The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1877.

Patea Mail, Volume III, Issue 256, 22 September 1877, Page 2

The Patea Mail. PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1877.

Opinion Is almost unanimous in this district that tlie constitution of the Patea Harbour Board should'be altered, and as it is known that an amended Bill is about to be brought before the Assembly, the. matter has been very generally talked about, and vaiious suggestions have been made ns to how the Board should in future be constituted. In response to application from Major Atkinson for ■ suggestions, the Harbour Board, at its last meeting, adopted a resolution expressing the opinion that the Board should be constituted as follows nominated by Government, the Chairman of the County Council, two members of the Carlyle' Town Board, and one member elected by each Riding in the County,” thus making up the number to seven. The suggestion of the Board is acceptable in many quarters, as being a considerable improvement oh the Act now in force, and, indeed, by many, as entirely satisfactory. It dues not, however, meet the wishes of the bulk of such country people as take an interest in the matter: a number of Carlyle townsfolk also have objections to urge. Country people consider that altogether too much power is given to Carlyle. The Board, as constituted under the present Act, is undoubtedly unsatisfactory —“ Three members nominated by Government, the Chairman of the County Council, the Chairman of the Town Hoard, and two members elected by the Town Board.” The Chairman of the County Council, happening to bo a resident in town, is counted, whether rightly or wrongly, as being against country people's interests. The same gentleman being also Chairman of the Town Board, and by right of office member of the Harbor Board, and having also been elected Chairman of the Harbor Board, tire wrong is looked upon as very great. It is seldom any gentleman is so popular in any district as Mr Sherwood appears to be, judging by the number of important elective public offices he holds. That, indeed, scorns to be the chief ground of objection to the present arrangement. The fact of one man holding so many important trusts is by some people deemed a grievous sin, ami one of the strongest reasons why chairmanships to different public bodies should not carry a right to scats on Harbor Boards. It is urged that, except fur the tax on time such compulsory membership of another Board entails, it might be possible, for instance, to get a more qualified gentleman to act as Chairman of the County Council. That, of course, is a matter of opinion. Out of twelve Harbor Acts or amended Acts passed during last session, no less than nine are so framed that the Mayor or Chairman of a Town Board, as the ease may be, is of necessity a member of the Harbor Board, la two other cases, the Bluff and Otago, the Collector of Customs stands in the place of Mayor or Chairman of Town Board. In the other case—Castle Point—the Road Board is, for the purposes of the Act, constituted a Harbor Board. Other Acts passed in previous sessions endorse the principle of making the Mayor or Town Board Chairman ex ojjlcio members of Harbor Boards. Both Houses of Assembly appear to have been agreed that the holder of the important office of Mayor of a Borough, or Chairman of a Town Board, would be best qualified for a seat on the Harbor Boai'd, where such existed, on the ground, possibly, that having been elected in the first case by the people to represent them, and afterwards by the roproscntativo'body as the ablest or fittest man to preside over their deliberations, he must, of necessity, be the best person to select for member of any Harbor Board. We incline to think that in this district the real objection is to the holder of the particular office, rather than to the mode of election or nomination. Briefly stated the following is the constitution of Boards in Harbour Bills passed last session :—Patea, Foxton, and Waitara, arc alike, with seven members each, viz., Chairman of County Council, and Chairman of Town Board (ex officio members), three Government nominees, and two members elected by the Town Board; Wanganui (nine members), the Mayor, .Chairman of the County Council, Collector of Customs (ex officio), six elective —four to be qualified for membership of Borough Council, and two qualified for membership of County Council t, Hokitika (eight members), Mayor, Chairman of County Council, Collector of Customs, five qualified for Borough elected by burgesses: Lyttelton (ten members), Mayor, two Government nominees, seven elective—two by Chamber of Commerce, two by Selwyn County Council,' two by ratepayers, of Christchurch, one by ratepayers of Lyttelton : Timaru (eleven members), Mayor, four Government nominees, six elective —one by each of six Road Boards: Waitnakarhi (seven members), Mayor, two Government nominees, two elected by Borough of Kaiapoi, two by Eyre ton

Road Board: Bluff'(nine members), Collector of Customs, four elected by ratepayers of Borough, four by ratepayer's of Invercargill Road Board: Thames (nine members), Mayor, two elected by Mayor and Borough Conned, three llojfd Boards elect one each, remaining f-hree by persons who have paid at least £2 port dues during year; Otago (ton members), Collector of Customs, two Government nominees, two to be appointed by the Dunedin City Council but not members thereof, one to be appointed by Port Chalmers Town Council but not a member thereof one each by South Dunedin and St. Kilda Municipal Councils not members, one to bo appointed by Dunedin Chamber of Commerce. In addition to the above the Otago Act provides that one person may bo elected by payers of Harbour dues up to £l.O, and one by persons resident, in Otago being registered owners of vessels. It will bo seen that the object aimed at is to give persons residing in places most immediately interested the largest share of representation. In the case of Timaru, whore there is £106,000 or more of government money at stake, there are no less than four Government nominees. It seems only lair that residents nearest to proposed harbour works should have the balance of representation. While not much inclined to cavil at suggested constitution agreed to by the Harbour Board, wc are inclined to think that the following, among other suggestions made, would be more generally acceptable—“ One Government nominee, the Chairman of the County Council, the Chairman of the Carlyle Town Board (or in case of the Chairman being already a member of the Harbour Board, some other member to be nominated by the Town Board), one member to be elected by the ratepayers of Carlyle, two to be elected by the Otoia Riding (as being the largest riding and nearest to proposed harbour works), and one each bv the Hawora and Waverley Ridings.” Giving an elective member to Carlyle would enable gentlemen to come forward who would take special interest in harbour works, and bo well qualified to oifc on the Harbour Boant, who would yet strongly object to represent ratepayers in the Town Board. Considerable expense attaches to the election as against the nomination of members, which, in a thinly peopled district like Patea, ought not to be lost sight of. While thoroughly in favour of the principle of election, we question if sufficient general interest would bo taken to make elected members truly representatives of the majority of the ratepayers. The opportunity should be afforded to the ratepayers of the County and of the Township ot Carlyle to elect Harbour Board representatives—failing to do so, Government should exercise full power of nomination.