THE Mount Ida Chronicle THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1877.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 407, 11 January 1877, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1877.

The County Council of Maniototo hrs yet to decide whether to constitute or not. The Yincent Council swallowed the greased pill with delightful avidity. Taieri and Waitaki hesitate. • "Waikouaiti at first meeting agreed to constitute. Tuapaka and Waimate, also constitute. This decision' of Waikouaiti has most interest for the ratepayers of Maniototo. To them it is fraught with .evil, meaning. In the first • place,: all extension of railway communication into the interior by . Shag Valley is hopeless for years to come. It means that the main road,, which-for the last two or three years has been getting its share of attention, and which the Engineers could have .given a good account of v,-ith. ; two more Provincial 'appropriations,, must fall back into its •primitive state, and even then will squeeze another ss. or so in tolls, on every ton of goods sent up country. Of course it may be- that Mr. James Green, the Chairman, had good authority for believing that the Government would still, in spite of law, pay attententiori to this .main . road. If so, -his advico to the Council, without any further consideration to constitute, may be intelligible. Otherwise it is not so. In another column we show by table the probable revenue due to the County of Maniototo for the first year, apart from all considerations of. the 1 head race and channel. "We also show the actual expenditure last year by the Provincial Government, omitting general charges of which a share might justly be debited to tho County. This table shows -what may be considered an annual charge for roads of over £■3ooo, for there were no new works of any magnitude undertaken last year on roods. We have also shown the revenue of the County for the year to be, without taxation, £5563. --The ad-

mirretrative charges, compiled with some care, we fiud to be about £I3OO, withbut contingencies,- scrthat'-" £,1500,-, which has often beefi roughly estimated " as the average c»st Jper; Council; wilK not be-far .wrong. woiilH' leave £IOOO in hand for new works.

It is therefore clear that the County can constitute—if it.raeans to do nothing but look aftera'^co ? re ofroadmen -^without 1 any necessity'for additional taxation, or without any danger of finandal"'catla^t;fdp¥e: fore follow that it would be wise to constituted An administration which, .is..to absorb:, in fl,fourth of the whole income - available for distribution cannot- be defended. It is, and must be unavoidably so,, monstrously wasteful. What ,is the alternative ? That the Government shall spend the revenue under .the annual direction of the? non-cOnstituted Council. Would, then, of the direct control exercised over expenditure by the County Council equal or more than equal the cost of-its - administration. If it would not, financially we should lose by the experiment of Jocal Government for the Government. If the Council-decides to swell its revenues by rating property, as it may do, and perha,ps as a representative body aB it ought :to do, there can be no. doubt tnore money would-be- available for works in the County than if the Government spent-the revenue- at the direction of the Council,, less. _tbe rates. But we imagine rating of property is not at all pleasant to the minds of. a majority -of the present'' Council. The question must befaced. We hardly think it can be held over until the Bth March. If it is, it appears to us that no rate-could be struck in 1877, whether the Council wish it or no—unless the Judge of the Assessment, Court interferes—as, the report of the valuers ought to be in by the: 15th inst., and action taken by the Council upon that repoit by. c the 15th February. The different positions are not at all easy to work out. We, con-fess-to being somewhat . indifferent. At the same time, unless!spme. considafcle gain can be shown we- do not see Why eight Councillors, should expose themselves to the. inconvenience of coming together at JSlaseby some score of times during the next y ear at their , own cost to d'o npthing,' excellently well blamed for doing., it. On the other hand, if. a .gain, can be shewn-, we believe the Councillors elected are patriotic enoughfeten to do" and Buffer' this for the sake of district.

It seems a pity that' Mr. Donald Keid should have spoilt his~defence at Mpsgiel by i Jiriost immediately fating' office amongst the Centralists. In the light of the, accepted appointment, the defence falls ratherflatly. If thetemptation could have been resisted .the defence might have partially succeeded. It might be a fair matter of speculation as.to whether a member of an Opposition might, not in'-some' cases be 'justified in loosing slightly the bonds which attached him.: to his party. ; with, the view of attaching, to himself the mal-contents of the Government;side.:

