THE Waikato Times.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 644, 6 July 1876, Page 2

TH E Waikato Times.

Eiunland exact justice to nit men, Ot • » hauler stituoi jioisiid^iun, re!i:jhus or political • ■# # # * Hero ahall tlu* Pri'St tho Pboi'l.k'h vi^Ut maintain, U ia\veil by inllunice uud un bribed by gain.

THURSDAY JULYG. 187 G.

The financial statement u'ajraido on Tuesday niglit, but to make room for expression of his opinion* by a statesman more eminent than the Premier, namely, Mr llungerford Koeho of Alex, antira, we are reluctantly compelled to refrain from giving it in full. There U not room for two Richmond!* in the fi -Id, therefore tbo smaller Richmond murt go to tho wall. We ilull, howover, endeavour to give our readers a pretty ooneho and iutdligoot idea of live gist of what is contained in tho seven an I a ii&lf oloso printed columns of matter before U 3, at leaf t »j fur as the people of thu district aro likely to be specially interested in. Sir Julius first touched upou the question of tho loans, and it appears that some difficulty lias aristn in negotiating a turn of L 1,250,000 in unguaranteed debentures, and the Ministry arc now negotiating for a twolveinouths LI,OUO,OIKI loan ou short dated debenture!. If Ministers bare had to f «co this difficulty, they c*n set off at a coDtra, thut tho expenditure under the Public VVorki uccouut hai been leas during the past 12 month*, by L 900.000 than was authorised. There is still a sum of L 1,400,000, 400, 000 to the credit of tbo Publio Work's account krailable for cipendituro. Of tho Defence Joan, there it still LVO.OUO aToilable. I'hfi vmm public debt of tho Colony will thon be LID 543,191 Its* * «urn of one and a quarter million accrued as sinking fund. The imnunl intrrett and sinking fund ou this debt will amount to L 1,035,164, 035,164 These figures include the Provincial indebtedness. The consolidated rovcmio will be chargeable with Li 13,000 of this sum, and tho laud revenue With tho remaining L 220 009. The revenue has not O3ino up to expectation?, being Llly,ooo short of (hat estimated, bub LZO,OOQ in excess of the precodiug yrar, yet after making all provisions the Treasurer corded bo Tore the Hoobo this session with a surplus of L 70.000. Of future financial arrangements and the Provinces, tho Treasurer admitted that there must bj a modification from the proposals made by his colleagues, as the estimated revenue for 1876 and 77 would not warrant the charges proposed for subsidies to Municipilitte* tad Road Boards and for Education, that is, if they were to be<j wholly defrayed from the consolidated reveuue.l " We have arrived," he said, " at three clearj aims : The interests of the towns to bo kept fromjjj conflict with those of the country districts; the! interesta of both to be kupt Irom conflict with those of the Colony ; and a separate system of finance for each. In other words, we shall bo successful with the nuw institutions we propose in proportion to the distinctness of the duties and the finance with wnich we endow them. To carry «ut these conditions we have first to determine on having only one Legislative bjdy. Clearly the risks of conflict increase with the number of bodies empowered to make laws, whilst there can be no hope of freedom from conflict except in the symmetry and tho consistency of a uniform legislation. We propose then to constitute districts divorced from the towns, ••id not possessing powers of legislation, but endowed with clearly defined duties, revenue*, and authority to augment revenue. We shall call them counties, and. we aim at separating them from rmd district*, towns, and the C >lony in regard to their duties and finance. With finance I have chiefly to do, and the essence of our plans is that the counties, the road districts, 1 and the towns will not be able to pledge the credit of the colony, whilt their own credit and revenue will be 6iifficirnt to enable them to perform the york assigned to thorn" The legiila-] turo would alone be responsible in the future f>r the rnutruction of its own I wildmss and the 1 main railways of the Colony. Kefemng to taxation the Treasurer depreoates an income and property tax as seriou* evils though not suoh as the co'ony, if neoesaary, would bo unablej to besr. " I would much rather," he says, " see the objects oa which the Consolidated .Revenue is to bo expended narrowed, and the direct taxation, about which so much is sa d, levied hy> the local government bodiei, than unnecessarily/ a* I think, to force suoh taxation on. tho wholj j colony." Property tax, he think?, would be% both inconvenient and unpopular, aid tend to J largly depreciate the value of property of all| kinds by more than their actual burden. In t'io4 case of Education, it is proposed to charge at fcho| rate of two thirds to the land revenue, and ouijj third to the Consolidated revenue, tost of ia-« spec ion and buildings falling on the resema.* Special taxation for education purposes will be^ abolished wherever it exists, but Government^ will propose that a small fee shall bi paid bya children using the schools. ra Kefemng to tho local government Btibfcilies3 the In usurer injß: ''We do not propow to): red ace the subsidies from consolidated revenue J| to the road district* and boroughs. The sub->; sidies puyablt by the L'gMati jn of last yenr to * road bjurdi anJ counties fro.n consohJufeJ/ revenue and hnd revenue, nmountbj to L 2 to I

