MASTERTON DEBTING SOCIETY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 997, 11 February 1882, Page 2

MASTERTON DEBTING SOCIETY.

Thbrk wasa good attendance of members at the meeting of the Society last evening. v Mr Grundy; ; the President, oppwpip4 the '.§°!3?'R?S!}ffljl? ar y tpving been iftsjjbaw of, Spr Birk "VeiicJ his qssay nn ge pli|jn)ed tfiat the ailbjegt was likely to emw. fo be the allabwrbing question of the day, and that the result of the next scion's legislation on it would influence the-dfistlnles i.f the colony for maiiy yim Prior to 1875 lie stated the Provincial Executors administered nflt only their own local acta but mn'nyof iTta&enoraJ ooyp.rnnißjit measures, arid. 'tne' general government were 'ffrtvi'ded for, they received amongst tjiem tjie surplus revenue °f tf[9 cijlojjy, • Tj)g ; pilt)lio ! wdrka soheme of Sir Julijja the relationship <siatin'g between tlie General and froyi|)cial govefynjenta. It was :wp4 HPPfijWy tf) ipajio'tlye'lpt) revenue ppfpni.?} a proyjfjglal fund, •and this prop being withdrawn from the provinoDß they col'spsel Ppior to 'this the prosneot of a large loan (or public'worka raised the value of waste lands .which were previously unsaleable, and the Government took advantage of (hid tfi" flf thejr eotflta recklessly 'to fill thd Prflvinglaf ap spread a bright aureni o'i ths 9?niri>>s; tiny' 9' of Provinoialißm. ' To tost'the value of the •Provincial system it was necessary to go barit prior to the time of inflation. Taking the position f)f fchg Proyincea in 1870, ,Otagi''ahdpanterbun/wefe''the only ope a which weresacceis/ufiinder the Provincial System, a fid these two'PrdVinceß SNffflfy were invariably negjo||'af' 1 ?i)d' found'it nectary (() frolii 'tfiem. Several of the Provinces'became paupers subsisting on the funds of tlie General Government. There was but little money SWi'flfclg fpr fyjdge-malaiig.' rna'd-making, and flttr?eyipg, pd in tf|p %fli Islpd 'the_ beat land was in tlie bands of the natives. Were Provincialism revived it <!ould ;not exist on its former basis—land is year by yearbecoming in Bum, The railways, too, .ljayjD broken-down the natural bprriera which formerly rendered Goygrniijent from Provincial extension, 'too, of telegraph l and poatsj

