ROXBURGH.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 293, 11 September 1873, Page 6

ROXBURGH.

(Fro.ii an Occaawnal Correspondent.) 1 do not know whether you agree with the nxioni that " communities are yov >vned -as \vt»U t\s they dwyve to W It niny he tms in the abstract, l>ut cer-5-thiiy nob when applied to the integral pasts. However, the latter appears to he the maxim adopted by the present Provincial Government for their guidance in administering portions of the revenue. This district has come in for a special share of spoliation and at the hands of- successive Governments. Not content with depriving \t of its choicest lands --the sacrifice of which they have admitted sived the province from bankruptcy — they now $dd to a long course of in jn ties l i y depriving, the district of a Resident Magistrate and Warden. Tf this step could be defender! on the grounds of practical eeonomv, there .then would i:tt. oue extenuating circumstance in adoption; but apart from ihe vexatious less aud inconvenience to %he residents, it will assn redly entail a very considerable loss to the revenue as \ye,H. Mi 1 . Borton, who filled" the positions ?f Clerk to the Bench, R.M, and Wai-den for the. past six years in this has rt-tirefj from the service of Che, Government, to th« great regret of ijhe kw abiding portion of' the coniuii\nity. T think it. no compliment to y^y a /iid^lscrate to describe him as upright a.ud impartial, for all magistrates o£<»1jI to be so as a matter of' coin se ; l;n>t il h no uncalled for eulogy of Mr. £pjton to s;iv*> t.h.-ifc by his rempvat we

magistrate, the example of a consistent, unselfish, and high -principled genrleman, utterly incapable of self-seeking or of practising the finesse which men holding similar appointments too often exercise to secure their position or promotion in the service. Alread\ the want of a resident Warden and R.M. is becoming sensibly felt, and well founded complaints are beginning to be heard on every side. I am aware of one case where a gentleman, who is reported to have pegged out a claim in the vicinity of Waikaia for an extensive gold mining company, to be flouted under the Joint Stock Companies Act, travelled via Switzers, a distance of nearly 100 miles, to take the initiatory steps in the Warden's Court here ; but found, much to his chagrin, no body to transact his business. An intending applicant for a saw mill license and three miners from the same locality, having crossed 'the snow-clad ranges at great personal risk to do business in the Warden's Court, were, served in a similar manner, I could multiply instances of disappointment experienced by people crossing from Horseshoe Bend, Millers Flat, Crookston, and other places, who were in tofca.l ignorance of the removal of the AVardpn. It seems to me that the smallest thing the Government could have done under the circumstance would have bepn to give timely notice of the contemplated change, and so save an unnecessary amount of expense, trouble, and honest exertion. While on the subject of our grievances, T may state, on the authority of persons who are generally well informed, that the vote of £4500 for road. Lawrence to Roxburgh, is to be entirely spent in the neighborhood of the former cicy,and theitem£lsoo for road, Roxburgh to Alexandra, id to be spent exclusively in the immediate vicinity of the latter municipality — Roxbm-gh being ominously excluded from participation in the benefits arising from the expenditure of these votes. The £1000 for a foot bridge across the Molyneux at Roxburgh is, I understand, shelved for the present, so that the unfortunate denizens of Mount Benger will not have a penny of public money expended in their midst during the ensusing 12 months. Here is a large and populous district, contributing to the revenue a much larger quota than any other goldfield—Lawrence perhaps excepted — absolutely governed free of expense. Seeing that we cost nothing to govern and are such considerable contributors to the revenue, I venture to suggest that the Government ought in all fairness to remit a portion of the taxation we groan under, and thus demonstrate the fallacy of the assertion that here we exist only to be taxed. It has been suggested that all this might have been different had we proved less refractory at the late election, and returned a member who would have voted "straight" for the Government, in every emergency. Now we must endure with such Spartan stoicism as we can muster the chilling " winter of our discontent," without, I ara sorry to say, any prospect of alleviation, unless indeed in the exercise of a magnanimous clemency and patriotic self-abnegation the present Executive wipe out the remembrance of our past contumacy. This is a noble path, but little trodden by our rulers «s yet, and I cordially recommend them to try it. I hear that a numerously signed petition has been forwarded, praying the Government to continue to the district the services of a Resident Magistrate and Warden, and, if the "man in the street " is to be believed, not without hope of success, if we exhibit satisfactory contrition for our past obduracy. Indeed rumor goes so far aa to give a name to the gentleman who is to occupy the position as our future R.M. and Warden ; but it would be astonishing if it proved correct in this instance. Looking at all our circumstances, I think it is safe to conclude that Mount Benger is set d,own on the Government map as a "disaffected district" and a I cordon drawn round it, beyond which no ray n£ <3-ov<»rnmen.fc sunshine is permitted to stmy. We have now been a long time in political quarantine, let us hope that we will ere long be admitted to pratique. In conclusion, T can only exclaim in the words of a distinguished author, | '• Where is the coward who would not die for such a country 1"