THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1873.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1523, 21 June 1873, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY. SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 1873.

The obstacles to efficient Provincial administration which were principally created by the peculiar geographical boundaries of the Provinces seem to be as far from removal as ever they were. The'situations of the capital towns, though at the time of their choice inevitable, have continued to be so unsatisfactory as positions from which administration can be carried out, that in almost every Province there is constant discussion as to the fairness and justice of allocating the public expenditure. The Province of Wellington is at present divided upon the subject ; ih Nelson the diversity of feeling is unabated ; and the Province of Canterbury still continues to be disturbed, though in leas eminent degree, by the claims or complaints of its northern, central, and southern divisions. In the condition of things existir.g in the two last-mentioned Provinces there is, however, a strange anomaly. In Nelson, after years of weary waiting or ineffective efforts, a concession in the direction of local self-government has been made, but when made it has been so small as to be considered by the most competent judges that the country has sent to the Council to be, altogether contemptible. The impression and assertion is that, in granting to the South- West Gold Fields what has been granted under the recently passed Gold Fields Local Revenues Act, there has been granted not half enough, nor nearly half enough.. In Canterbury, on the other hand— the Province in which the experiment of local boards was first attempted — there seems to have arisen the sentiment that what was granted waa nearly a half too much. In 1869, after much agitation on the part of the inhabitants of the Tiraaru district, the Provincial Council of Canterbury passed the following series of resolutions : — The Council is of opinion that it is desirable in future appropriations of the revenue arising within the provice that the following principle should be adopted in the apportionment of the funds at its disposal as between the two districts of the province to the north and south of the river Kangitata :— 1. That the revenue arising within the district to the south of the Rangitata should be appropriated to that district, less the following charges : — (a) Local charges (payable out of the pro« ceeds of the sale of waste lands) viz., for surveys, immigration, education, buildings, and public works within the district. (b) Local charges on the ordinary revenue, viz., actual payment for services within the district, such as gaols, hospitals, charitable aid, harbor, sheep inspection, ferries and miscellaneous charges. (c) A share of the provincial departmental charges of the -whole province distributable on the basis of population. (d) A proportion of the charges on the loans of the province to the amount of £14,000 a year for the current financial year. At the time of the passing of these resolutions the Timaru district was much distressed as to the inequitable share of public expenditure which it was receiving, and these concessions were made as a means of allaying a public outcry, and probably of meeting fair demands. Since then the district has developed and prospered until the contiguous districts have becjme envious, and, in consequence of that circumstance, more than from any condemnation of the principle, an attempt has lately been made to revert to the original form of complete administration from a Provincial , centre. Only the other day in the Can terbnry Council, a motion to the following effect was brought forward by Mr Maskell : " That in order to put the districts south of the Rangitata River on an equal footing with the rest of the Province, it is desirable to rescind the resolutions passed on the 26th October, 1869, by which the whole of the revenue arising within those districts was allocated to them, less a share of the departmental and loan charges of the Province." The arguments by which the mover apparently supported hia motion were that the district was now in as good a position as any othar in the Province, his real belief being, perhaps, that it was in a better position, and that it therefore — though on no very observable principle — should share its increasing revenue with the others. Though plausible enough in their way, his arguments, however, were not so convincing as to induce complete support of his resolutions. They were opposed by the Provincial Secretary on the plea, as he said, that it did not seem fair to him that after having made a contract they should now turn round and want to rescind it just when, from the fact that there were large appropriations made in all districts, the verj large resources of this district made, as it were, a large show. The representative of the Government in the Council, however, went the length of admitting what, in ,the case of Nelson, the authorities are so fond of insisting upon, that the district should pay its share of public buildings in the chief town, and he proposed an amendment declaring that " the i

districts south of the Rangitata shall be charged with an equitable portion of the cost of such buildings as are of a Provincial character." To continue the narrative of proceedings, it may be simply said that the proposal thus to amend rather than to rescind the resolutions of 1869 was carried, and, with the adoption of other words, a resolution to this effect was finally carried : — "That in order to put the districts south of the Rangitata river on an equal footing with the rest of the Province, it is desirable to amend the resolutions passed on the 26th October, 1869, so as to provide that the district south of the Rangatati should be charged with an equitable proportion of the cost of such buildings, public works, interest and sinking fund on loans and colonial charges as' are of a Provincial character." Upon this footing, therefore, the district .of Timaru now stands, and probably will stand until the time come, as. it inevitably will come, when Provincial institutions will turn their face to the wall, and rest in the paternal arms of deceased political inventions. In its present subdued form, it is impossible but to recognise the sytem as infinitely superior to that which has been palmed off upon the South- West Gold Fields by the Government of Nelson, if that can be said +o be palmed off which will never come to hand. Of the esteem in which this altered system of local selfgovernment, if it may be so called, is held in Canterbury we have no assurance except in the columns of the Press, which thus expresses its satisfaction : — " On the whole, we think the Council came to a wise decision." It rejected the motion for the repeal of the resolutions, but determined on amending them, so as j to charge the south with a fair proportion ( of expenditure on all such buildings and ) public works as are of a Provincial character. This amendment will remove the inequality that is apparent under the present financial division. In the course of another year or two, should the Provincial system hold together so, long, what with the improvement in the means of communication and other causes, the north and south will be brought closer together, and the need for the resolutions will be at an end. But as things are, we have little doubt that their repeal would have been regarded in the south as an act of aggression on the part ■of the northern districts, and would have given rise to a renewed agitation for separation."