Manamatu Herald. THURSDAY, AUG. 29, 1895. " An Assured Finance."

Manawatu Herald, 29 August 1895, Page 2

Manamatu Herald. THURSDAY, AUG. 29, 1895. " An Assured Finance."

Ik the preface of the new Local Government Bill now to hand it is asserted that under this Bill " the bodies that remain will have larger powers, with assured finance, and direct responsibility for all local expenditure." The author of this assertion must be new to the colony or he would never have used the decoy played already too often upon the confiding country settler, once again " assured finance !" the dream of every member of a local body, remains under this Bill as much a sham and a delusion as previously declared assurances have proved themselves to be. What assurance will the new local bodies have for their income in any way different to what they have had in the past, as the Bill simply directs that " oat of

the Consolidated Fund there shall he payable for each year the following capitation grants in aid of the revenues " of every county a grant equal to four shillings and sixpence a head of its population abd to every borough a grant equal to four shillings a head. It will be thus noticed by evtryona that the " assurance " to the new local bodies is simply based upon the payment of a sum of money out of the Consolidated Fund which is yearly amenable to a vote by Parliament and therefore liable to wonderful alterations a-s to reductions which it may please Ministers to propose or members to insist on. To induce local bodies to agree to an upheaval of all their present rights some securer form of income will have to be proposed. We are not by the above remarks suggesting that the present Government are likely to act differently to other Governments, our fear being that they are so likely to act similarly and as a warning we venture to repeat a little ancient history. When the Counties Act came into force in 1876 after the abolition of the Provinces it was provided that the balance of the Land Fund of each district should be divided between the Counties and Road Boards, and the Main roads w^re looked after by the general Government. In 1882 it was deemed advisable by the Colonial Treasurer to get the Counties to take over the Main lines of roads and to induce them to do so created the Road 3 and Bridges Construction Act in which the " assured finance " was proclaimed that any County borrowing from the Government monies to make or maintain main roadd, the money would be lent free of interest and only one fourth of the amount Would have to be repaid and that in ten equal yearly payments ! It is sad to narrate that in the following year (1883) an amending Act was passed limiting the amount of money available, and in 1885 the Act was wholly repealed ! Though the Act was repealed the main roads were left to the local bodies. We may on another occasaion refer to the wondrous number of Rating Acts and Local Bodies Finance and Powers Acts already (passed nfld repealed all of which prove that the first thoughts of the framers are of great liberality to the local bodies upon whom they desire to thrust some new responsibilities, but which dwindle into parsimony i as year by year go bye after their primary object has been achieved. The new Bill is much too long to be carefully considered by the local bodies in time to let their opinion be known this Session. In considering the Bill the local authorities will have to keep an eye upon two eon*, siderations, viz., how to secure an assured finance, and what manner of new responsibilities it is that the Government is seeking to place upon the settlers within the maze of the 582 clauses of the Bill.