The Centralists and their organs are of course jubilant over the finding., pf this lost'TaTeri*sheep in the wilderness of Otago. "We were prepared to see. leading articles by the score, calling up Sir.Robert Peel and other notable men,' who Have made their mark in the worlds history v ip spite of their fault, , in order to shew'thatpolitical apostacy is; above all to be commended. It, is. strangely fprgotten, that what excused once in the career of a great political leader, hampered by complicated- relations ! and ; duties to his sovereign and to his party, would not be tolerated- even to him twice. To expect, that; public opinion will applaud' Mr. Beid's desertion 7 of his apolitical principles—Local Government as opposed .to Centralismj'-'and; of'Eis -party- 4 with whieh'^he' 1 was 5 ele&ted and with which he elected to (igEE,*. is to imagine that iD his case a public feleratton"" is" possible that would be impossible. a greater even that'he.''/ Wlien a few years ago Bir. Reid ,was a trusted andsuccessful leader of the,, out-and-out Provincial party, which tad its stronghold in.Taie.ri, Clutha, and Southland.;, when' all appeal to the. electors of the Province left his side of the Council in a minority of two votes ; it is not yet forgptteh that this same Mr. iieid acr cepted the decision of the Province as final, and at once crossed the floor and took • office with the very men who it was a cardinal point of bis party's cieed to keep out of office at all hazards. Of course the same defence Svas set up then an we now have retailed to us'again.' Mt\ Beid was to be 1 the leaven, leavening the lump as ono side put it, Mr. Ileid,, according to the 'Star,' (hat up to,then had abusod him in unmeasured terms, was to be leavened. Ilia introduction into progressive circlet) was roally to niake a useful man of a very inferior olodocmt Others said, It was Jleitl's duly to join, and save the land from being sacrificed. This last, wo boliove, was at the time his own defenco. We find that, with the exception of the few days during which M>. Bastings made the mistake of taking the responsibility of forming a Government, Mr. Beid continued in office, until Provincial office no longer existed. "" • •■■■■ Mr. Beid's second desertion of his party is in some respects less excus-able-than his first. There is no recognised necessity, for him just now to make a sacrifice. Major Atkinson is a more liberal and more experienced land administrator than is Mr. Beid. We do not see any advantages whieh can accrue to Otago, or to the Colony, by Mr. Beid boing gazetted Minister of Lands. O 1 the other hand there are many disadvantages. Tho Otagp

party* will be split, aa Mr. Stout pointed out in bis letter to the ' Guardian.' The Canterbury runholders are certain ot a first ten years instalment of a' perpetuaktejuire of their runs.. The Otago rciiihblders can certainly count on the same., witih better reason. Publie faith iii the integrity of our public men is shaken. Discord itself must be introduced into the Cabinet-, which now contains two members who are , to. reader the Counties Bill, ip i£s present form", inoperative'if they" can. On other subjects we do Mr. ffceid the bare justice to believe that and the loose; systems of Government in force by custom in Ministerial circles * at- Wellington. i While the Centralists rejoice at what appears to them so memorable a ; conversion to their views, the Opposition, on the. other hand, may, with better 1 reason be pleased to be rid of so dangerous an ally. Better seventeen men that can be trusted than thirty"two, one" at Teaßt of *vhom is making terms for himself with the enemy while purporting to be still eating bread in the home camp. This new doctrine of political expediency is not to our taste." While men of all sides of the IJouse will respect Mr. Reid's ability, and his powers of work, yet his present high standing will be destroyed. Satisfied ambition, acknowledged ability, and power of work, will hardly be -recompense for being suspected by those of his colleagues who have not once or twice done as he has done, and pitied' if not despised, by his former friends and colleagues. Thej farce of responsible Government, without party, is now well nigh exploded. The way in which the Opposition kept together last session, as ' Hansard ' will testify,—press telegrams to the contrary, notwithstanding —shews clearly that in the House, at any rate, party lines are marked out in a way that they never been before. A large section of the Ministerial supporters recognised this, and •voted' straight, while writhing with very shame at the work they had to do. Desertion of party for individual gain is one of those offences which cannot now be condoned. This Mr. Beid knows. He has been greatly tempted. It is perhaps no wonder he has fallen. Yet however much human weakness may be pitied it will be f and that he is acting on a wider stage than for- ! me'rly-r-a. stage upon which he must take what solace he can fro-n the emoluments of office, and the satisfaction, of doing his self-imposed work no worse than itwould have been done by Ballance, Bryce, Stevens, Button, or any other loyal supporter of the Government. If he seeks the moral support which a Minister has the right ,to expect even from his adversaries; if he desires the respect of his old friends in Ofcago, he will, we fear, be disap- | pointed. L

