The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1876.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 148, 9 September 1876, Page 2

The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 1876.

Should no unexpected attack from an unguarded quarter prove fatal to the now Ministry, before the session closes, it may be fairly assumed that the policy lately enunciated by the new Premier will be carried out, chief amongst which may bo deemed complete abolition, and no compromise, as far as the acts of the last Parliament in that direction went. At the same time, though Major Atkinson and his colleagues may bo congratulated on so far insisting on the late Ministerial programme, they have yielded very largely to the Opposition, the Otago contingent especially, in promising to permit very considerable modification in (ho Counties Bill, as far as making it essentially and wholly a permissive measure, one providing rather for monster Hoad Boards than the purely County system. Counties will, in fact, be solf-i-roatcd bodies, if the Premier’s promises arc carried out—bodies that must be called into existence by petition from ratepayers within their proposed boundaries, just as Borough Councils arc at the present time. Possibly, if the rigid conditions of the Abolition Act aie pre-siM-vcd, this will not materially matter, for the “ unconntied” districts, if we may be permitted to coin a word for the occasion, .will find their existence, with Provincialism gone, so intolerable as to bring about speedy repentance for any obstinacy of the kind. Petty local i alousies, already prevalent enough, would be intensified a hundredfold, wore there- only the various Road Boards left to deal with local public works within

their, in many cases, very circumscribed limits. Hitherto, Pioviucial Executives have supplied the want of a superior governing body, but with their destruction must be introduced something to supply their place. It is true that niany questions which hitherto have been referred to them might ami will have to be submitted to the General Government for arbitrament but those will bo so numerous that it is hardly likely they can bo effectually attended to with anythinglikc reasonable despatch, if at all, and wo are greatly mistaken if those, at present most obstinate, will not b; amongst the first to admit that, with the altered circumstances of the Colony, new administrative machinery, to meet them, will bo universally required. Tins, however, has yet to be proved, and time only will toll. The concessions made will, no doubt, have the effect of very materially facilitating the passage of the mutilated measure, as under them, the. Macamlrew following will not offer active opposition. It may be therefore assumed that a Counties Bill will very shortly become law', and what course the Patca County should then take becomes a question of very serious consideration to its residents. A modification of the originally proposed boundaries of the tlurty-ninc counties is tolerably certain, but, to use Major Atkinson’s own words, each county will be mapped out, so that, if it thinks fit, it can at once take advantage of the proposed measure, on the latter becoming law'. It is very likely that the Patca County may bo shorn of some of the fair proportions that it exhibits in the schedule of the bill na introduced, through the exertions of Taranaki representatives'on the one hand, and Wellington members on the other, but in any case w T e may expect MajorJ Atkinson’s good offices to bo so far and so fairly enlisted as to prevent the boundaries from being unreasonably or absurdly circumscribed. As wo have previously shown, they have been most judiciously laid out, remaining as they arc, and a powerful and important county would bo created by those limits being maintained, whilst any material curtailment w*ould only servo to constitute several petty counties, whose influence for good must bo greatly affected for the worse by their very diminutivoncss. At meetings held within the district, it has already been clearly show'll that the proposed comity met with favor. It is only ressonablo therefore to assume that the Government proposal has been endorsed by the inhabitants, and that whatever he the course taken by portions of Otago or other provinces, County government, on abolition being completed, will bo recognised as the boon it must undoubtedly be. The cliccts of distant government buve already been felt by the settlers here and elsewhere, and even giving all credit for good intentions, such administration lias been most unsatisfactory to those most materially concerned. It is not hard to come to the conclusion that tho people of the Patca district and county will gladly avail themselves of tho privilege of managing their own affairs, as soon as it is placed within their roach, but it is above all things necessary that tho county, as eventually resolved on, should not be cut down to the size of a Road Board, and to prevent such misfortune some active measures should bo taken to strengthen Major Atkinson’s hands in preserving the limits already laid down. How this can bo best effected is a question for all to consider, but wc would suggest that public meetings be called at all the principal centres of population affected, and petitions for the preservation of suggested boundaries bo adopted by those who arc satisfied with the same. These, if speedily sent in, would undoubtedly considerably influence the decision of any committees that may sit the result of winch would unquestionably be to make the Comity of Patca one of the most flourishing and influential throughout the Colony of New Zealand. Surely such a consequence of a little energetic exertion should be inducement enough to the most apathetic to enter heart and soul in the, matter, amt we hope that tho subject will meet with the earnest and prompt attention that its importance demands. ’ By taking prompt stops the projected Patea County will be extensive, rich, and prosperous; by allowing interested legislators to cat and carve it at their discretion without protest, will be to dwindle it into insignificance, and reduce it to contempt. In a very groat degree the future fate of the people, in this respect, remains in their own hands.