THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1870.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 682, 2 June 1870, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1870.

It was only the other day that an indignation meeting was held in Greymouth,; caused by the unjust manner in which] the town and district were treated by the; County Council in the matter of the dis- ! tribution of the revenues, and thejgeneral' unsatisfactory manner in which the County j of Westland Act was being administered. \ There was a good deal of strong language; indulged in, and some very convincing! proofs adduced, in support of the argu-j ments used ; and a Committee was appointed to draw up apetition to the General Governju|||ijjfflKßg for relief; frotnj2^tfflfl|^^^^^^^^B^ to be sub-: jt^tf^^^^^^^^^^^Hor approval.; j^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Keld, and the; (HUPBMH^^r^pwfflr^^TOtion was produced, it was found to be so crudely drawn up, and so imperfect, in so far as it asked for no specific redress, that it was referred back to the Committee for revision. Since then, nothing has been heard either of the Committee or the petition, and we imagine that both have been shelved together, owing principally to the apathy of "the gentlemen in whom the citizens reposed their trust. "Why they have failed in their duty is not easy to determine. Circumstances have not altered, except for the worse ; instead of justice, there has been more injustice done to the Grey District ; and there appears to be no hope of any redress being obtained from the present County Council, or, we fear, from any Council. constituted as the present one is. The Grey can always be out- voted, and its revenues drained away to bolster up the "metropolis" of Westland, by the maintenance there of expensive departments — those ornaments of every, seat of Government — and to construct roads everywhere, except in the district from which the revenue is derived. Oar representatives in the County Council have told us, over and over again, that we have nothing to expect for the construc♦lo»x_of pnKlin workoST»_il-»p..(liis*-»'ioij, "because the revenues at Hokitika are falling off ;"— not the revenues of the Grey, which are steadily increasing, and now exceed those of "the metropolis." The latest brilliant example of this was given the other night in the Council, when the tenders for repairs to roads were opened. The lowest tender for keeping in repair the track from Greymouth to the Qmotumotu Creek was only £180 ; but, on the motion of Mr Reeves, it was resolved that no tender be accepted. But when the next item came vp — keeping in repair the road from Greenstone to Stafford Town, £1&75, Mr White moved, and Mr Reeves seconded, that the tender be accepted ; and, notwithstanding the strenuous exertions of our members (Messrs Harrison and Lahman), the motion was carried. This is how the revenues of the district go — £11,500 to make a road to the Greenstone, in order to give the trade to the Hokitika merchants ; ,£SOOO voted to keep it in repair since ; and many thousands more a-year to keep the Christchurch road in repair. Ho money can be found, or credit sought, to make a mile of road in the Grey District, yet, somehow, a main road from Hokitika to the Arahura can be made, the deferred payments for which will shortly te falling due, and will swallow up any revenue that might have been made available for public works in this district. As the temper of the members appears to be now, we expect, before the present session is over, to hear of a contriact being let for a main road from Hokitika to Ross ; but we are pretty sure we will not hear of one from Greymouth to the Coal-pits, as promised by Mr Lahman at the close of last session. The truth is, we give up all o«ir revenue for the honor of being governed by the County Council of Westland. We cannot be worse off than that) therefore it is the duty at every resident to consider the position of the district, and what course ought to be adopted to secure for it a better form of government. We have on several occasions lately pointed out the various alternatives, either of which may be selected by the people ; but, after full consideration, we believe there is only one course open by which success is likely to be achieved, and that is the one which we have consistently advocated for four years — the annexation, of the territory lying between the Grey and Teremakau Rivers to Nelson, so as to include the whole of the Grey Valley under one Government, and abolish the present obnoxious boundary-line, by which our revenues are divided. We have, at times, suggested other schemes, such as | the extension of the County of Westland north to Kazorback; but, from recent experience, we are satisfied -that would never be listened to ; the creation of a new County for the Grey "VaMey, but to that the present General GjSj^rriment, the opponents' of th&£}j^}&£tt&em, would never stultify "^ot^JS^^^)^ countenancing; and as forHlj^l^^Snlof a new Province, w#'lbelievep!Em^]!p^impracticable, and-jwe would miji^giatfeer " bear the^ills^JE^Kave.'' ■■- 3§!-s : '^rfjfr Aflsemt)iK£will 3^fit: in a te^d&xo'Md if.^nvtfflng is tJHkdone this sesi^ii^fbrJffliV'^emoval of JftlreffibunafitfißjssoW& done at onc^ There is no-He'cesst^jc tor public meetings on the Annexation "question, for the people of Greymouth ale already pledged to it. What we would now desire is, for the

