THE Marlborough Express. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1868.

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 142, 31 October 1868, Page 3

THE Marlborough Express.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1868.

•*. Givh me tlie liberty to know, to utter, and to irguo freely according to conscience, above all other liberties." —Milton.

At this moment, all who have the welfare of this Province at heart are anxiouslywaiting for some manisfestation from our Representatives in Parliament ) and some explanation as to our financial position in the present, no less than in the future. In the absence of any more direct mode of bringing these questions forward for public consideration, we propose to make some remarks thereon with as much patience as lies in our power. We have before shewn that we have nothing in the shape of Provincial Income from the Customs, but on the contrary, an annual loss of £335, after paying the salaries of General Government officials, &c.; while our Land Revenue, which falls due yearly in February, will produce only £4,200. To this we have to add the produce of land sales, which, in the present depressed state of trade, no less here than in other parts of the Colony, and the low prices realised for wool at the last sales, may be set down at a very small sum. Our requirements will be for Provincial Government officials alone, without reckoning a “penny for Roads and Bridges £5,332 to March, leaving a deficiency, even for departmental expenses alone, of £1,467 ! It is a well-understood fact, that under the existing law, all monies must pass through the hands of the General Government, and therefore before we can pay our officials, these monies must be filtered and sifted by it, and judging by the experience of the last year, there is no question but this will be done properly. To enable our Provincial Government to carry on during this period, that is, till the £4,200 comes i a —although we submit that in the absence of any revenue the value of their services to the public, must be proportionately small—the Legislature have, at the instance of the Ministry, passed a vote in aid, of £3,000 for the purpose of paying certain departments only, which, although not designated, are no doubt those of Waste Lands, Police, Gaols, and the Superintendent, as the Officer administering the Government forthe sequestrators—and, since the Appropriation Act for the current year { validated within the last few days of the Assembly,) covered the period until July next, we are practically without a remedy. It would therefore appear that this Province is already in the hands of the General Government.

la this grave position of affairs—with the Province bankrupt, the public estate sequestrated—it is the opinion of many that the Council should be called together, in order that some steps should be taken, either to repudiate the present action, or accepting, and commending it, to devise ways and means for making good the deficiencies indicated above, and to provide for executing the necessary repairs to our trunk roads, whose shamefully delapidated condition almost precludes the conveyance of our mails, and threatens to stop the traffic in more than one direction; to furnish supplies for the Hospital; the' aid of Sick and Destitute persons; and to pay the Interest and Sinking-fund of our public Debt! But whether any practical effect would follow the meeting of the Council, or whether it would be better to await the adjustment which is imperative next year in the Assembly, we leave the public to determine. We may be told that the Hoads are provided tor by tlie Hoads Act of last Session , hut one, which has not yet been brought into force, but it-ia weii-Jiaown, that even Were that Aot Workable, which it is not, Oft account of its permissive principle—it is ultra vires of the Constitution Act, and although an Act has just been passed again validating it, thy question is a moot one, and disputed, as to whether such a feat'is possible.

Our position has truly become a most singular one. Powerless in the hands of the General Government, and at its mercy, whose interest and disposition it is to force us into giving-up that Local SelfGovernment which we have hitherto enjoyed under Provincial Institutions, we shall lapse into a worse state that of the County of Westland even. Instead of receiving compensation for the loss ofV an accumulated Customs Revenue, unjustf ly credited to other Provinces, we are placed in a most helplessly destitute v 4 position. We consider that the Representatives of the people of this Province ought to have an opportunity of discussing the present state of affairs, and some scheme for raising the means of repairing our roads, &c. devised, so that these works may be executed prior to . the wet season.

As we are led to believe that His Honor Mr. Eyes purposes calling a public meeting of the Electors very shortly, when he will explain his views upon the business of the Session generally, and the matters affecting the Province in particular, that course will possibly be the most satisfactory one for obtaining an expression of public opinion, and we trust, since we have hi-«i therfco had every reason to be satisfied with him as our representative, that he will be able to dissipate the feeling of antagonism which has existed during the last month or two, and satisfy the electors that he has acted throughout in perfect good faith, and for their best interests.