The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1876.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 172, 2 December 1876, Page 2

The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1876.

Whilst grateful for small mercies, and glad to have a Harbor Board on almost any terms, we certainly think tiiat the constitution of the Patca Board is about as unsatisfactory as could bo conceived. A correspondent in another column protests against it in earnest terms, but unfortunately complaint at the present time is idle, can effect no good whatever, and we must cither put up with what wo have got or go without altogether. For The information of our readers we subjoin particulars of the constitution of the other newly created Boards, which may be of interest, as showing that Baton has been treated most unfairly and exceptionally.—The Waitara Board is formed exactly as that of Patoa.-—At the Thames the Borough Council elects two members, three lined Boards elect a member each, those persons who have paid port, harbor, and pilotage dn°s during the year preceding' the election return three members, and the Mayor, ex'officio, fills up

the nine. Thus it will be soon Reels ao Government nominee on the Board, and all members arc sent by the public. —At Waimakariri tlio Board is to consist of seven members. Two of these arc to be chosen by the ratepayers of Kaiapo', two by the ratepayers of the Eyre ton .Hoad Board, two are to be appointed by the Governor, and the Mayor of Kaiapoi is, ex ojjicio , the seventh. Thus, live out of the seven in this case are elective.—The Bind' Board comprises the Collector of Customs, for the time being, of the port, four members to be elected by the ratepayers of the borough, and four by ratepayers of the Invercargill Hoad district. In this case there is no nominee whatever, for a per - son so specially tilted for the position as the first named oHi cor, cannot fairly be considered as such.—The Castlepoin.t Board is a simple conversion of the Castlepoint Road Board—of course elective—into a Harbor Board.—For Otago there are to be tea members, two nominated by the Governor, two appointed by the Dunedin City Council, one by the Port Chalmers Borough Council, the Municipal Councils of South Dunedin and St. Kiida, one, the Chamber of Commerce, one, all persons who shall have paid £lO in dues, &c., during the preceding year, .one, regis terod owners of vessels, one, and the Chief officer of Customs. Thus only oue-lifth are nominees.—For the Hokitika Board there are to bo eight members, the Mayor, the Chairman of the County Council, and the Collector of Customs being ex ojjicio members. The other five arc to bo elected by the ratepayers, so there is a total absence of nomineoisui in tin’s case.—The Tim ant Board will consist of ton rn 'inbers, six of them appointed by six Road Boards, four nominated and the Mayer, ex officio. —The Lyttelton Board will comprise tea members, the Mayor, two elected by the Chamber of Commerce, two by the fcjehvyu County Council, two by the ratepayers of the city, one by the ratepayers of the borough, and two appointed by the Government. Our readers will, therefore, see that the exceptional constitution of the Ha tea Board is fully sustained by comparison with others in other parts of the colony. As we have already said present remonstrance wotdd bo perfectly useless, but whe-u the Assembly meets next year, the needed amendments can be asked for, and will probably be obtained.