. "ommunication makes the work of admiuia--1 tration from one c<mtrc easier than it ,was in old times. The Provincial system could not.be revived without direct taxation to support its official staff, and to this the people would, not consent. With the abolition ;of; Provincialism a less expensive and pretentious local self-govern-ment substitute was required, and counties were constituted, He -expressed an opinion that when the County, Act. was framed the Legislature contemplated through linos of railway in both Islands, and that had this cardinal feature ili'the' scheme of Julius Vogel have'been carried out, the work of. County government would have been much simplified. The main trunk lines were essential to the Buccess'of the County system. He then briefly sketched the aalieut points of the Counties and High way Board Acts, shewing the various powers possessed by these bodieß. Taking the River Boards, which were rating bodies, into consideration, he pointed out that within counties there were no less than: three rating bodies levying over the same properties. He next alluded to the Government subsidies paid under the Financial Arrangements Acta of 1866, and the powers which the Government possessed, when under the Public Works Actj-of • delegating certain specified works to counties, but such works were clearly Government works, and the Counties could not take credit for them. The questioirto be faced next Parliament, he said, was the portion of land revenue, and consolidated fund which would he assigned to local bodies. From the tenor of the Counties Act it . was evident that Counties were intended to supersede Road Boards, but the anticipation had not been realised. The come' quenco was in many districts two antagonistic bodies existed which were doing the same work. People did not .complain as long as the Government supipiie:d the funds, and the counties did not .levy a rate, but when dual rates were j demanded a nhange would take place. Underlying the whole question of local government was that of ways and means. The first thing to be provided for was roads to outlying districts, and these had been too frequently a last consideration with the Government, Provincialisiri hud much to answer for in this respect. Referring' again to tho question of ways and means he said two proposals wero before the country, Ist. Sir George Grey's scheme .which he characterised as Utopian, It.was a nlan to denationalise the people of Now Zealand, and a denationalised peo. plewilh a landed estate, would be an interesting phenomena. The only practicable propom'g before the country were those of the Government, Ist; Local bodies to be charged with tho duty of making and maintaining roads within their jurisdiction, 2nd. Roads ' and bridgos to be maintained by local rates levied on Crown, private, and native properties. 3rd, Extension of limitation of rating powers from Is to 2s in the f. 4th, Cost of construction of provincial toads through new blocks to be added to their upset prke, sth, The creation of a Road Construction Board to contribute 75 par cent towards the cost of constructing main lines. Gth. The creation of a loan fund to aid Local Boards, 7th. Subsidies to 80-oughs to cease. Under these proposals the Government, he said, sounded the death knell'pf tho county system as at present constituted. The central wl 'prnistpuptipu jioqrd superseded them as a distributing body, The writer recommonded that road boards should be formed all over tho colony, and that one or more members from each Road Board should form a General Road Board of the size of tho present Counties, that the General Board Bhnuld moet annually, and the Road Boards carry out all works directed by it. The influence of bodies syhjph pro a direct and a decided reflex ofpuhlie opjnjon woujd be greater Willi Pai'liataent' t|iiin 4 that of County Councils," \Vith sucfi changes iti the constitution' of Local' Boards' he thought the proposals of the Government might be accopteij as'thj? best "qblainablp under the ifnanqinl of thp colony. l[r Bark »• resuming his seat was lond|y applauded, Mr IfcOardle snid a few words on the Road Board sysiem, In Otago, the Boards, ha "aid had larger powers and were moro fitted for doing county work than in this province. He ibought the county system had been merely introduced to get rid of Provincialism, but though Counties wpre at first » more makeshift, |}e thought tjjat in time they would hpfjinpe bodti-gj' ''" I" ii.»

Ifr Hpg(?"M s pci]p|e evil? pf ponti-ft ißinwß in o|i]fipgt}ini]}es» and wfo. opiij arrival in Now Zeaiami, he isnrid tb colony abolis'iingitsprovinomlinGtitution im thought that, it was taking # leap in tlie dark. The position of "the colocj aitjoe flje abolition had beell most unsatisfactory! Opiipfy OpHijcjlfl hud }jegQ brought iuto istenfle'witiv no ihgtobjaot than to dis card "them, • whe 11 it might .be convenient to do sn, He trusted, however that before they got rid of County (Government, Parliament u'ouldiusist upon some batter scheme to fako ft? avqjjj the disorder pfr- dMvent when abolished, fho principle ofeffec'ting the general Road Board advocated by Mv Park ipet s'itli Jijs apprpvftl, tho principle pf and ft nizecl by ffiupdly gocjetips in Germany,; Switzerland, ap r d rqfjiiy Qtl)gi/cqtywnn; J; ities, . .

Mrßenall who followed denounced counties as mock bodies, They had, he said, like Adam and Eve .been akippfed naked and turned out into the garden. The Cptij)ty lo|t if>i political life 'aftij brains -wjieii \yas aboiiehed, The speakep npfiJ'pj-t'so^e length' |qtb'jt early |)isiprjr of {,1)0 cplojiyJ ahcTtjja «pari : whioh ho had as an individual in if Mr Hall who followed Mr -Itenall showed that fram the nilmisßions made by that speaker the Provincial 'form of Government was a wasteful spd extravagantona, . .

On the ijiotipn of Jfr Rodman the further '(liscusoloi) 'of'tlio for a week,' ' -■ .< 1, .