CITY AND HARBOR.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4413, 12 May 1875, Page 2

CITY AND HARBOR.

Sm,—First of all I have to thank you. for the insertion of and lengthened remarks you have made on my letter in yesterday's issue of the Times, lam pleased to see that you agree with me in the main, though you do not seem to like the idea of a harbor board or of making Wellington a federal city. Certainly’ I can understand if provincialism was abolished, and the interests of the city and harbor were under the management of a municipality capable of taking a large and comprehensive view of its capabilities wants as they arise, I can agree with you that the fewer governing bodies the better. But what is the present state of things? We have a Provincial Government, active and grasping, and having the power to use it to the uttermost in selling and making away with every bit of land that should be reserved for the uses and purposes of the harbor and city, and which takes the money to uphold a system which any dolt ought to see is subversive of the best interests of both. And on the other hand, we hav® a City Council, elected by the citizens, who one and all, on the hustings promised to protect the interests of the city; instead of which, they no sooner gain the honor of a seat and the confidence of the public than they become the supple sen-ants of the Provincial Secretary, and sink into blissful apathy, letting the greatest and best Interests of the harbor and city be sacrificed at the shrine of provincialism, contenting themselves with little peddling things, perhaps best suited to their capacity. You would have thought that the Chamber of Commerce would have taken a different view of these matters, but they have other things in view. The present prosperous state of mercantile affairs absorbs their whole attention, and they reverse the proverb and say “ sufficient for the day is the good thereof:" and, like Gallileo, "care for none of these tilings.” There are good men amongst them who are capable of managing the affairs of the city and harbor, but they never offer themselves for election, nor notice the suicidal way in which things are managed; but when the horse is stolen they will then regret not shutting the stable door. In the meantime I earnestly impress on the ratepayers to look after their own interests, and petition the Government and Council against the sale of the reclaimed land, which ought to belong exclusively to the city, and all profits arising out of it should go for the benefit of the same What benefit has the city received from the largo sale of country lands during the past year? The funds, if spent rightly, were spent for the benefit of the country: the land revenue of the city and harbor, in like manner, ought to be for the benefit of the city and harbor.—l am, Ac., A. CmcKx,