THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 870, 11 May 1871, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1871.

It is to be hoped that during the ensning session of the General Assembly some member will have the courage to move for the abolition of that most absurd and unfair result of Provincialism — Provincial charges for General Government services. It would have puzzled even the most skilful inventor to have contrived a system which could cause more dissatisfaction, or create greater confusion than that by which the services of the Colonial Government are charged against the various divisions of the colony. The results are full of gross unfairness and injustice. Some provinces have to pay most disproportionately in excess for their local share, others pay too little, and then again there are differences between the provinces themselves — one province bein^f charged for the whole cost of some particular department, from tho benefits of which a neighboring division derives a considerable advantage. Surely nothing could be clearer than that departments of State, in the efficiency of which the whole colony is interested, should be tnade^a general charge upon the Colonial Revenue. Take, for instance, the three chief departments — Justi'"', Postal, and Customs. The colony as a whole, aid every division of it, is interested in preserving the utmost efficiency of each of those branches of the service. More especially ?s this the case with regard to the administration of Justice. Auy inefficiency in any particular portion of the colony, destroys the efficiency of the whole service. Under the present system the local

stipendiary Magistrates are pretty much under local authority. It is true that they are appointed by the Governor, but they are paid in t'.ie form of " Provincial charges " by the Provinces ; and it is no uncommon, thing to find members for a, particular Province getting up in the BLuuse, and, without auy communication with the Government who appointed the officer, move and carry either a reduction or the abolition of a salary to a Magistrate or other officer of Courts of Justice. On most occasions the motive is entirely one of economy, arising out of the system of "Provincial charges." A poor Province, with hardly any revenue, is naturally anxious to cut down the charges against it for General Government services. Perhaps there is only a limited amount of business transacted in its Courts, and, for these reasons, and with uo regard to the rest of the Colony, reductions are made, and salaries reduced without full or proper enquiry. And yet it may be, and no doubt is, necessary for the due administration of the law throughout the Colony, that Magistrates or police should be maintained in places where their local services do not perhaps fairly represent their coat, but which, taken as part of a whole system, are very necessary. In such a case, offenders against the law would know that they could gain nothing by shifting " their venue ; — that wherever they went they had to encounter the same watchful and efficient organisation. At prr •enfc t is notorious that the division of authority in matters of p Ice, and the administration of Justice, f . ir facilities to offenders to escape, and reate obstacles to the due course of la Then again this system of Provincial arges causes unfairness between parlLi.lar Provinces. For an example of thif we need not go further than our own County. Westland is charged with the greater portion of the whole cost of the District and Supreme Courts on the West Coast. The Supreme Court Judges' salaries are a Colonial charge, and that of the Judge of the District Court is divided Provincially. But it is found convenient for the administration of justice that the cases from the Nelson Gold Fields should be tried at the nearest Courts — viz., at Greymouth and Hokitika. But, although Nelson ]3ays some proportion of the salary of the Judges, it pays nothing towards the other incidental expenses, such as cost and maintenance of buildings, and the pay of subordinate officers of the Courts, whose services are of course placed in requisition. Similar instances can be found in other parts of the Colony.

Then again, with regard to the Provincial charges for Postal Services. How is it possible to estimate the local value of a particular office ? Receiveis and senders of letters must have receivers and senders elsewhere— the advantages are mutually shared by every part of the Colony. Take our own case — Wtstlaud and Canterbury pay the whole 'cost of the mail service between the two Coasts, and yet every other Province is essentially interested in that service being maintained. Often enough heavy mails from Melbourne for Ofcago go by this route, and yet Otago pays nothing towards it. And the same may bo said of every other main postal line — every part of the Colony is interested in it 3 being efficiently maintained, and should equally share the cost, as well as of the clerical staff of the whole (postal system

The Customs affords perhaps'the most flagrant instance of the absurdity of the present j>tan of charging each office locally. No branch of the Public Service needs more to be efficiently maintained than that which is chiefly responsible for the collection of the revenue. Any local weakness in the 3taff may result in hea\ / loss to the colony, but it would hardly be fair that because it might be necessary to establish Customs officers in particular iustances to prevent smuggling, that their co it should be charged against the province in which they might happen to be placed. They would be there for Colonial purposes, as all Customs officers aye, an^ should be paid for by the colony as a whole. An instance of the unfairness of the present system in regard to the Customs department, occurred last session of the Assembly. Mr Harrison moved for a reduction in the number of Custom House officers at Hokitika. The Commissioner of Customs admitted that the local staff was too large, but "he had no vacancies for the surplus officers, and as the Customs Department required experienced hands he would not be justified in discharging them." No doubt the Commissioner's reasons were right enough, but the fact remained that the County of Westland was charged with the salaries of officers who were admittedly not required within the county. We may also point to another ''nfairness with regard to the Custom H ''se at Greymouth. Nelson pays one-h: _' the salaries of the staff, but nothing to' rds the cost and maintenance of bnilrliu' all of which is charged to Westland.

Wo have '.ly been able very briefly to illustrate ■ workings of the present anomalous system, but numberless other examples of the necessity for the abolition of the Provincial charges for General Government departments could be adduced.