The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1881.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 819, 14 July 1881, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1881.

. e—■ — &. fsVfß appears in another column on ,iibe Registration Act. it is well Known of County West differed |s|o Jjhj expediency of working tbe present let k this district, and the majority of tftein [ shelved it, in spite of a protest from; Mr Coleman Phillips, who led th : ,siso/:jty, As far as we understood Mr the time, it appeared to us that whether an Act |be good qr :b(ifl ( we jp bound to flbey that Gjf# jgofit of ;high treason in .ev'adfng its is no douM my flight.; h,ut;in practice colonists will 'not accept \pi\r 'loosely | made, ill-fitting legislation a.s purei gospel, and as a rule an Aetjs re?pe.e-j ted when it is a reasonable one, and laughed at when, as frequently is the case, it is a blunder, Then, again, MiPhillips has reminded us of the damage wild dogs are now doing to $tQ/i)f, but as favas we can see the pre--B,e#f; 4st js insufficient to check this. We ag«psis Mr Phamzyn that the existing Act&a (faille, and that the 800iner £. more suitable .qne fy phiced on the astute book the exemption ,qlause referring to\rs>bjt< dogs in (t<he presenjt measure has! already led to tjie w¥]itjhjdicasion .of x wild dogs in this district, .and .shoujld b.e. swept away. The ten.-shilling tax js an iniquity which justifies a faiivniimied man in condemning the measure in Mo. Even in a town, like Masterton itis the most unfair rate we ever saw levied. flrown pays 10s for his little, dog—Jones and Kobinson, wiser in their, generation, pay nothing at all.

About one-third, of the dogs ■in the town avo registoreil, ami tlio : Boivugh Council probably, spend 1 the revenue arising therefrom in constructing roads and footpaths, ]t is quite time that when tlie: Legislature. levies-a dog tax it should--;provide that the 1 revenue therefrom should be expended in mitigating the liuifiince/which the Act is intended to deal with. The Act,' as it at present stands, give wild dogs power to worry sheep, and local bodies powor to Worry ratepayers. If the'Go'vern : ment will give Counties an Act' that can be fairly carried out among all classes of'settlers, there - will 110 longer be any difference of opinion as to the expediency of working it.

On Tuesday last Major Atkinson moved the second reading of the Crown and Native Land Rating'Bill. Ho defined, in doing so, the real wants of the country to be—lst, a simplification of its present local governing bodies; 2nd, an amplification of means for carrying out w6rking details. He claimed that the Government were on the road to decentralise everything. Speaking of Waste Lands Boards he said that the Government had in contemplation the abolition of such Boards, and were considering the advisability of investing in County Councils the administration of lands. This is a change wo have long advocated, and we trust to see it given effect to. He described the Government proposals as an actual sevorance of partnership between the General Government and tho local bodies. It was decided, he said, referring to tho relationship between Road Boards and Counties, to give Counties power to collect- rates for Road Boards, and, if expedient, expend them. It was also proposed to delegate to the Counties the power of defining Road Board boundaries. Local bodies, too, could use the Property Tax Assessment us a substitute for their own valuations. Tho present system of elections was-too expensive, and an alteration would be made. He thought, too, that Road Boards, as far as possible, should form the electoral divisions of Counties. In conclusion he asked to be allowed to point out again the lines upon which the Government were travelling in respect to local government. There were two demands—one for money, and the other for the extension of powers as far as practicable. With regard to the first, the Government had proposed a practical scheme, and in regard to the second they propose to make the Act so elastic, and so delegate powers to the people that they might exercise their own choice in the adoption of their own system of local government; in fact, the entire decision would be relegated to the people of each district. Sir George Gkey, in reply, talked the usual nonsense. He likened the colony to a spider's web overladen with flies so much so that the spider would not repair it. The local bodies, he said, had been supplied with subsidies so long and so much tjiat tjiey will no longer help themselves. IJe qompared the comjtryeonstft upnp.iea to people in p, desert j wailing for' water,£tid to jvhoin scant sup-; plies were doled aijt jij byckfitfuls, Mi under whose feet was running a perennial | spring and it was the duty of tfte Goyorn- j ment to show them how to utilise it. ! Notice has been posted in the Masterton Institute stating that the building will be closed at 4 p.m. on Friday. This somewhat unusual announcement is exciting adverse comment in certain circles. The facts of the case, as far as we can ascertain, are as follows : 'The committeehave been offered a substantial sum for the use of the building for the evening in qtjiefjtion, and considered that it was to the interests of the institution to comply with Al),e known 'tl)gt '.th,e Jjty-aiy is indifferently supplied with boo(t?, ans the pgading room poorly Juroished wiJJi papers, iu coiisequeiico of the irrjpecuniosity of the institution. Of course, an occa-j sional windfall like tho present one would be a great help both to the library and reading room, and the committee may be credited with having acted for the bpst in furthering the interests committed to tl)f f r jfarc, There are some who are endeavoring,#) Jsr up ft class feeling over the matter, Jt is very easy-in « 1 community to make mischief in tjiisway. . have ourselves no sympathy jyifh" tli'ilse who resort to such mischievous tactics.! Wq need hardly say that the committee of the Institute is equally willing to place it at the disposal of any section of the community on the same terms that it is !#j; on the present occasion,