The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1884.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1141, 19 February 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1884.

The proposal to bring Temuka under the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act, has been lost sight of for some time past. It is useless to review the matter now ; neither can any good be done by referring to the evasive, nonsensical replies that have been received from the Under Secretary, further than to say that they betrayed absolute ignorance on the part of that functionary. The Governor cannot be blamed. Neither petition nor counter petition went beyond the Under-Secretary, and a pretty mess he made of them. He disregarded the law as well as com munications addressed to him from the Borough Committee and followed his own sweet will, with the result that he has to resort to evasiveness and duplicity now to explain his conduct. To tute the town a borough it would now be necessary to get up a fresh petition signed by the people as in the first instance. This would run the risk of having to compete with another counterpetition, and past experience tells what the result of that in the bands cf so enlightened a functionary as G. S. Cooper would be. The first petition, if Mr Cooper had complied with the law, would have been sufficient, but he did not, and we have no certainty that the next one would fare better. We would, therefore, recommend that the Borough should be abandoned, and efforts taken to establish a Town Board instead, This has been our contention from first to last. From the beginning we were in favor of a Town Board, but our advice was not taken, and the result is failure. We have frequently pointed "Ut the advantages that would accrue from bringing the town under the provisions of the Town Districts Act. We have shown that we should have sufficient revenue from license fees, fines, dog tax, etc., to keep the town in order, without having to levy any rates. It is not proposed to take into the town more than what is on the west siae of the railway, and as all the hotels, auctioneers and the Courthouse are within that area, we should have just enough money to do everything necessary without levying r*tes. Next year the Temuka Road Board must levy rates equal to Is in the £ ; they cannot gel on without it. Would it not be better for the citizens of Temuka to have the spending of £350 or £4OO in their own town, than to be paying a rate of is in the £ to the Road Board and have nothing done for them ? We trust that if a petition in favor of a Town Board is taken round the people will sign it without hesitation ; for there can be no doubt, whatever the Borough may do, but that this will bo a ttep in the right direction. One thing we should like people to remember is that if it is to bo done at all it ought to be done at once. The publicans’ licenses and the auctioneers’ license fees will become due in June, and if a Town Board is constituted by that time it will have pretty close on £3OO to start with. If, however, the thing is delayed we shall lose all this money, and we shall have no money until that time twelve months, except such as shall accrue from fines, dog tax, etc. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that steps should be taken at once.