THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1252, 3 August 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1872.

Tub County Chairman's half-yearly financial statement occupies some space in our present issue, and will, no doubt, be read with the interest which it deserves as the one statement of a" other statements made duilng the session of the Council from the discussion of which any practical good is likely to arise. It must be a matter of regret to many besides the members of the Couuc : l themselves, that these statements are Dot made at an earlier poiiod of the session, especially as the session is of half-yearly occuirence, and the energies and eloquence of the councillors are not hampered by their having to dischargo any legislative functions. Placed at an earlier period upon the table, it is probable that to these statements, and to the questions which they raise, the Councillors would give greater attention than they are now likely to do, and the gain would be considerable, either as regards the time of the councillors or the temper of their constituents. For the several weeks during which the Council has sat, the order-paper has been occupied, and the intellects of the Council overwhelmed, with an array of subjects of a more or less abstract character, the discussion of which, however much it may have redounded to the credit of the councillors collectively or individually, by exhibiting their powers of thought and speech, cannot be said to have effected any great practical good. There has, indeed, during the present session, been an extraordinary and altogether extravagant disposition on the part of the Council to discuss subjects Which are, no doubt, of considerable interest to the community, but which do not ome exactly within the range of tho Council's duties, and the sooner the Council sympathise with the aphorism as to the shoe maker and his last, the better it will be for the progress of business and the purposes for the promotion of which County institutions exist. There is this to be said in excuse of the, course which the present Council has pursued, that the current seEsion closes its existence, and that it would be ungenerous to subdue the lerigth or strength of its dying speech and confession. There ig also due to the councillors the merit of having discussed niauy of the questions which have been brought before them in a manuor which has marked them as men of sense and clo3e acquaintance with the (feelings and interests of the community whom

they represent. Even as tersely reported, the discussions have formed fair reading, and many of the remarks made would have been perused with interest if they had taken the shape of letters to the Press or of speeches on the platform, but it remains a question whether the Council was, in all cases, the appropriate sphere for the deliverance of the opinions expressed. There has been danger of the Council degenerating into a debating society, and, however desirable even that might be, in view of the probable and mutual improvement of its members, it is doubtful if the advantage to be so gained would justify the consequent charges upon the County exchequer. The feast of reason and the flow of soul are excellent things in their way, but there is virtue also in the multiplication table, and, with the Estimates now before them, it is to be hoped that the Councillors will do their simple sums in figures, and end with some practical work the session throughout which they have theorised so prettily. .■