet, failed in the discharge of their public duty. As an instance, on r , Monday night, a meeting of the Comraitlee was held, at which both of our representatives in the County Council, whose., names were only recently added to the Committee were present, but only one or 3 two other /members appeared; and consequently, , after '.'a .short . conversation, th»" matter was allowed to drop through, as the -moat of .the members appeared not to consider it of; sufficient importance to i attend. iThe meeting adjourned without r doing anything.- Such conduct must be ■characterised as culpable neglect ■ of a most important public trust, and if those gentlemen who. were made the cus-, todians of the public confidence do not caie to exercise the trust reposedon them, . they ought at, once to^refsign, and allow others to fill their places, so that the cause ! may ijot suffer by. their indifference, want of public spirit, or intelligence; Out of the present, movement' some good ought •to arise if the end is 'pursued energetically . ' --namely, the alteration of the present boundary line. Present evils are so great that we. care little in what direction the alteration is 'effec'ted^-whether by the for™%tiouof aiiew County, a new Province, ■dr'the'eitehsibh'ri'orfch 61* south bf present ,^und«kiyj[meß,.but we hope, that all tKe

energies of theOommittee will be directed dispassionately considering what distinct course they ought to reeoiniiiend the! public to adopt when they again .pM-thjnn together;^ so that pome. intelh-: glut Wdratiyof actioir mayvbe res6lved\ upon. WeL-wiH£rio,t anticipate, but we hope it will be' a course, in tho carrying put of which the hearty co-operation of the whole of the residents of the Grey Valley, on both sides of the Grey River, can be asked. We know that at present, and for a longtime past, great dißsatisfactfon has existed on the kelson SouthWest Gold Fields with the manner in vhieh the government has been adminiitered there, and there is every desire 1 oyr for a change. Let some combined course of action be resolved upon, one vhich.. would be likely to enlist the Sympathies of the people, both north and south of the Grey River, and a change i or the better would very soon be brought t bout, because of the inability of the Government to resist such a pressure, to say nothing of the justice of the demand. With this end in view, and in the absence of meetings of the Committee, we are glad to see an intelligent discussion on this subject initiated in another column. j While on this subject we wish to express our deep regret at the course Wonted by the Mayor, we suppose at the instigation of the Committee, in telegraphing- to the Premier, asking the probable course that would be pursued by the General Government, supposing a petition from this district, couched in Biich-and-such terms, were transmitted to jhim. The act was, to say the least of it, -premature and thoughtless, seeing that iat the time it was done the people had ;KOT resolved to send any petition at all: jthey might, have adopted a course the ivery opposite of what was proposed ; and 'may even yet play into the hands of the ileaders of the Provincialists by asking for ; the creation of a separate Province. It ■was a thoroughly innocent action,, and lone which the wiley Fox speedily appreciated, was ready to take advantage I of, asjxis answer showed, that lie could j give, no reply, until the precise terms of ! thefpetition were placed before him : in ■ shoffrhe would say nothing until the petitioiv^^s*^acedX iii.his hands, when he could ra^^Mp^lise of it he thought n^)pe^jj|^^^K^fmniitting himself to ;^^r^^^^^^HKylMlh|n, ' if occasion riuu(^^^^^^^^H^^^B^j£bjroad . the H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BttAfailure of i&rm of provinthe and cause Ml^^r^n^^^^TOioutcaasing tnam_fco_ beg in such humble guise at the footstool of the throne of Provincialism. The lesson is an instructive one — let the Committee consider it before they repeat their thoughtless action.