THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1874.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 294, 16 October 1874, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1874.

Calculating as fairly and accurately as we could, we arrived last week at the conclusion th;t, reducing our Provincial revenue of its padding in the shape of Colonial grants, balances I of loank being raised, and realisation of I estate," £*J 13,100 is to be raised during | tlie current year irom a population of 17,708 resident on Goldfields, and £4,(500 from resident outside Goldfields, -there being a floating balance.behveen the two classes of £7,000 "entered as unforeseen contingencies. It would be only guess-work to deal the' appropriations for the current year, as a great pr-oportion or the items voted naturally, and sometimes designedly, are allowed to lapse. The actual Provincial expenditure for the year ending 31st March; 1874, was £404,066. This sum we can then ana--1 3yue, and arrive at some conclusions as to the expenditure in and out of (Jold--lekls node" probably the best interior admit: is era'ion we have yet experienced. Provin. pal expenditure may 'y ••U.use:"inlo a fr-.v leading hea.is—for.'..c yea-"'.-• aestinii *he chief are as follow :- oaiK £G3. ;9 t; uvscclbi.eou-. *A : '>, r 5/J (:. boa.: that, will rep? v \.\■ ure .■ n:>! -1 ) : inl e'"c" 1 1 c>n) oa !s, £47,414 7'. C/l (oxcl.i.sivc of General | aij) : wosvs ahd liuildla., 0 , £20.6 LI 4s 6,"..; rrnlwi" ,- m.fuite- ■ Cruce, J2'2o 4 il os. r ) 1.; . .niicyj] £2C,'Jj ! ') 12. .; c.' ui-p tioo, ■-£ .'jja ) ,5.,. 1 i c ;.. .n.'t- V.or;-! 31'liW'V, iU'J,aS4 J2s. 5/i. ;_bri.-! t ;t-, .-Jn.32i I';*. ; rod C.oldfiei 'v£o, >39 J 7-.j. ■>'. The other ii.cn ma, ho cumi-I-.v ;>a consisting of •■.'•auts -n I'.icl of charitable lUitiLutious and tlcnai'i mrniai espouses. \y hcu. iotup].'in,s n r c made i' 1 toe Council by'GVhhjcics i.i.eiji-.iers or the . pcc>al ,ax.<tio">: wo 1.-i.o ■ I'.'idcr, Mr. -■xii' t -ul his a -')oo : ' ••- p!;, —" !», is j*i-' •' o'iculqus tn s:-/ GclJnfld'* receive " -loiMng .tioi'o vhp w .i the c r>i of their " uiruruenauco, £i.i3:i .7*. ( i.\; luo'; " ..I. l'ic i.i<jc'!i r, ij ex ic( 1 -' ; Lui-: oa roads " nnci bi\.iy,o=." 'Wi: ha\ •. shown the faliic - " of lLu.s cr. ; wc have drawn ifc-temio-j to il'o j" cl i'lr.fcthu pastoral tenants of Crowa.lancL on Goldiiold.-s last year contributed over £53,000 in insufficient.reiit of. the people's estate, and that in jirrice, as in pilicy. "the whole of such lvvetiue ought to be loI calised to improve the value of the estate so soon 10 be realised upon. i Not only so, but ii' theue drained esj tates were freehold, the Provincial reI venue would be strained to subsidise heavily the road taxation of the holders. Localisation of revenue derived from the leasing of Crown lands in their infancy' appears the A B C of administration ; yet what is the case ? Bo far from £53,000 being spent in improving the communications of the interior contributing it, £77,418 represents the sum total of expenditure on communications from end to end of the Pro.virice—from the WSitaki to the Bluff. The actual expenditure on roadd and bridges in Goldfields contributing £113,100 dirpct taxation and'rent for . last-year was £34 r 029. 55... 9d.. while asimilar expenditure of Provincial revenue including- subsidies to Road Boards'outside Goldfields, was £62,474 os.9d. Besides this'latter sum,theProvihcialrevenue is liable for£lo2,26ofor branch railways let last year outside Goldfields ,as against a single item of, £4S,Q')O for the Waireka railway,' which, of no earthly benefit to Goldfields, we yet must class as. if it was. ' We' do not intend to sum up in this article the whole" expenditure of country taxation in Dunedin and the agricultural districts surrounding it; we how.ever. summarise a fow facts of interest, deducted fro;.*,the expenditure, which w.ilL tend to cause much reflection. Between Waikouaiti and the Taieri £9,713 was expended on roads ; to this must be added the licenses of the Municipalities of Dunedin and the Port, amounting to many thousands of pounds, which are Provincial revenue given up solely for road expenditure. The cost of maintaining the High School for last year —a school simply kept up to.graut cheap education to Dunedin parents, saying nothing about interest on buildings, ground, &c. was over four times the money expended on the whole of the Provincial district of Mount Ida on roads ; the cost of the Dunedin Hospital bein.' over six times as much. The maintenance of the Survey 'department cost more by about £loo than the Goldfields dttpar I'u.o enormous sum of

