TOWN IMPROVEMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 966, 10 June 1868, Page 2

TOWN IMPROVEMENTS

(to the editor or the southland tisces)

Sir, — The inhabitants of Invercargiil having neglected to take sfceps to secure for it a Municipal Council, it is only fair to conclude that local self-government is at a discount. Under these circumstances it may be presumed that the responsibility of keeping the streets in a passable condition is thrown upon the Government. Has the Government accepted the responsibility ? To a certain extent it has. The prisoners have been for some time usefully employed in cutting and cleansing drains, and otherways improving the streets ; and this is evidence that it has taken the improvements of the town under its control. The question , then arises, what are the intentions of the Government ? Is it only to make such improvements as can be executed by four or five prisoners, and leave all but a few spots in their present, state of mud, broken drains, dilapidated crossings, and dangerous pitfalls ? From what has yet been done, this would appear to be the policy. This should not be. If the Government has not the mean 3to extend operations, why not bring the "Town Improvement Ordinance" into operation ? The east end of the town is in a positive state of bog ; it is next to impossible to take a conveyance through any of the streets running eastward beyond Kelvinstreet, and even foot passengers cannot move out after dark without running the risk of sliding into a quagmire from which they might never bo extricated. In the east end of Esk-street the main drains have caved in, the flow of water Btopped, private property inundated, property being continually destroyed, and life jeopardised, and many other localities are equally bad.

It is scarcely reasonable to suppose that under present circumstances the G-overnment can do all that is required to improve the town ; but it is in their power to come to some conclusion as to what they can do, and let the public know what that is. If they have found that the " Town Improvement Ordinance" is inoperative, and that they have no power to levy taxes for such purposes, why not make "the fact known, and state distinctly the amount of supplementary aid that can be given to those parties who are willing to tax themselves for the repairs required in the localities in which they live ? This is all that the majority of the inhabitants ask. What they most desire is that the G-overnment should say distinctly what it is prepared to do, in order that they may be in a position to know what they are required to do themselves. There can be no two opinions as to the necessity for action being taken, and that without delay. It is certain that the labor of the prison gang is totally inadequate to accomplish the work that is urgently required to be done, and therefore, if the Town Board is absolutely defunct — a question, — and the " Town Improvement Ordinance" a dead letter, it is the duty of the Government to initiate some other system whereby the preservation of works of value already done may be preserved, and other improvements made. — Tours, &C., Alf LSTTERCJ KGILTiITE. June Bth, 1868.