The Patea Mail. Established 1875. WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1883. TO-NIGHT’S MEETING.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1041, 30 May 1883, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Established 1875. WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1883. TO-NIGHT’S MEETING.

The Hon. Major Atkinson will address his constituents this evening in the Harmonic Hall, and no doubt will enlighten the electors somewhat as to the intentions of the Government during the forthcoming Session of Parliament. Government has, up to the present, kept its own connsel so well that the most astute newspaper correspondent has been unable to gain the slightest inkling

of the Government policy or the measures to be introduced. It is rumoured that these latter are to be of an unusually startling .character ; and .that, should they not find favour in the House, an appeal to the country will, follow. One or two of the proposed bills have been indicated by the Premier in a letter to the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, notably an amendment in the Bankruptcy laws, which will be in the direction urged by the Chambers of Commerce throughout the Colony. Recent failures upon this Coast leave very little doubt of the necessity for a revision of the Act, and keen interest is felt in the shape the amendment will take. However, to-night we may expect a sketch of the general policy which Government intends to put before Parliament, and we can rest satisfied to receive that information first-hand, and not through the medium of .inspired newspaper correspondents. Local questions'are sure to occupy a large share of the Major’s address. There are one or two matters occupying attention just now, and noon which' some light will be welcome. First there is the Harbour Bill, which the Board requested Major Atkinson to draft. We shall' be glad to hear all about that, its provisions, the proposed new Harbour district, rating powers, etc., and the means for raising money. The improvement of the entrance to the river is daily becoming a matter of more urgent necessity. We have now two steamers trading here ; one absolutely without insurance, and the other • under a throat"that her policy will be cancelled iminediately the time is up. It is not pleasant to think that shipowners must cither abandon the trade or carry their property in their Hand, so to speak ; nor is it pleasant for people here to know that trade hangs upon a thread, as it wbre, owing to the fact that the steamers may be withdrawn at any moment. What we want is the moans to carry out a work to make the entrance safe, and until that has been done, the prosperity of Patea-cannot be said to bo permanently established. When we. consider the vast sums that have been, and are beings expended elsewhere, the. amount we require sinks into insignificance. We have no mad flats to dredge, and there are 12 feet of water on the bar, quite sufficient for our requirements. The problem, therefore is simple —-safety of entrance. The solution of the problem is money, and perhaps Major Atkinson might give us a hint of how to obtain it. Next to the harbour the railway is of the most importance to the district. The people will be glad to hear if it is intended to carry out their wish that the line should be started at Hawera and worked down to the Manawapou. The rate of progress since the commencement of "the'railway.' from Wanganui has been fearfully slow, and it is not too much to ask that a spurt should now be put on and the works completed within a twelvemonth. We are assured that it can be done. But will Government do it? That is what we want to know. Then there is the matter of the route for the trunk railway which interested parties are so busily engaged in endeavouring to divert from the Mokau through a bowling wilderness of pumice plains, dense forests, and bottomless bogs. Information about this is so meagre at present that it will bo interesting to learn the steps that are being taken to test the merits of : the rival routes so that the people may feel assured that the line will run through the land that it will pay best to open up, and not through a barren country merely, to . gratify political parties who seek the aggrandisement of Wanganui town at the expense of the country. While upon the subject of railways, we may mention that there is some talk of running a : branch line from Midhnrst (o Opunake. We are hot aware whether Government has given any consideration to the matter at all, but if so we should like to hear their views. To our mind it would be better to continue the line straight on from Hawera as it would open up a better part of the country, besides being cheaper to construct. We should like to bear an'explanation about that little matter of the £IOOO said by the Gounty chairman to have been promised to the Council, hut which was non est when applied for. We don’t suppose Mr Horner would say the money had been promised, unless such bad actually been the case. Why then was it not paid? Goodness knows, jt is wanted bad enough for the roads are in a wretched state. As Mr Horner said, the Council cannot make bricks without straw, and the. County revenue is quite inadequate to maintain the roads in decent order. This promised grant would have gone a long way towards patting them in repair and the County chairman is indignant that the promise has not been fulfilled. He was told that the Taranaki Roads and- Bridges grant had all been absorbed. Was the £IOOO for Paten “ absorbed” too; nnd by whom? The County Council are also disgusted with the Government over (he Hospital, We believe there is some excuse for payments being delayed, owing to the accounts becoming muddled, but lately they had been made sufficiently clear to warrant the remittance of money from the Treasury to carry on with. Still “ the needful” was not forthcoming, and through want of funds the Council were compelled to abandon control of the Hospital. It is not creditable that Government allowed this to be done by withholding repayment of money which had been advanced by the Council. Oneollier matter which happened recently, occurs to ns, and that is the rumoured grant of five acres of the Pilot Reserve to the Boiling-down Company, The reserve is said not to be vested in the Harbour Board, so that Government has the right to do as it likes with (ho land. But it is freely stated that the portion of the reserve which the Company is to receive includes the site of the Lighthouse and other buildings erected by the Board. We cannot believe that Government would consent to such a transaction, and shall be glad to hear from Major Atkinson that there is no foundation for the rumour.