The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 1877.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 46, 28 March 1877, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 1877.

The ratepayers of this place are about to be required to sign a petition to the Governor praying that the township of Palmerston, together with such an area of the adjacent district as shall be specified in the petition, be constituted a borough under the Municipal Corporation's Act. This Act provides that, — 17. The Governor may, by Proclamation, declare any district in New Zealand to be a borough under this Act, from and after a day to be named in such. Proclamation, subject to the following conditions : — (1.) That such district comprises one continuous area, containnot more than nine square miles, and not having within it any two points more than six miles distant from each other : (2.) That it contains a population of not less than two hundred and fifty resident householders : . (8.) That a petition is presented to the Governor signed by not less than one hundred of such resident householders, praying * the Governor to constitute such district a borough, under this Act: (4.) That such petition describes the boundaries and area of the district proposed to be constituted a borough : (5). That such petition be publicly notified before presentation to the Governor : (6.) That no petition signed by an equal or greater nuuiber of such resident householders is presented to the Governor within two months after the presentation of such first petition, praying him not to assent to the prayer thereof. An expression of public opinion favorable to the proposed change has already been taken together with the preliminary steps for bringing it about. It now remains for the bulk of the ratepayers to finally allow or disallow it by signing or refusing to sign the petition that will be taken to their doors. It seeins to us that there is no very strong opinion required either for or against the assumption by

this township of . municipal privileges and responsibilites. As a community we will doubtless prosper whether we remain a part of the County or become an independent borough., seeing that we have the elements of progress within ourselves. The prosperity of a place does not depend upon the particular set of advantages belonging to any one form of local government so much aa upon the character of the place and of the people in it; and provided the government is of its sort efficient it matters little where the seat of administration may be. But now that a change in the form of our local government has been actually proposed it is a matter of some importance for the ratepayers to determine whether that change is on the whole a judicious one to make. In our last issue appeared a letter on the subject from a gentleman whose opinion is not to be despised. Without attempting to traverse the propositions set forth by that gentleman it remains to be said that he has very effectually weighed down one side of the balance, but without placing the due weights in the other. The cons are considered without the pros, therefore the case is incomplete. If it is clear that by Palmerston becoming a borough certain advantages will be lost, it is equally clear that certain other advantages will be gained, and it is only by comparing the loss with the gain that she can see where her interest lies. The losses that Palmerston will suffer in becoming a borough are all comprised in its virtual excision from the County of Manawatu. It will no longer be a part of the County ; its interests will no longer be represented in the County Council, and its people will have no voice in the election of County Councillors. It will, of course, be remembered that the Riding of which Palmerston is only a small part will still be duly represented in the Council, and will have its County privileges as heretofore. The chief advantages to be set against these losses are that the borough will have absolute control over its own revenue and subsidies, and that such revenue will be largely increased by the possession of an extended area of rateable property, and by the appropriation of license fees which have hitherto passed into another channel. Some persons predict that Palmerston will be likely to suffer by becoming a municipality. Now, if one of the effects of its becoming such be the appropriation to its own uses of that part of its revenue that would otherwise be disbursed for the benefit of the County generally, it follows that it is the County genally that will suffer, while Palinerston will be the gainer, financially at least. We fail to see that as a borough, this township will be in any respect worse off than it is at present. It is a fallacy to suppose that because the County Council has control over a large area it has any very special powers to grant or withhold benefits. Its powers over the County are almost identical with the powers of a Municipal Council over a borough. As a borough, Palmerston will be able to do for itself all that the County Council could do for it had it remained part of the County, and much besides. There will be nothing for it to ask from the County ; nothing for it to receive. It will become independent — self-supporting, — as independent of the County, as far as governmental authority is concerned, as one state is of another. It may be argued that the district in the vicinity of Palmerston, but outside the borough, would suffer. We have already shewn that this district would still be represented in the County Council. Its claims would demand the attention of the Council as imperatively as though the borough did not exist. It cannot be deprived legitimately of such rights as the Council has power to grant, so long as the representation of the ridings remains on its present basis. Certainly the remainder of this riding may suffer a little in common with the rest of the County by the withdrawal of Palmerston revenue from County use. But there is no injustice in this. If the principle of local government be a correct one, the County cannot reasonably charge Palmerston with injustice for carrying that principle out in its integrity.