WESTPORT MUNICIPALITY.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 816, 25 May 1871, Page 2

WESTPORT MUNICIPALITY.

(To the Editor of the Westport Times miH Charleston Argus). S Sir, —The merits of the amendment™ which was so unmistakably carried bjfl a majority of the people present attheß public meeting, held at the Masonicß Hall, on Friday evening last, are nowß before the public, and it ia but just I the subject should be fairly ventilated, B The amendment, which in effect kB that in consequence of the present B condition of the town of Westport itH is not desirable to have it placed under B the Municipal Corporations Act, wasS moved by a gentleman well known t;B the whole district, bearing a reputa-Bj tion, scrupulous of honor, careful cfS truth and virtue, who is ever active inS the conduct of our social institutions, H _ whether of charity in the cause of then afflicted, or of education in the interH esta of the poor and wayward amongstK us; a gentleman whose opinions,® therefore, ought to be received withß every consideration and respect, biitH who, singular to say, confessed at tj?9K meeting that he had never read tlioß Act, under the provisions of which fcefltt moved that it was not desirable toß* place the people of Westport. Asitßjf is not improbable that many othersHj who voted for the amendment equally ignorant of the details of theH? New Zealand Municipal Act, or hawMi only been able to judge of it as sented by Mr Sheahan, while MR learnedly traced it from the feuiUßp period of European history to its ap&| pearance at the future historic port Hokitika, a few words perhaps on practical operations af the MunicipajHjj Corporations Act in this place migMflß be acceptable at this particular I must, however, presume, of for the convenience of argument that the people are dissatisfied vitlHK the present order of things, and some change ia demanded. I also, for the same purpose, that His Excellency the lias acceded to the prayer of Westport memorialists, and, that this place has been declared Municipal District under the made and provided for that purpo c then, what would be our revenue, probable expenditure, and what P a ticular privileges would we secure municipal ista ? The Act declares all property, with a few necessary ceptions, included within the boundaries, shall be rated at not than five per cent, of its annual to let, and when the value to let all doubtful, as, for instance, sections in the town of proper, the Act further provides the lowest value to let shall not less than £o per annum. By of this a large income would be taiued from a very just and une^^H

pected source—tbe absentees. The present occupation of the Coal Quay Reserve, from which a large Provincial re venue is derived, on the incorporation of the Municipal Council, would require to be withdrawn from the ' GoWfields, and disposed of, always ; j, av ing regard to the rights of the : p r eseut holders, who could then either acquire the freehold, or obtain a favourable lease for their present hold- | j ngs by means of which their title ; Wo uid be secured, the reserve would be included within the Municipal boundary, and each section would only be rated at five per cent, its annual value to let, whereby the great majority of the sections, for which the holders are paying £8 per annum for occupation (that ta all the present titl ), could be protected for a few : shillings. , As the management of the river and streets would be under the control of the council; rates would be payable by draymen and boatmen; a tax, I! make bold to declare, these two classes of our community would gladly pay in consideration of the protection and accommodation a local board could afford them, especially as there is no reason to expect that the tax would i be anything like so much as is at I present exacted by the Provincial authority. Again the grants which are appopriated year after year by the Provincial Government, would be received and expended by the Council, which would also possess the power to applydirect to the General Government for special money grants if such were ever necessary. A most successful claptrap cry has always been raised, that the expense of management would necessarily swallow up all the available revenue. This assertion is purely gratuitous, as the machinery of management for municipal institutions is just like any other —subject to control. The approximated revenue would necessarily determine the estimated expenditure ; and begiuing, as we now are, under unfavorable circumstances would prevent any tendency to extragavance. The privileges to be derived by any community who may come under the in- 1 fluence of this Act are incalculable to those who have any desire to see the creation of some recognised public bodv in Westport (possessing at once the "respect and confidence of the townspeople and acting with authority under the laws of the country) so that matters, even beyond their own control to remedy, might by them be presented with credit. The suppression of all nuisances ; the maintenance of good and clean streets; the inspection of buildings, in order to protect from the chances of accident by fire, W to prevent other grievances to which, by the present want of any supervision, the inhabitants of this place have been long subjected without the least possible prospect of redress would become tbe duty of a municipal body. Thus in time we might be brought to experience the feeling of what it is to possess a real interest in the place of our adoption not that merely of the individual who may be the lucky possessor of some Valuable corner allotment, or of him who unfortunately may have only a ledger of unpaid accounts, but the interest of a citizen, by which we may feel our responsibilities and privileges as members of a christian community, so that gradually the world may accord us the consideration we have often demanded, and withdraw our reproach, that as a class we are unsettled in our habits, having no ambition beyond the selfish haste to make the most of what we have, to benefit ourselves at the expense of our less fortunate neighbours, always exhibiting an utter disregard, indeed, a contempt for all civic duty or responsibility; a state of things, which, if persisted in, must leave behind such a evidence of British settlement as would be insulting to the country of our birth, and a lasting disgrace and dishonor to ourselves.

It is said we are too poor to begin improvements now. I can recollect when we were too busy to care anything about them ; but is there any time in the history of a settlement when it is too late to learn our duties and secure our best interests as a community ? I submit there is not; therefore, I do hope that, despite the factions and thoroughly selfish opposition to the resolution on last Friday evening, the gentlemen who have begun this movement will not stop until they have accomplished their praiseworthy object—the incorporation of Westport under the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act of New Zealand.—l am, &c, CIYIC.