THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 890, 3 June 1871, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1871.

Judging from remarks that have appeared in the Hokitika press, it would seem as if there was an idea prevalent that Westland's chance that the Middle Island Railway Account under the Public Works Act would be placed at the disposal of the County Council, to bo dealt with on the same footing as the ordinary revenue of the County. We are led to understand that this opinion is generally shared by the public, and that in consequence the next session of the County Council is expected to be productive of great results in the way of expenditure on public works. It is as well that this impression should be dissipated, inasmuch as it is entirely without foundation. Whatever sum of money may be allotted as the share of the County of WestLmd, whether for roads or water supply, will be expended only on the authority of the General Assembly. It is not at all a question of whether the General Government will or will not trust the expenditure to the County Council. The Public Works Act explicitly lays down that no works can be constructed out of moneys provided by that Act except the same have been submitted to and approved of by the General Assembly. As the Act was first introduced it was left open for th& expenditure to be coniroiied by the Provincial Governments, but the House insisted upon this dangerous provision being altered, and the Government altered it accordingly. The only part that the County Council ha 3to play with regard to the construction of roads and water works under the Public Works Act is that of advisers. At each session of the General Assembly the Governor has to lay before the House a list of the various works proposed to be constructed during the ensuing year, together with all necessary plans and estimates relating to them. Such works as the Assembly may agree upon will then be placed ou a schedule, and the Governor may then, and not till then, proceed to their construction. The County Council might possibly be invested with delegated powers to carry out the works after they have been authorised by the Assembly, or the Governor ivay appoint an independent Board of Works, or other agency under the powers given to him by the Act for that purpose. .Beyond these functions of advising and of possible supervision, the County Council has no power whatever in disposing of any sum of money that may be apportioned to the County under the Public Works Act. Still less will it be possible for any portion of this money to be appropriated to other purposes than what may be deemed colonial works. It will not relieve the County Treasury with respect to its local obligatiora one single shilling, nor will it place any further sum at the disposal of the County Council. Therefore all the fuss we see made about the possible squandering of Westland's share of the Colonial loan in compensations to tramway companies, water-race companies, and so forth, is perfect nonsense. The Westland Independent, the other day, built a long dreary article upon a discovery which it had made, that it was not the "intention" of the Government to allow the County Council the power of spending the money to come to the County under the Public Works Act — meaning, we suppose, that the Government had not sufficient faith in the Council to trust it with so large a responsibility. But as we have shown, the Government could not leave the matter in the hands of the County Council even if it were ever so much disposed to do so — indeed the Government itself can only take preliminary steps, such as making inquiries and surveys, until the General Assembly has decided upon the work to be constructed. The oj)portunities, therefore, for any eccentric expenditure by the County Council must be confined to the purely local revenue of the County, and as that barely suffices for current expenditure, the fears of any serious diversion of the public funds into the pockets of waiting-to-be-compensatod tramway or water-race companies, cannot have vciy substantial foundation. We have been induced to refer to this subject because both in election speeches and in the columns of the Hokitika papers, opinions have been uttered that evidently betray ignorance of the real position of affairs.