The Opunake Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1895. COUNTY MANAGEMENT.

Opunake Times, Volume II, Issue 64, 12 February 1895, Page 2

The Opunake Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1895. COUNTY MANAGEMENT.

The question of merging has been before the ratepayers of Waimate for a number of years, and .two attempts have been made to carry it but have apparently failed. One of the leading arguments has been that all the other parts of the county were under one management and everything worked smoothly, and the ratepayers were perfectly satisfied. This appeared a very strong argument, and if true it would in reality be so. Recently, however, evidence to the contrary has cropped up. The Eltham Riding ratepayers have reached the limit of endurance of the single control as exercised by the County, and at a public meeting held at Eltham a few weeks back a motion favoring the formation of a Road Board was passed unanimously. The main reason adduced why Road Board management should be reverted to was that under County management the bye-roads were neglected and all attention paid to the main road. We are not at all surprised at this, for the simple reason that it is absurd to expect one man to make himself conversant with all the requirements of such a large district as the Eltham Riding. It has a valuation of £166,000, and a very large area with numerous roads, and it would pretty well occupy one man's time to keep a continual watch over them. The riding has a most energetic member in the Council in Mr Quin, but to pay the attention to the roads which ratepayers require would fully occupy his time to the detriment of his own business, and this could not reasonably be expected from any man. Under Road Board management, on the contrary, there would be seven or nine members whose services are given gratuitously, and if chosen from different parts of the district they would be in a better position to advise as to the judicious expenditure of the ratepayers' money, as in the ordinary course of their business they would become conversant with the requirements of the settlers on the various bye-roads. It, in our opinion, was never contemplated by the Legislature that County Councils should undertake the management of the hundred and one minor matters of management which Road Boards have to deal with. The Government talk of bringing in a local Government Bill next session, and there are some who expect that it will be in the direction of consolidating the numerous local bodies in such a manner as to do away with small local bodies. These people also look forward to such a measure as a benefit, and are prepared to laud the Government for the promise, whilst nearly every other thing done or proposed by the same Government receives their severest censuro. We are quite satisfied that if the Government should endeavor to pass any measure curtailing local government that they will raise such a storm from one end of the colony to the other that they will be glad to drop it like the proverbial hot potato.