A REVIEW OF THE GOVERNMENT.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 58, 19 July 1879, Page 2

A REVIEW OF THE GOVERNMENT.

.■ ■:■ ... .. jo rpjfjj BpiTOB; '•;■' .'..: ;l Sib^— The market value of- almost everyarticle produced m the Colony has 'fallen to. the very -'--lowest : ebb, whilst on the other hand we are beginning n&w-to ,reap{Boma of tho benefit of the -Public* WorFs policy,' and tp|realise some of the .effects of!.' the. bPrrowed;prosperlt'rof the Wt^'iieveh years. • —in increased taxes., _Wev,haY».pom^ critical period m theiflSairsr. of .the Colony. ; The-Grey Government Has been" weighed' m the balance, apd found wanting m almost. " every requisite of a Government calculated to command the confidence of the country. Another Native.;war threatens, and that it has hitherto been averted is. owing to the. fact— -under Providence— that madman to ; whom the Natives on the West Coast are. tied neck and heel,, is for the' present af- ■•■ fected with a harmless craze, and instead ofdirecting his followers to murder the settlers, and burn their homes, has recklesslythrown bis men wholesale into the anus of his enemies. ? t A '/'"■/ ; ;'. "'■.'. f Another Session of Parliament is on the tapisi and whilst it is devoutly to be hoped that, Sir i George Grey's Ministry Vnth" its! r policv will .become a thingof -the paafc, }-ife must not be forgotten that their- successors m office, will have no easy task m guiding the Ship of State safely through such stormy '"" seas.* - It is* anticipated thatvthe reyenua) will ..'show: a deficit of £400,000, .-and there ' can be little doubt' that" it will- be necessary to make up the deficiency by increased taxation. Will you >llow. me, them, i ait the. present critical time to ventilate an idea or two; with -regard to it. ' First— The present policy of the Gpvera^ ment, m relation to the' G6unty;*^dißtricts j and secondly, the incidence of 'taxation.;? 7. The present policy of. the Government towards the country districts, is the policy of neglect, • s^ere ean'be rio.queation thali th« greatest; requirements of the oountry dis- : iricts (next to railroads, or perhaps even before them),' are roads and;> bridges. ;*BuV hj. this; policy : the. construction -and maintenance -pf these, most important Public. Works are shunted on to the local bodies, and : the Government, ha^^ consistently refuß(jd''ia respond to the numerous and urgent application .for assistance from every part or"; the Colony. The utter futility of such., a policy is apparent to thp mpst dim-sighted country settler Let me give two or three examples of tha, way m which it works : To begin ait '_homt/ the late flood m the Manawatu .did. some ,littla damage; to the bridge leading to Eitzherbert. I have it on the authority -of tha County Engipeer, Mr Hayns, that an out- . lay of £500; on protective: and "other works is absolutely necessary for the,- safety and protection of that bridge' But ; the bridge is made over forbe'tter;or >woraer— very much, .for the worse, I fear— -tp -they Manawatu County Counei\ and tha Borbugli Council. These bodies might aswell be aakecl to spend^sooo as £500 on, the. bridge just now, apd the- consequence! is that perhaps next flpodpart of thestruc-.. . tiire .will, be carried away j and this important work will become a wreck, or. the Co-, lony will have to expend, a; "jhousand or two, m its repair. ; • Another instance of the shiftlessness of. this policy we find m the case of the road, through the Manawatu Gorge. , ; Two ojr. three avalanches from the side of theTarariia, might at any time so destroy this road, that the traffic between the. JEa-t and the. West Coasts would be suspended ; and yefc this road, which is of -Qplomal^rather than local concern, and affecting'the interests ofthe whole country 'from New Plymouth to. .Napier, is thrpwn. entirely f on the shouldera' of the- Manawatu County Council, which, is entirely Unequal to ,the .responsibility. I have before me the New Zealand Mail's. report of an interview^with Mr. Macandrew, in' which a number of gentlemen, represen-* ting- the ; County, Councils oi Wairarapa, and Manawatu, endeavored m vain to pre-! vail on the Minister- of; Publio Works tor provide a Bum of money, for :the repair and , maintenance of- the road through the Forty Mile Bush. This main trunk road, it was. shown; is m a deplorable state— its bridge*: rotting and falling m, and threatening to* ' block theEaßt Coast traffic. The. eßtimat*. oi the sum required .was^-1,663, whilst tha, whole sum that the ' Highways Board could - raise, from all the distrusts' . affected by the, "■ road amounted only to £800," which with the Government subsidy of about £1600, ia. all that the local bodies can devote to this! important line. v . '■ .-•--' '"-•'.-' '.- '■ 7- "'/■'"■■ ; - The „evdl effects of this poiicy aro further seen m the utter, stagnation prevaihngiii^ those parts of the country unopened by roads. A piece, of couptry standing still, though purchased from the Natives, and rer sold to. Europeans, is a'losi | to the Colony, It it so to those, capital is locked up m the*,--; ; purchase of. the land, and also to the Gdv vernment which derives no revenue fronlya' -consuming ~ population. Such a opuhragj,: ..;. —unprofitable to all concerned— ia FitzS^ -"• >-!", Iviu^ to ti*e jSoath, M fai ' -ft*^*^.*?^