principal business-men in town to form themselves into a Committee for the quiet accomplishment of this object — without public meetings, fuss, or excitement of any kind. Let a petition be carefully , prepared, setting out the true grievances of the district, without the slightest tinge of exaggeration, asking as a remedy Annexation to Nelson, and we believe it will be signed by nine-tenths of the population of the Grey District. If gone about systematically, the petition will very soon be presented to the House of Representatives by our member, Mr Harrison, who, ! we know from the past, will enter heart and soul into the movement. As we are, i in this article, simply opening up the subject, and intend, in our next, to point out the advantages to be gained from the success of the movement by the residents on both sides of the Grey River, we will proceed now to substantiate our statement that the public of Greymtuth are pledged to the movement, and that there is no necessity for calling public meetings at present ; and that this is no new thing we are now advocating. The subject of Annexation to Nelson was first mooted in the columns of this paper six months after the rush to the Grey ; for in our issue of March 17th, 1866, we wrote :— " We think that our readers will agree with us in expressing a wish that it was the good fortune of the whole of the Grey District to be under the Government of Nelson. ... The General Assembly has, by the Con?: stitutionAct, power to alter the boundaries of any Province, and we have every reason to believe that if a petition were got up, ' praying the General Assembly to attach the whole of the Westland District north of the Teremakau to tbe Province of Nelson, it would be signed by nine-tenths of the inhabitants concerned. . . . The advantages to this port, and to the inhabitants of Greymouth, to be gained by an- \ nexation to Nelson are manifold and; important. ... Whatever form the^ future Government of Westland may take, the attempt to metropolise Hokitika at the : expense of this part of the district will' always create dissatisfaction." The sub-; ject continued to be written about, and: discussed by the old Improvement Com-: mittee, by whom it was highly approved, until the Hokitika people commenced! their, agitation for separation from Canterbury, — a movement which was thoroughly opposed by the residents here ; so much so, that not one single signature from the Grey District, which contained a population of 6000 persons, was obtained to the petition which the Hokitika League sent to the Assembly. During the Separation agitation, one of the most numerouslyattended public meetings ever held in Greymouth took place, when the following resolutioms were unanimously adopted : — "Proposed by Mr Dale, and seconded by Mr Harrison, — 'That, in the opinion of this meeting, the separation of the Grey District from the Province of Canterbury is necessary and desirable.' Moved by Mr Harrison, and secended by Mr J, Heron, — 'That, in the opinion of this meeting, the inhabitants of the G*ey District should take steps to secure the annexation of the territory from the Teremakau to the river Grey to the Province of Nelson ; and that a Committee be appointed to take such steps as they may deem necessary to carry out the same.' " A numerous and influential Committee was appointed, a petition drawn up, almost unanimously signed byjihe residents both in town ana councry, and despatched to Wellington, in charge of Mr Harrison, as a delegate j but he arrived too late, and the County of Westland Act was passed against the wishes of the people of Greymouth and of the Grey District. In announcing this fact on the 12th October, 1867, we wrote : — "The delay which took place in despatching the petition has been fatal to it. ... This has been the means of postponing indefinitely the realisation of the only scheme which will be the salvation of this district, namely, Annexation to Nelson. Should our anticipations prove correct, we do not mean to relinquish the fight — it may be postponed, not given up." Whether another effort should now be made in the same direction we leave the citizens to say, and we hope to see those who have the largest interest in the prosperity and advancement of the district coming to the front, and taking the most active part in the movement.