SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1868.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 137, 26 September 1868, Page 3

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1868.

There is a serious difficulty looming in the immediate future, which will have to be considered and dealt with by the ratepayers at no distant period. Whether the Province is divided into counties, or, under the Act which at present is lying perdu until some confidence is established in the Ministry, into road districts, the difficulty will be the same. We allude to the circumstance, that to a large extent the lands occupied by our public roads have never yet been acquired, and are capable of being legally stopped in every direction, and at any moment by the capricious acts of individuals. We do not suppose that any such is probable, but it is possible. That they can be dealt with in the present impecunious state of Provincial finance by the Government is impossible, and therefore this duty of treating with the owners, and paying them compensation, will devolve upon the various Boards which may hereafter be formed.

So far as we are aware there is no provision in the proposed Act to protect the ratepayers from extortionate demands on account of lands required for this purpose, and we are in a position to state that no power is given by any other now existing, unless the Provincial Compulsory Landtaking Act is brought into force, at the meeting of the Provincial Council, whieh will, we assume, be shortly held to decide whether it will be possible or advisable to continue the present system of Provincial Government.