The Municipal Council of Naseby has not been able to survive its financial diffi-culties-experienced during the early part ,of last year without exhausting the available public talent of its members. The work - done by this body during the past year is nothing. The mischief and harm effected cannot be represented by a similar cipher. The Ministerialists and Oppositionists still exist as before. The motto of the Government party is " Moderation crossed by Despair"; that of the Opposition is, "The Masonic Hall, and Our Poor Selves." When there is a full •meeting the majority for Ministers is one ; when one from the Government side is absent a dead lock ensues. Matters have come to such a pitch, that it is dangerous to do. any work for the Municipality unless every Councillor signs the order. If this precaution is not taken an attempt is ; at once made to repudiate any. debt, however trifling, or however urgent was the necessity for incurring it The miserable iand deluded contractor must whistle for |his money, until the mimic game of battledore and-' shuttlecock between Councillors . in -Committee upon Finance, ' Councillors in Committee upon • Public Purposes, and Councillors ever in Committee at cross purposes, is abandoned for the time. 1 Not' content with this general, guerilla warfare against the world, Councillors do not respect tkeir bwn. selves. J.f it is thought .that by altering the hour of meeting the. .Mayor and two other Councillors will be seriously inconvenienced, the expectation'is too tempting to be resisted—the alteration is proposed. This iruse was' actually carried out to a successful issue. ;■ The Mayor was unable to. atrterid_<v?bi\. two"meetings ; the Opposition, "furnished with legal advice (gratuitously we hope), at once made an informal attempt to bounce the Mayor from liis seat, on the ground that he had been absent without leave for one month. Failing in their: attempt, because too careless to give due notice of motion in the way provided by tlio Ordinance*, they now attack Mr. Busch by means of an anonymous information, duty served - Possibly tho w.ord .'"careless" we. have used, abovo ought to be .rendered. ,c wary."" The Ordinance provide? that in the case? 'of au exiraordinaLy vacancy occurring^.bjr non-attendance!. for i a , given, ' time, - the Council:itsolf'sholl declare the seat Tacau'tNow iiov attempt has been made to do this. ; The ■ course laid dovr'n, at asty rats* lor the guidance of Councillors, is perhaps inconvenient. An-anonymous information is. preferred. Either' the informant was afraid to give his name, or 1 heor his Iriendjhad more-to-gain through tha-costly.machinery--of the Court itself. 'Wei sincerely hope that the actuating when tho veil, is removed, will prove to?, have been fear, and not expectation ef; gain. The general public gain to b<* effected appears never to have been con,— <sidered. A" new election at the 'ratepayers cost wilLonlj' be a lark*' Busch visilji still be Mayor,, and, we will lay traps L foe him again arid Have some more fun. [ln the 3J.M. Court on Thursday Mr.. E. T. George, a member of the Municipal 1 Council, swore to the' information ; ara I Mr. G. F. Eowlatt, another member of the Municipal Council, with apologies of regret, as being the only solicitor practicing m Naseby, undertook the case on bf >- half of Mr. George. 'Upon Mr. Busc h •obtaining an adjournment, in order • to -procure legal advice, Mr. Ilovrlatt's jo-

gret did not prevent him from claiming" and securingi£l ls\- professional fee.] "Whatever little the Councillors, as a body havr succeeded in doing, we are certain ■that. the. work done" for the town by Mr. ..Busciv has-been of a very valuable nature, and is thoroughly appreciated by the ratepayers;- It is intolerable to us that he should! be selected as the butt for the darted venom, of those who, we are bound to say, have never even in the slightest degree shewn by their public action any care for the welfare of others than themselves. -Itis time'that this nonsense- should be put aa end to. Childishness ft' is not, .. How_the- ratepayers have tolerated it cannot understand. They cannot ahForclto do so any longer. Questions of the gravest kind now require consideration .5; every thing is neglected. The Council has only discovered this afternoon, from- outside itself, that unless valuers are) appointed, and make up the valuation li st by Monday next, serious financial embarrassment will ensue in 1878, The difficult question as to the Municipality's relatiioii to the County Council isignored. T.'he small acts of courtesy which could iave been so easily and so wisely rendeired to a new public body r sure to rise into importance, were- aever dreamt of. No; everything is to be secondary to national ideas—the battle of the halls;; the question of principles, Can a Councillor force a bill through: the finance Committee in his own favor for alleged expenses- in an appeal - cast? against the raters?;: Gan'ratepayers be driven into the B.M, Court by vexatiousaction at the Coumcil table itself (witDess the ins and outs of the case Stephens v. Corporation). - Municipal Councillors have worked themselves into such a state of cross purposes that those among them who would fulfil their light duties as J representatives are hampered in every ) direction. The only cure is a clean sweep.. That was the onlj remedy in th'e very similar case of the Otago Harbor Board.. We do not mean to compare our Municipal Council with the "defunct Harbor Board. It has not quite fallen so low as that yet. We cannot call up an Act of' Parlitunentas Messrs; Stout and Bejnolds,, did for besom; we must turn to and sweep ourselves. Let all* who are disgusted .(and who is not?) sign a requisition asking the Cou ucil as a body to resign. Hine-tenths of the ratepayers would sign this. Th.e necessity of acting wisely at the present time- of incessant of which ju.st now we only see the beginnings, should influence the new election, and men who forget they are' representatives, and by their acts claim t't> be mere will-o-the* wispsj following straw at their own sweet inclinations, would he carefully restrained by public opinion from the inevitable bosses sure to ensue if any longer called u.pon to sacrifice th emselves- for the good of the ratepayers of Uaseby.