THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1877.

Inangahua Times, Volume III, Issue 86, 7 March 1877, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 1877.

A petition having been presented to the Road Board bearing the requisite number of signatures, praying for the merging of that body in the County Council, the days of the former body may be said to be drawing to a close. We find, however, that by the 37th section of the Counties Act, it is ex» acted as a condition precedent of the presentation of the petition to the Council "that such petition is published in the district not less than one month before presentation." It would appear from this that it is the duty of the Road Board to publish the petition, and this, so far, has not been done* A notification appears under the hand of the County Clerk intimating that a petition has been lodged, but the petition itself we know nothing about, and in this re&peet it would seem that a departure is being made from the letter and spirit of the Act, That it is contemplated that the petition itself, with the signatures attached to it, should be published, is borne out by the reference which is made in the j 37th clause to sections 18, 17, and 18 preceding, for unless the names are published how is it possible that those ratepayers who have not signed the petition can judge of the genuineness of the petitioners. Special machinery is provided by the Act for inquiring into the bonajidet of the signatures at* tached to such petitions, and it follows that the public should have the widest facility of scrutinising them. Subsection 1, of clause 37, provides tbafc '•' the petition shall be signed by not less than one-third of the ratepayers of such road district, Ac.'' Who is to judge of the number of signatures and the value of the property represented by the petition, unless the daylight ia let in upon the matter by publication. The meaning of the word '< publication" is very clearly defined in the interpretation clause, and it cannot in any way be said that the fact of tbe petition being "on view " at the office of the Council is publication. Besides, tbe provision made for counter petitions demonstrates beyocd question that publication of the petition itself is absolutely imperative, We mention this fact because it appears to us that un. less the Act is strictly complied with in this respect, the members of the Road Board cannot be legally absolved from their responsibilities, and that pending the presentation of a counter petition at some future time the Road Board will remain in something of the position of Mahomet's coffin.