Poverty Bay Standard. PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY. SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1881.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 953, 18 June 1881, Page 2

Poverty Bay Standard.

PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY. SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1881.

Re shall sell to no man Justice or Right; We shall deng to no man Justice or Right; JI e shall defer to n<r man Justice or Right.

Possibly our local governing bodies will now agree with us that it is a pity Poverty Bay did not send a representative to the “ Local Bodies’ Conference,” which has been sitting in Wellington during the last two or three weeks. If the object to be attained was merely one of a “ pet idea,” or the infusion of some local project into the fundamentalism of the system of local Government, we could understand the refusal to cooperate with the other bodies in the Colony; but when it is considered that the real object of the Conference was one of the utmost importance, and set at work at the very root of local self-government, we think that Poverty Bay is behind the times, and will be, in future, not much sought after, when questions of a like nature are under discussion.

We have not a full report of all the sittings of the Conference ; but from what we have seen, the members of it are working mightily to bring such an influence to bear on the Government and the House, as will, doubtless, be productive of much good. Mr. Gisborne, in addressing the Conference said, by way of illustrating the importance of the movement on foot, that if all the local bodies had sent Delegates to the meeting, the Conference would have consisted of between 500 and 600 people ; and in urging his opinion on the meeting said “ the various questions under “ consideration were of vital import- “ ance as to the future governing of “ the Colony. The local self-govern- “ ment, as at present constituted, he “ looked upon as a mere sham.” Many of the speeches made were of a very energetic character, and all tended one way—to press upon the House the absolute necessity there is for removing those shams, and for giving the people something more permanent and satisfactory than now obtains; and it would have given us supreme pleasure to have seen it reported that the Poverty Bay Delegate made his voice heard in siding with those who said that their districts Had received very little justice from the present Government. If the country districts were to struggle on as of late years, the colony would never progress in the way it should, for the prosperity of the colony, the country districts should show a far greater state of progression than the last census returns gave. In the Manawatu district there were thousands and tens of thousands of acres of land lying idle, and would remain so, simply because there were no roads for communication. If the Government would not do what they desired, at any rate, some steps would be taken whereby the people would be enabled to do it themselves. There was not a colony in the world possessed of better climate and richer land than New Zealand. A large portion of their land was lying idle, and the colony was not keeping her population. Numbers of men—the bone and sinew of the place—were leaving us and going to a worse climate and worse place generally, but they go there simply because other governments give them more facilities for building up homes for their families. These people who have been leaving New Zealand in such numbers lately would never have left if the Government had given them greater facilities and better hopes as to the future prosperity of the colony.

We have here the exact representation of facts existing in other places in the Colony, as in our own district. If Poverty Bay is substituted for Manawatu, we find an exact representation of the troubles from which we are, and have been suffering, and, we repeat, it is a pity we are not represented in the Conference. The following resolutions, amongst others, were passed as forming the basis of the recommendations to be made to Parliament: — t That this Conference is of opinion that the position of local bodies throughout New Zealand is such that they cannot satisfactorily fulfil the objects for which they were established, unless some legislation takes place which will place them in a better financial position. That, by the withdrawal of the subsidies and land fund, without any substitute for the assistance so withdrawn from the local bodies, the effective settlement of the country districts in New Zealand and thereby of the whole Colony has been retarded. That it is an imperative necessity to provide out of the proceeds of the sale of any block of Crown lands a fund which shall be sufficient to complete the roads within such block within a reasonable time. That it is abso’utely necessary to have some assistance in the shape of subsidy to be given to local bodies to enable them to coin-

plete the construction of the roads within districts hitherto sold by the Government, and wholly or partially settled, the Government having failed to provide for these necessary works out of the proceeds ef the sale of such districts in times past. So far the work of the Conference had been conclusive, and, according to our last advices, the following notice of motion was tabled : —

[l]. That Crown lands should be rated, and the proceeds equitably distributed among local bodies ; [2 J that County Councils be subsidised by the Colony at per mile of main roads maintained by such Council; [3] that the County Council Chairmen be, ex officio, members of the Waste Land Boards having jurisdiction over Counties ; [4] that the 20 per cent, of land revenue taken away by the Financial Arrangements Act, 1880, should be restored to County Councils.

Under all the circumstances, the Manawatu County Council, with which the project originated, is entitled to the thanks the Colony.