£3 was expended between the Maerewhenua and the Kyeburn Laggings out of £2OO voted. Finally, our district, estimating the mining population at" 1 000 returned last year £5,000 in direct taxation, and received back inroad expenditure under £l,ooo—the expenditure for bridges and buildings being easily calculated simply because it was — nil ■■' *. 1 "* The 'Guardian' of Monday last has " a few words to say to some of our " up-country friends who, with the best " intentions, are doing a certain " amount of mischief by decrying the " scheme for deepening and improving " the navigation of the harbor."' Well and good, but let the * Guardian ' do more —let it answer a few plain questions we will put beforeit:— • If Christchurch or Oamaru, in consequence of Colonial improvement of interprovincial communication, can supply the Northern Golufields with necessaries at a less cost than Dunedin can, why should the North Interior be taxed to meet experimental expenditure in order to enable Dunedin to do tho same ? The ' Guardian ' deprecates town rivalries' in a remarkable fashion". • It also deprecates Provincialism in a.curious half-and-half way, not perceiving that this very competition between Provincial towns, at the expense of the general taxpayer is the very worst result ..of Provincialism. O,' Guardian,' you have much to learn yefc about—the belly and the members. Again, was it not repeatedly asserted in the last session of the Council, by three members of the Board, Mr. Davie,- Mr. D. TJeid, and Mr. Stout—not to speak of the Unattached Inspiration in the corner, Mr. Kobert Gillies—that the only object of forcing through the Harbor Board Ordinance that session was to enable the preliminary survey to be undertaken without delay, to. prove the practicability of the Harbor deepening without destruction to the Heads ? The ' Guardian' now says, Delays are" dangerous carry out the work.

Is it possible to raise £200,000 on security of Harbor rates, dues, and reclamations alone, without the Provincial security ? Is it not intended to.accept the Ordinance as being technically defective, and assume in the ensuing Council that the amendment asked for—the guarantee of the Province—was practically conceded last year, only incidentally omitted.?

Is it not intended-to coerce the Government into giving up all Harbor dues, wliile charging present maintev.a.oe against the Provincial account —i" other, .words, advancing from £6,000 to £IO,OOO a.year to the Board to pay interest on a loan to be raised?

"Which is tho greatest necessity, or of he-greatest, benefit to Dunedin and the country alike, the saving 3s. per ton on goods to Dunedin, or saying £5 or £6 per ton by improved interior co luuinic.ition ? ' - - - -

Is it fair that, when interior communications are, as now, entirely- unthe Provincial securities'should' bo strained to enable Duaedin'merchants io vie-with—no,.not vie. with, but su-*;>ass —Lyttelton-traders ? - Finally, What' is \ the work?— We. de.y our ion temporary to tell us. J ~. ''• Jet the ' Gruardian ' answer thesefew questions. We up-couutry people,\vit,h limited vision, need information. Grive it us, then, in plain fact. - Prove to us that no experiment is to be undertaken in the Harbor, the expense for which is not to be met by harbor charges and revenues. —then we will cer.se from troubling/ Dunedin.merchants are quite- shrewd enough to deal wisely, if they kuow their own pockets are to suffer'.or .gain. Stript of the Provincial milch'cow as a" resort, we have every confidence in the prudence that will be displayed. We are not a little amused to observe the action of the ' Guardian': doses of alternate praise and blame, freely mingled witn laughter—for, for the life of us, we cannot help noticing that in every other line fun is poked at the Board. Take one example ian article, well self-styled a discourse, dealing with the matter of-a Board Engineer:—

To return to the immediate subject of our discourse, -we have to express a hope that the choice of the Board .will fall upon some one whose past career affords sufficient .hostages for the future. Charity, is a good—a noble virtue; but, ;like another virtues, it becomes, when, exaggerated, a vice. And the charity which prefers as the -basis of action the welfare of the individual to the well-being of the community is a vice of the first magnitude.'' •- - - .■ -

This wight well be parodied, "the cha- " riiy which prefers as the basis of ac- '" tion the Buppositioua welfare of : * Dunedin to the well-being of the en- "" tire community, is a vice of the first " magnitude!" The cream of the paragraph follows :

AH that the Board has to consider is—how best and most efficiently to expend the public money {"when they get it). . . .

