The Manawatu Standard (PBLISHED DAILY.) Suivant la verite. THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 1883. ROADS AND BRIDGES ACT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 209, 9 August 1883, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PBLISHED DAILY.) Suivant la verite. THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 1883. ROADS AND BRIDGES ACT.

In the House on Tuesday, Mr Shepherd brought up the following interim report from the Roads and Bridges Construction Act Committee : — I am dired to report that the Committee has come to the following resolution : That main roads are those which connect two or more countries or road districts ; or, where there are no road boards, the ridings of a county, or which connect a county district with a port. The Committee further direct me to ask for an extension of the order of reference, so as to enable the Committee to review the whole of the loads gazetted last session as main roads, with a view of recommending a new schedule m accordance with the resolution of the Committee and the opinion of the Surveyor« General as to" what are main , roads. He moved, , That the power asked for be granted. — After considerable discussion; a motion by Major Harris to adjourn the debate was lost \on a division by 48 to 31. Writing on this question the Post points out that the claims, put m by some local bodies have been so enormous* that the; hare necessarily reduced all round the average proportion of the demand which the funds at the disposal of the Government enabled to be granted. It is pretty well understood, too, that some applications ot great magnitude will come m this year. There is not much difficulty m comprehending that if the local bodies apply for three times the sum available, they can only receive on the average' about one-third of tbe amount sought, subject to some priority for cases of special urgency. Much grumbling has been heard as to the smallnfass of the grants m many cases* and no donbt this was a severe disappointment to some districts which had asked for a moderate and reasonable sum, and had carefully limited their request to $he smallest amount they saw their way to manage with. But when.it is remembered that £200,000 was the total fund available, and that one county alone demanded £84,000, it will be seen at once that the entire fund would be more than swallowed up by three such claims, whereas there arc some scores of claimants. The past year's experience has plainly demonstrated, as Mr Pyke and Mr Service forcibly put it, that some legislative limit must be fixed as to the amounts olaimable under the Act, as Mr Pys £ was quite right m saying, that failing such a check, the distribution of the money degenerated into a mere scramble.