The Southland Times. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1872.

Southland Times, Issue 1649, 18 October 1872, Page 2

The Southland Times. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1872.

The meeting of delegates from the various Boad Boards of the Southland District, which was held on Saturday last, was tolerably unanimous in con demning the Otago Roads Ordinances, 1871 and 1872, as measures which, if not altogether unworkable, are at least very defective, and altogether unsuited to the circumstances of the country to which they are intended to apply. The annual -value-to-let principle of rating, which is the distinguishing characteristic of the Ordinances in question, came in for a good desil of very severe criticism. Mr M'Abthtjr's motion, that this principle waa objectionable, and that some other mode of rating ought to be adopted if the Ordinance permitted, was received with general approval. So far there appeared to be little difference of opinion among the gentlemen present, but when the attempt was made, by Mr Daletmple, to elicit a declaration in favor of the acreage rate, it was met by the emphatic negative of seven votes against three. It is so much easier to conde nn a principle than to enunciate a new one, which on examination will prove to he better! The conclusion ultimately 'arrived at, that each Board should have power, within its own district, to adopt either mode of rating, or both together, was certainly a successful mode of cutting the Gordiaa knot for the time being ; but we hardly think that such an idea will ever be reduced to practice. The confusiou and injustice to which such a system would give rise must be obvious to every one, on the most cursory consideration of the subject ; and it rvquuvs no unusual gift of prescience to foresee that any measure, constructed on this principle, would occasion more discontent and ill-feeling in twelve months after it waa put in operation, than either o£ the other two plans would in twelve years. "We shall not therefore dwell further on this proposal, than to point out that it seems to have taken its rise from an instinctive feeling re garding one of the main defects of the Ordinances, which we have no doubt was shared by everyone present, though, strangely enough, it was not directly expressed. We refer to the extraordinary manner in which the various districts constituted by the Ordinances appear to have been decided upon. It is nob too much to say that of all the blunders and absurdities with which this precious piece of Provincial legislation abounds, and they are numerous enough and gross enough to make the Provincial Solicitor blush, if that were possible, the schedule defining the various districts, the inhabitants of which are compulsorilj associated together for the common purpose of local road-making, is the crowning exhibition of ignorance, carelessuess, and incom peteucy. We have searched in vain to discover on what principle these districts have been constructed. The first idea that might suggest itaelf to any one who knows how our Provincial legislation is generally managed, would probably be that the Provincial electoral districts had been takeu as a guide. So indeed they seem to have beea to some extent, but not in every case ; and even if* they had, it need hardly be said that such divisions, for road-making purposes, would, in the majority of instances, be about as sensible j as if the Chief Surveyor had bven | requested to rule off the country iuto i squares, after the fashion ot a chessboard. When districts that are not characterised by aoy reference to the physical features of the country, some of them forty miles long, and thickly settled, it may be, in one corner, while the population is comparatively sparse in all the rest, have to elect a tioad. Board to agree on a fair system of rating for the common road system required withiu their boundary lines, we ueed not wonder that a diversity of opinion prevails on the subject. Sotm; ut" the districts are not ouly uu-

wieldy in extent, but contain a variety of properties differing so widely in character and requirements in the way of local improvements, that all attempts to get them to work together on any uniform plan must Tesult in failure. What, for instance, is to be said of the Invercargill District, stretching from the Waiho'pai to the Bluff, and containing properties which may fairly be described as of three sorts — town properties (though outside the municipal bounds), suburban sections, and ordinary rural land ? How would an acreage rate answer in such a case ? Or how are the ratepayers, on whatever principle the money is raised, ever to agree on a fair division of the funds, to suit their widely-differing requirements ? It is evident that neither system of ratins, nor even both combined, could be applied so as to meet such a case. Yet it would not be fair, to conclude that no system of rating sufficiently equitable for practical purposes, could be applied to all the ■ territory comprised within tnat district, if it were otherwise divided. The grand defect in the Ordinances, to which we desire to call attention at present, is the manner in which the districts are constituted. Until that is amended, it is hopeless to expect any important practical results from the measure. Wnen it is amended, the question as to the mode of rating will be more easily solved, and many of the objections, which may now be urged against either system, will then cease to have weight. It ia a sound principle that local taxation should be imposed as much aa possible for special objects, and that it should fall mainly on those whe derive benefit from the accomplishment of these objects. The more nearly this principle is adhered to, the more satisfactory is the working of the local machinery ; but unless the districts are so constituted as to afford all the ratepayers something like a common interest in the works undertaken, it is impossible that it cau be observed. When the districts are properly formed, everything else becomes simple ; and we believe that if this had been attended to in framing the Ordinances, less would have been heard of the theoretical objection to the annual value-to-let principle, namely, that it is a tax upon improvements. In the meantime, a3 nothing can be done in the way of amending the Ordinances till next session of Council, we consider the resolution arrived at by the various Boards, to commence operations under the existing luw, defectiTe as it is, to be eminently practical. Some little progress will no doubt be made in the way of initiating a few of the works most urgently required in the various districts ; and experience will be gained, which will prove of the utmost, value when the Ordinances come to bo.recoasidered.