THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 1870.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 683, 4 June 1870, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 1870.

Every thinking man who has carefully jvatched the course of events in the County of Westland during the two years that it has been in existence must have the conclusion forced upon him, that the County system, so far as this district is concerned, has been a failure. The machinery of government, with some modifications, may be capable of giving to the people a fuller enjoyment of what is called local self-government— a more immediate control, over the expenditure of the revenues raised in the district upon public works ; but as the system has been _adtnini^t(U2A.L Jn -Westland. - hither.to. it has failed in the end for which it was established. For this we have to thank those who were placed at the" head of affairs, and the constituencies who sent men to the Council, who were incapable of seeing beyond their own districts, who never thought of remote consequences ; men who could not be taught that in doing equal justice to all the districts, according to their requirements, they were doing their duty to the County at large. The first, and the worst mistake committed by the Council, one which the County,; as long as it exists, will ever have canse to repent, was the election of Mr Hoos as Chairman, as lie was utterly destitute of administrative ability, and proved himsolf to be una 11 (manfully to grapple with the financia 3 difficulties in which the County was bo speedily involved. Granted, that the sudden falling off in the revenue was owing to causes which no Government could foresee or provide for, yet when that falling off did take place in one portion of the County only, he ought to have been able to rise above petty local jealousies^ and exhibit the desire of any upright ruler to do justice to all alike, especially to the district which was continuing to advance in prosperity, and pouring increased revenues into the Connty Treasury. But his public conduct has proved him to be incapable of acting in this upright manner, and tho consequence is that our revenues have been systematically drained away, and when any paltry sum is asked for the repair of a track, or the throwing of a footbridge over some dangerous creek, the answer has invariably been the same— "no funds ;" while, at the same time, main roads costing many thousands of pounds, were being made in the districts where the revenue was rapidly declining. We much regret that the majority of the members of the County Council have seen fit to support the Chairman in carrying out this suicidal policy towards the most prosperous district in Westland ; and they may rest assured that sooner or later, they will havo cause to repent their folly. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the residents in this much-neglected district should seize upon every opportunity of endeavoring to obtain redress for present evils, and some guarantee of good government for the future. The only question is how is the desirable end to be attained ; and wo think we pointed out in our last article our reasons for believing that it can only be by Annexation to Nelson, embracing the whole territory as far south as the Teremakau. This is the only feasible solution of ourpresent difficulties as it would remove what we believe to be the real secret of all our troubles— the present boundary-line between Nelson and Westland, and place all the residents in the natural Grey Valley under one Government. The advantages which a change of this kind would confer upon the people on both sides of the river must be apparent at a glance. Tho miners would require only one miners' right instead of two, the moment they cross the river ; business people the same with their licenses ; there would be one set of mining rules in the Valley instead of two ; one form of Government and set of officials and one police force instead of two ; and there would be a- unanimity of feeling on tho part of the people instead of the present petty jealousies ; the disputes and heartburnings with regard to the division of the Customs revenue, and the proportions claimed by each of the gold duty wpuld

be for ever done away with, because Nelson would then obtain the whole of our revenue, and an increased amount of influence in the Assembly, not only by becoming the happy owner of such a thriving port as Grey mouth, but also by the additional vote of its representative, for it would then be almost certain to obtain one. We have the testimony of Mr Kynnersley, in addition to that of every man who is acquainted with the district on both sides of the river, that naturally and commercially it ought to be under one Government ; and there is every reason to believe that the present Superintendent of Nelson, and several members of his Executive, will look upon the proposed transfer with a very favorable eye. Of course, it would be undignified for them to give a public opinion at the very outset of this agitation, but we anticipate that when the Assembly meets and they receive the assurance that this district is ripe for the change, the Nelsor members will then declare themselves, and,if favorable, the change may be lookec upon as completed, for then a petitioi will be sent up to strengthen che hands o: our representative, which we feel confident will be signed by nearly every mar in the district. Thore are difficulties in the way of this happy consummation which must be con sidered, the most serious of which is tin amount of the Canterbury debts, which hi separating, this district would have t< take with it. Although we had no hanc or voice in the contraction of thest debts, or ever benefited one singli farthing by them, yet, as matters nov stand, we would be compelled by th Assembly, when it consented to readjus the boundary-lines of the Provinces o Nelson and Canterbury, to take with us i proportionate amount of the debts at pre sent borue by Westland. The amoun which would most probably be allotted t< us would be about £70,000, the annua payment for interest and sinking fund on which would amount to £60CO pc: annum. Considering that the Provinc< 'of Nelson has little or no debt — if w< remember right, only about £60,000, which expires sometime in 1872 — it maj be said that she has no debt whatever and our cautious Northern friends, wh have always shown an abhorence of con tracting debts, may be a little staggerei at the proposition to take ove the amount that would bo fixei upon us. But in considering this question it must not be forgotten that in takin over this debt, Nelson would also tak over the other half of our revenues, whicl she does not now receive, and whicl is far in excess of our debts. The addi tional fourth of our customs revenui would alone cover the annual payment! for interest, and leave several thousand! to go to the general revenue of the Pro vince, in addition to the gold duty, am Gold Fields revenue. If thought neces sary, in order to remove difficulties, thi debt could be made a first charge upoi our revenue, and it would be very speedily wiped off; for it must be remembere( that we do not seek Anexation to Nelsoi at a time of commercial depression — m the contrary, the Grey is more steadil; prosperous now than ever it has been, iti revenues are steadily on the increase and we can see by plain indications tha 4-liq .ouimitirf Pt>'»'T'»O and eiimmm 1 will hvjnj us a large increase of population, wealth and prosperity. But this prosperity, anc the general advancement of the district is much hindered by the present systen of double-government, and to obtain tin removal of this great obstacle, the com bined efforts of the entire community ought now to be directed. We have already mentioned the fac that the General Assembly, under th< Constitution Ast, has the power to altei the boundary-lines of any Province, anc it will be tho duty of our representa tive, once the scheme is matured, to as! the Assembly to bring the boundary line of the Nelson Province a; far south as the Teremakaii. Shoulc tbis be done we cannot lose sight of the fact that the remaining portion of Westland must go back to Canterbury, from whence it came. In the clays of its prosperity it forced the Grey district, mud against the wish of the people, to become an integral portion of the County, and now we can have no compunction in agitating for a movement, the successful issue of which will be the dismemberment of the County, so much so that the remaining portion must be re-annexed to Canterbury. We scarcely think the Superintendent of Canterbury would object to receive the prodigal back into his bosom, as it would constitute a political triumph of no ordinary kind. Thus we reckon upon the support of the Nelson and Canterbury members in the Assembly, as Avell as tho more powerful aid of the members of the present Ministry ; and if our surmises are correct we are sure of success, if the movement in the district is anything like a unanimous one, and properly organised and carried out, as we have every confidence it will be this time. Another side of the question sbill remains to be. considered — that which bears upon the probable treatment of the new Grey District by the Nelson Government, as judged by its past history and present expectations, and to contrast that with the treatment it has in the past received from the Westland Government ; but this we must leave over until another occasion.