„1 1, we in'cnd to rqmlly divide betnen theS ' io.kl dial nets miv! iniinlus. Tiie hecnoo foon col-S | k l old within tt'oir lnm s we pronose to give tog ("the coi'niit's. Tho l.f 'life few, .nd LI to LI tuj* \ bor m^lii f.-o-n consolidated r L y. n ik>, wo me sti'lg vullu <» to aiv», on 1 -} mo think soiuo duties shouldK „ Ijc cnt,i'k'fl oi b imujns vi return. It bgcqh io£jij f, in ihtjy, sstnlls^c unities, ohoul 1 contribute t.)EJ '•the support of I'harit.iblc in«titutioiu, and «ol ■'propose to ujuke this a toiivlitioii of the grant. E y Wo li/ive b.it cpwe for ono more mutter ofw ,i first inip»tt.uiot\ sine! that i B the qiujjtion of the| fund. The Tiejsurer docs not eco Im «av| ito d^pait from whir he calk, inorrrctly, tbojg * Coinu'iet' of IS5(>. In no ra«o will the laudp •^fund of any ono Provincial district bj applied ti% fetho u<e3 of another. Soiho of iho counties will? j^bs moro fortunite thin others, on account of thc| lund rcvinue they will rfcoivn, but they? iMvillall havo tho one half the L 2 to \l BUbsidit!S,| f^the other half going to Jl^ad Boards ; tho lieenco^ tolls, ond a power of ndding to thtir ow ni sreTeuue ; and to incrouso their land funds, thef pioposos to rune the upset prieo of j * OoTernment Innd-t to a iniimuium ot L 2 per acrol \ throughout tho Colony. The question of aboli-|3 jj.tion u treated, not as an open one, but a» " uai |.fait acuompli." "As far," says the Treasurar.jj S" as the internal alTairs of New Zealand it con-jj ftcerned, it hai fiUen to us, tho old, tho middled £nged, and the young in public life, to gire to thc|j a new Constitution, which those whoS |liTe now and those who come after us will hare ( Ito work out. In the presenca of such a dutj; the strife «md prejudice of tho hour should be hushed. Free from every disturbing influence from which we can possibly e»c»pe, let us deroto ourselves to ths endeavour to frame a Conslitu* tlott which will givo to a law-abiding, liberty-lor-ing, and noble people powers of self gorernment unfettered by any control save that which one Parliament in the country daemj it necussary to jjiro to one Government. tj

lI.O.GLT.— A meeting of the Ilopo of Waikato \ .Lodge it called for this eroding. 'x | CiinmiDGis Fabmkbs' Club.— Tho fall report gof the above meeting, held ou Tuesday ertmar^ glußt, will appear in our next'

SMiSONIc. — A meeting of the IodR« Beta will j* Iblio plnco this coning, tit the Lodgo-room.S Royal Hotel, Ilamilton JSasfc. H FooTßkVh. — A match between the Hamilton $

gird Te Awamutu Cluba will bo played to-3| ■morrow on tlio ground of the latter. Tho Ijuilj^ Swill be sot going at 1 p.m. raj

Saub of Sun-IxsrEcmu Smite' 3 FTmNiTimu, * rrc. — In conscquenco of the Itanginohn Koa<i* tlJoard mcetmij taking place at 2 p.m., the h©Brj [of the «ale of Mr Smith'i furniture on Satur-j h»8 been oltored from 2 o'clock in tbe| .afternoon to 11.30 *.m. |

I Fat Cattilb fob AtrcsLAvir — Mes«rg Scottfl 7and Fisher's cattle paisod through Hamilton *np roulofor town on Taoaday eroning, but less by >S SOtna twenty head than they anticipated t«kini;^ down, owing to the difficulty of crossing Walkcr'sp G-ullj. Many of the cattle broke away andS doubtleu returned home. Sotno wixty head oi J fat cattle, wo leurn, will leave tho Uangioihin district next week, from the farm* of Mr Uojjor ? K*y and Mr Storey, for the market to be hold on ft the 20th iu3t. ||

I Tb Awamutu Dbamatic Company.— A grand U itb«atr.cal performance will tike p'ltce in tho Te|l lAwamutu Publio Hall, on Weineslay evening^ ?next, the 12th instant, when the diamu, in twoi Ijaots, the "Bent Bay," will bo put up>n iho| cstage, and •ustained by tho full force of t"hof^ f company, assisted by Mr F W Men i nun. In'jj Ethe teuonil part of th? purformanco, that goatle-, } [man vf ill " dig down " tind givo another chant on ( Hhe present, political crisis ; the wholo to conclude I ir,hh a dance. t

Walxzb's Guilt. — A very narrow escape fro"»« drowning occurred ta Mr Olby, the mister of then Pukerimu school, owing to the utterly inadequate^ proviaiou made for the crossing at this pUce.c Tho bridge was carried away bj the Decoinber « floods, and, at present, all that there is it a iOrt | of ratn-hacklo floating pontdbn arrangemonij.y whiah wai becoming positively unsafe, «fen forjs foot pusjengors. Air Olby, to enable his pupil** to pass over without danger, was mending then itructurc wheu u portion of the road-work gave*! way, and down ho went, like a shot, into deep* water. Fortunately, Mr Scott wu there, and! rendered assittanco in extricating him from hi<| perilous position. Ike General Gorernmenti hare been appealed to, bnt, in vain, for the mean»s of replacing the bridge, and the local Board ha*| no funds for tho purpose, and to the matter? stands, to the groat lots and inconvenience of P the district generally. j@