MUNICIPAL CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5123, 24 August 1877, Page 3

MUNICIPAL CONFERENCE.

....'tt; —; r v,~ {KvlLirt ! A Cenferenee of delegates appointed qbyi the several ’ ’municipalities in, the t cqlqny r piet in} oh}thb Ist inat; bn which drijr}there,. , were ;i 'pfes‘erit;—Messrs/, HutbhHbn (Welling-, ton), ’Bamber (Warigariui), 1 Thompson, M!H.R. : , (Balcluthri)/Statidish (New J Pljdnouth), 1 ’ Elleii ; . (Kaiapbi); i Hobbs ’ - (Christchurch), ’ ’ Reyriblds, M.H.R..j;(FortyChalmers);Button; f-M.H.R. .(Napier); Farrell (Blenheim)/Steward(Orimarti);," , Other-/representatives subsequently joined! the,; ~Conference/,offt nchoyveTq A* bin: | !! Mr. Hobbs.was elected,chairman, MrjßiUtch’itioii,' the'Mriyor.pf 'tHe/hoikbf owing! tb pressure }bf . busines?,,. The feasbris' for holding tho Conference wef 0 , thus explaitibd by the bhahni^i~trae'*i^obj’eota. of the i Obrifetohoe' I wefbftb'set before the}Gqy! eramentthe unequal maririer ih-yhioh!'deduc-tions had been’made' from subsidies to municipalities, and te urge, that a refund, should, be. made in certain cases. The. Conference .was .of opinion, that no deductions .should []je .made at all, blit' if [there . were to be: deductions, They} should bo made bn ■ a more equitable, basis of . calculrition, and that the'-maintenance of hospital ‘and charitable 'institutions, should; bT! made a charge on the Consolidated Fund; j The" Conference srit’frbm day to day up to the 7th inst/and disbussed ,the"”vriribns'clauses of the: Municipal Corporations Act," the’"Rriting Act, the financial- arrangements bearing upon

the-points to 'which they- desired to direct the‘atitention of the Government, ) and a , suggesting amendment._The idea (which, we understand. ofigiuated:With'Mr.'Hobbs, of Christchurch),, of holding l this Conference, was )ahd)the expectation that the &ee(;ing.together of so many;men'.all more or less-intimately acquainted with the working of municipalities tb'.dispuss 1 'the vanousd'questidns'.affecting the relations between Borough Councils, the Government,, and- the-Legislature would |be proof . good, results, ,has been fulfilled.; The' Conference has conducted its proceedings, throughout with decorum; and sound sense, and the'Government has oviiiced a .spirit of meet- . mg’. theni , 'fairly) and; : doing ' Syhat th sj_, , can to redress municipal grievances..- There ;s ho 'doubt,"as was 'stated more than once during tlib debates,'that the Bill fdr/tlie abolitionpf : Jh«„pyqyiq.Qes., J \yith; so, large’ a ■jneasuye. pf support (as' it "didi had it. not' been 1 ’'-101;; ■)the')■ promises that ..additional' municipal revenues would accrued under;,tt(e . new-,.state, of -things';,, and;,that,-, to, .some-, extent, i thosei'promises have not been per formed.’ 0 Mr.' ) Keeves , ahd 'Mf. ! ; Swanson re-)' . -spqptively....,, expressed., ; thp,opinion.-,, thp-t., in f Dunedin and Auckland the . people I would gladly'revert 1 to the (old I'eyinic but we' car; 1 tbrdhghpiut.-.tfle, cquutfy.) ;It .must be ibered-that such-an organic' changedn the*Oonstitution of the .colony) es'waa brought about 'by the 'passing" of ’ 'the 4 1 'Act,, Was, .-hardly.likely, to: take.; place without thejdecur-, ,rence,of-.a.feW".“-hitchea,’-’ and .it- really seems" (sqiprising - (that-, there, have , -s<? (few," aha that .under;the’ -new system -things have yorked sq'smoothlyiJa The deputation’ front the Conference which waited upon the Hon. | Major); " Atkinapp and the. Hon, Dr.vPollen on Monday,. have every reason to be satisfied with the re-.. suit.' 1 They Were hot bnly most' courteously' te- • they were sure to be ; but tljey'got nearly all they'asked for, viz , to be furnished with full information an to the deductions made' from subsidies to municipalities ; and 'they were also promised that a Bill would be introduced to 'amend- the Financial Arrangements ~^ctw and. it,o|, make provision Jin certain cases that, deductions should,he made bn the rateable ' value of property! This,' we think) meet, ithe the Conference l and : the {people they,, represent., ■ The .Government, of epprae,) cannot,positively say, that the Assembly,-yjll) assent tb 1 the' proposed alteration ; but; there can be very "little doubt about it, considering that what is asked for is .simply justice! to.,the. seyeral boroughs in the colony, which’ have,; through" an' admitted mistake ,in an Act, been very unequally dealt 1 "with in'.the imatter .of "their-' subsidies; - ; The | man ; ner in . yhich jjtheg .Government so Readily admitted that there had been a mistake made in previous legislation, and that they would endeavor to ’rectify it; instead of beating. about' the bush ' and giving some equivocal answer to "the -‘deputation, is 1 : ih'"6ur opinion highly creditable’ to' -them, 1 'and bears out what their'supportefs have always said’dt them, that -Itbey'are ah honbrable- and straightforward-Set •of-'meh,s;lh'whose-integrity'the'country can) wery satelyputifaith;-' Further action will no doubt be takehi in ;ther House in reference to this; very iimpbrtant! question of ' subsidies, to. municipalities. It is ino doubt perfectly true, - as,was,stated npqre tjian once.-during the de-. one Reason t Act was .so.) readilyblip-) ported by a large 1 septum of,,the, people \ya)s because it was understood that municipalities Should’receive 5 as'a snhsidy : i j£l for'every £1 of rates. If tjieaebodies have received less—and , thisbifflqw; admitted, to be .the*pase-r-thereman be mT doubt that the . implied compact has hot ‘been’ 'carried 1 out; • If, however, the (Assembly ovill suppbft-the'Ministry in bring-.. ing forward'.'BUch amended Bills as n|ay be ,nepessary;,to place thp matter, o jq,a satisfactory footing for the)future) there,will henceforward, ! be hb’fuftb'eir ground of (complaint) ))The CouTerbhce may'certaihly be'conhfatulat'ed .|n (theamount of success they have achie ved)'tb-which theyvare'-.nb dbhbt. to a great extent indebted; ifor;the;sensible, and practical manner in jwhioh they have stated their views; 1 and'-they aW'pyh' 'not'"a~Mttle“tb"the“readihesa with' whiph-the Ministry,,haye.jmet.jthem,half-way, r and thus smoothedaway many difficulties whiph other- ' wise might have been thrown in their path.