THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY. MAY 31, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1198, 31 May 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY. MA Y 31, 1872.

The County of Westland Act has beeu tinkered for three years consecutively by I the General Assembly, and if it is to remain longer in force than the year of grace 1872, it will have to be repaired and amended afreßh, without the least doubt, duriug the forthcoming Parliamentary session. It in not necessary at present to go through the whole of ite defects, or show in detail how Bignally it has failed, but there are portions of it that require pointing out, with a hope, that if the Coast is afflicted with its continuance, at least some of its anomalies maybe removed. Under its provisions all Road Boards, whether in existence at the time of its coming into operation or thereafter to be created, were to be subject to the same rules as far as the capacity and qualification of voters and members went, and the same disqualifications are applicable to both Council and Road Board. The Paroa Road Board, in some respects, has been useful. If it has served no other purpose, it has shown a light that should serve as a beacon for other kindred bodies t<j avoid, in order to escape the breakers into which it has plunged, through some cause or other. As an illustration of what we would now draw attention to as a defect in the County of Westland Act, we must make use of it once more. No one can accuse us, we may say by way of prelude, of not to the utmoat extent recognising the value and the importance Of

fie mining interest, but at the same time we certainly fail to recognise the equity of it over-riding every other, and we certainly dissent from municipal privileges, whether conferred by Road Boards or Boroughs, being exercised by those who are not in the least degree affected by them. Returning to our example, we find that tho Paroa Road Board at the present time is composed of three miners and three storekeepers ; very lately it contained four miners and two in business. When the question of rating mining property within Road Board districts was raised, we opposed it strenuously, and our opinions are not in the least degree changed at the present time. The tenure is so uncertain, the probable profit or loss is of such a purely speculative nature, that concessions are only reasonable in such cases. Whilst admitting this to the fullest extent, it is manifestly unjust that those who are exempt from rates should be qualified to sit in judgment, as far ss the imposition or the administration of funds gathered from that or other sources, in the shape of special grants or Government subsidies. Yet by the County of Westland Act this is legal. The 15th clause provides that holders of miners rights and business licenses are qualified to be members either of the County Council or of Westland Road Boards, " according to the provisions hereinafter contained." The next clause bearing on the subject is the 24th, which provides that every holder of a. miner's right for two months preceding' tho nomination shall be entitled to vote at all elections of members for a road district in which he shall have resided for that term. It must be evident that such powers arc anomalous to a degree, and it is to this especially that we would draw special attention. ' As the Act no»v stands, not only can members be elected from those who neither contribute nor are liable to a farthing a-year ; but birds of passage who have been only located in the district two months have the power of thefranchise in electingthem. It is not surprising therefore that our example has sometimes committed strange vagaries, for "They jest at scars who never felt a wound." The idea is simply preposterous that those who do not pay rates should exercise authority directly as members, or indirectly as voters, over those who do ; yet such ha 3 been the case at Paroa, and we doubt not in other places, for we do not suppose that to be a solitary instance. Ib iB the fundamental principle of all municipal institutions that only taxpayers or ratepayers, call them which you will, should take part in the distribution of funds vrithin their jurisdiction. It must strike any thoughtful man, be his occupation what it may, +hat those who contribute nothing whatever to a certain revenue should not be permitted to administer it, and that thereby those who furnish the funds should be blocked out. The miner and mining property is exempt from taxation and yet receives the benefit of the money raised from neighbors who are in business or hold property. Surely this should be sufficient ; but when advantage is taken of a loose Act to drive out the real ratepayers, a wrong is committed on the business men and property holders, that should no longer be permitted. We repeated at the outset our previously expressed idea that mining property should be exempted from rates, but if its holders pvish themselves forward as local legislators in Road Boards, they cannot be surprised if Parliament brought it within the rating clauses. Taxation without representation, has been for a long time an old reform complaint, and in the home country and elsewhere, the injustice has been fully recognised, and 3teps taken to remedy it. As the A.ct is now framed, as far as Westland Road Boards go, the exact reverse is the fact, and representation without taxation is the order of the day. It is to be hoped sincerely that the clumsy bungling Act in question will be repealed altogether during the next session, and it is satisfactory to think that there is some possibility of such a desirable consummation, and of the inauguration of a new era, or at least the trial of another, and we trust more satisfactory experiment in the administration of West Coast affairs. Should this, however, not prove the case, however wearied the Assembly may be of eternally discussing the great Westland mistake, we trust that the members for the County will bring the subject we have referred to again under notice, with a view to reforming what is so evidently an extraordinary condition of things.