1 hen the crushing peroration:

And if they are bo ill advised as to put this grand consideration the expending of the public money) aside from any motives whatever, they will not only fail in their duty, but they will also commit an act for which generations yet unborn will hold them blameaple. -.-

Tire truth is* -the conductors of the Dunedin Press-know quite well what an unprincipled muddle the whole affair is drifting into, and have to whitewash as bestthey can.- The sub-com-mittee thought, like the Abbe Sieyes, they had only got to make a proper constitution, tell it to march, and march it would. They too; like him, will find 'that that, after all, ..is the great difficulty—thai getting to march. For our part, till enlighu-ned by the ' Guardian,' wo Very cordially hupe, in the "true interest. o-i'tDuiiu J iu, and of every Colonial tux-pay ur, lam the

Harbor Board will never march—Except into the oblivion from which, in an evil minute for itself, it has sprung.

It will be ; observed that the first quarterly Licensing Court, under the Act of 1873 and the Amendment Act of 1874, is advertised, for this district to he held on Tuesday, lßt December. This is the only quarterly Court at which applications for new licenses can be entertained until the first Tuesday in the month of June next. -Applications for publicans' general licenses, general night licenses, and bottle licenses, must be pnt in in duplicate at least twenty-one days before the sitting of the Court. The applications for publicans' licenses must be accompanied (if not renewals) by a certificate signed by ten householders. The night licenses will be granted, we think, under the Provincial Ordinance, as the clause to grant such licenses does nol? . in any .way conflict with the new Act 33 amended. It might be safer to put in the certificate; it would do no harm. Appli-r cants for bottle licenses do not need certifi- ■•. cates. Applicants for direct renewals'do not require—unless notified by the Clerk of the Court of any special objection to be.raised against their application—to attend person- , -. ally or by agent on the day of ■ hearing. - -: Whether applicants for permanent transfers -'- require to lodge, their applications, twenty- - : one days beforehand is not very clear to —probably the Ccrart would rule that they '', had. It would, at any rate be a debateable. / point. Temporary transfers to persons who .-,; have bought licensed premises can be issued' "'■ at'any time by the Chairman of the Court. '■;• New general licenses can only issue in June of every year, except at this ensuing Decern- . ber Court. No new licenses can, we think, be granted at the March Court of 1875, unless the year spoken of by the Act is not the calendar year, but the licensing year ending in June. This is not probably the reading of the Act whatever the intention might have been. No new application can be ■",- granted by the Court if any portion-of the premises for.which a license is asked is usod • as a retail store or shop. A new application for an old house is not, we think, a new application for a house the license for which " was refused previously, for the police are in- .-. :- structed to report on "all new applications "' 1 and new applications for old houses," as to ' the conduct and management of the house during the past twelve months—clearly implying that ah unbroken license has been con- - tinuously existing. A "new application for "an old house" is probably an application by a * buyer or transferee for a license in a new . name for an old house. If not the preventing. _- fact of a shop or store might be got over in - the case of an old house previously at one time licensed. We should holdj however, ". that all houses—the licenses for which were cancelled at the last Court—would, if re-ap-plied for, come under the heading of new houses. These are the principal points which will interest district applicants. We dp not profess to give a legal opinion, but merely suggest the difficulties that will have to be coped with by doubtful applicants who had better make sure of being well advised beforehand. The objections"raised some time' back by the ' G-uardian' may be dismissed, we think, as the Act condones all imperfect grant 3, and fully incorporates, by an unrepealed clause of the original Act, all licenses that can be granted under Provincial Ordinances that are. not antagonistic. We have no doubt night licenses can be quite le- ' gaily granted by the Board if applicants give I due notice of application. The fees to' be. paid will be for six months only—the licenses expiring on the 2nd of July,' .1875. Renewals will'have to be applied for in June next, '".'..''