Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1872. " MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 224, 16 May 1872, Page 4

Tuapeka Times AND GOLDFIELDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1872. " MEASURES. NOT MEN."

The most noticeable features of the present session of the Provincial Council are the absence of public interest in its proceedings, and the exceptionally business-like manner bon. members are setting to work. That dire complaint, caccethes loquencli, so prevalent hitherto, and apparently endemic to the Council Hall, has not yet made its appearance, and it is to be hoped flhat the sanitary influence of public opinion, if it does not prevent it attacking hon. members, will at least modify its virulence. It would seem as if in view of the approaching dissolution of provincial institutions the Council had resolved to spend the remainder of its existence in repenting its errors and misdeeds. We trust this spirit will continue to animate the Council throughout the session, and that in the* discussions which are likely to be occasioned by the Education Bill, the Moa Flat sale, and several other matters, hon. members will not forget the value of time. The principal matters affecting the province generally, that have as yet engrossed the at

tention of the Council, are the Waste Lands Bill introduced in the General Assembly last session, and the Shires Ordinance. The former of these measures, with some amendments, was again approved of and will be again submitted to the General Assembly. The Shires Ordinance was introduced in pursuance of a resolution of last Council. The introduction of this measure is a step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough. As it was presented to the Council it made no provision for the formation of shires in localities other than where Road Boards already existed, but, on the motion, of Mr. Mervyn, the Committee to which the Bill was remitted were instructed to make provision to enable districts outside of Road Boards to form shires. Were such provision not inserted, the Bill would be practically inoperative on the goldfields. One great objection to the Bill is that it does not propose to give shires a permanent revenue sufficient for their requirements. They are to be dependent for a large portion of their income entirely upon the tender mercies of the Provincial Council and the General Assembly. True, it is proposed to give shire councils the proceeds of publicans and other licenses, tolls, «See, raised within their boundaries, but considering that they are to take charge of main roads, bridges, and ferries,

the revenue derivable from such sources supplemented b}' rates would be inadequate to meet all the expenditure they would be compelled to incur. All shires ought undoubtedly to be endowed with a proportion of the territorial revenue. On the goldfields where Rond Boards have not or are likely to be formed, it would be impossible to maintain the system in a state of efficiency, unless some of the goldfields revenue were allotted to shires which might be established within their boundaries. There is much work for such bodies to do on the goldfields — indeed, nowhere in the colony could they operate more beneficially if they had the revenue, which in common fairness ought to be placed at their disposal. But the greatest fault the measure has is that it is not thorough enough. It does not propose to substitute the shire for the provincial system, but to still further complicate our already cumbrous governmental machinery. With the establishment of properly constituted and permanently endowed shire councils throughout the colony, the work that would remain to be performed by Provincial Councils would scarcely warrant their maintenance, even in a greatly modified form. The work could be quite as efficiently performed by the Central Government.

A petition, praying for the establishment of a direct mail service between Lawrence find Waipori, will, we understand, shortly be presented •to the Chief Postmaster. The necessity for this mail service has for a long time past forced itself upon the people of both localities. It seems strange that places having such intimate relations have remained so long without direct mail intercommunication, and its absence has been the cause of much trouble and expense. The places are only some 15 miles apart, yet by the present arrangements all correspondence between them has to pass through Dunedin, or to travel a distance of 120 miles, before it reaches its des-

tination. There might as well be no way of transmitting the mails as this roundabout one, for it is for all practical purposes useless. People prefer to take the chance of sending communications they may have by private hand, or in cases when their business is more than ordinarily important, to go to the expense of having speei.il messengers, or to undertake the journey themselves. The most of the legal business of the Waipori district is transacted in Lawrence, and the expense and inconvenience those interested are compelled to suffer b} T the absence of serviceable mail is something enormous. When to this is added the detrimental influence on general business, and the inconvenience the public of the present mail arrangements, it will be seen that the complaints of their uselessnes^ are only too well grounded. The highly unsatisfactory and unfair nature of the mail arrangements is intensified by their being no valid reasons why they should be so. A weekly or bi-weekly service could be maintained between •the two places for a moderate sum per annum. The amount .of correspondence that would be conveyed, would we are perfectly certain far exceed the cost of transmission, v We ask the Chief Postmaster, in the interests of Lawrence and Waipori, and also in the interests of his department, to establish the mail service in question withs the least possible delay. * i ■ '