Biver.' a rThis unfortunate blockis an exam- I < pie of "all tho woes which befall' a bush I countryleft to itself. Here a paternal Go- -j vernmeht laid and : sold a township ;. some - ten years agb. I This township, rejoicing m ( the name of Eitzberberton, and resting picturesquely under one of the spurs of the Tararua, is to-day a veritable city of the dead,. its busy streets waving with primeval manukaiiarid tohi, and its public buildings repreßehted by one ' or two hope-deserted-lookihg habitations. The whole block is m the same condition,, and the fearful roads through which' travellers have to plunge »,t this time" of the year, aire quite enough to defer settlement to brighter days. T cannot close these remarks on thePubr lie Works more appropriately, than 'by quoting the concluding paragraph from the jttaiTg;, report .: of the interview with Mr. : Ma'eanarew, above referred -to :—" Mr. Macandrew having expressed an opiniou that there appeared to be pretty muddle, the deputation withdrew.'? " Now, Sir, though no supporter or admirer of the Grey Government, I have no wish to lay the blame of this mistaken policy at their doors. It appears to have been a patrimony inherited by .them, from: .their predeceasors; and mmy case, the old proverb about the impossibility of 'getting "the breeks off a Highlandman,!' .will more than account for any delinquencies m this particular. ,V The question" next arises, what is to be done? and it is to be feared that the ominous reply is to be found m the words — increased taxation. Mr Macandrew himself has rung the tocsin, and m the interveiw before referred to, plainly stated that there " must be extra taxation of some shape, for at present the revenue was barely sufficient to meet the ordinary requirements of the colony'" From these considerations, thep, it would seem that the incidence off taxation is oxfe'of the most stirring questions likely to occupy the House , during the present session. . During last session the _Gpvern-r. ment tried- its "prentice hand" on this delicate subject. Out of three schemes of taxation, tw t o fell to the ground, and only one— the Land ; Tax-r^survives. As I Jiave already m a letter to' the New, Zealand Times endeavored to expose what appears ..to me to be the objectionable feature of the Land Tax, I wiliinpt enlarge on this subject, further (hah tb summarise briefly my objections. Firsb^that' the Land Tax is a class, tax, m which all the small -landowners are' exempt at the expense of the larger ones. • Second — that it is based on a wrong- principle, .inasmuch as it supposes a. man to be wealthy m . proportion to the value of his acreage ; which is a mistake, as some mortgagee may be the real owner, and getting the most out of the . hvnd, whilst at the same time escaping free of taxation. Third— -that it is many instances doubly oppressive, as it is a burden on waste land yielding no return to the owner.: MrOrmond, m his address to his constituents has devised a plan for bridging the diffipulty of jthe revenue deficit, which is worthy of notice. ; I quote from the N.Z. Mail:— "The. deficiency m the revenue, which is estimated at £400,000, was not touched upon. He thought the best' way to meet the deficiency was to abolish subsidies ' to local bedies, which would leave a quarter of a piilliop. The deficiency to the local bodies should be. made up by increased rating . powers, by which they could Tate land so that^it should contribute 'its- fair' share .towards workshy which it ia" to be bene- ,, .-.-.;! : .:v ; .:,' : J : ,,; ; 'fitted^^ ; .;■■/-. Generous^thought I .The country diatricts,'' already- heavily taxed, are to be assisted out of their du'ficulties by having *' increased powers given them to tax.lhemsßlves ! This m but another f orm.^pi the Land Tax, f or the, local bodies already raise by far the greaterpart of their re venue by rates levied on the land ;-■■ and. so the weight of the tsolonial difficulty ..ia after all to come on the - shoulders.ofthe unfortunate landowners. ' Asa landowner myself, Ipmst indignantly protest agaipat 'any such, method ot recruitmg the colonial^xchequer ; for, let me ask, ia the unfortunate landowner the" only in-/ dividual who travels the roads, and benefits ,by bridges and ferries ? Is he to be the scapegoat doomed to bear the Government pins of financial bungling and departmental' if so, then, the sooner he ■ and his land part company the; better ; or ' ps a millstope tied rounds his, neck, it will sink him down into the abyss of bankruptcy ! Sir, If fsar that I have greatly overstepneci - the limits of a newspaper lett er of reasonable . |engtb, spTwul close, oontenb for the present "f I have aucceaded m showing a few of the "grievances T apd>..the^requirements of" the - pomntry custricts — Jam, &c, Geoboe J. Bsros. , Palmeraton fc julyl4, lß79.