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Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 712, 9 January 1877, Page 2

There seems to be misapprehension existing, even yet, as to what the itcceptance of -the full powers of the Act by county councils will lead to, many supposing that road boards will merge into covaa ties as a matter of xoiirse, and that as a consequence the lesser works of the se.veral districts will be lost sight of and sacrificed to the larger aud more pressing requirements of the county as a whole. That the absorption of the road boards into counties is contompla-.

ted by the Act is true enough, and that it will be l part of its future 'development is equally so- VBu'fr the .Act expressly provides that no such -merging of a road district-shall take place unless a petition has been presented to the council signed by not less than one third of the ratepayers of such road district, whose property m which they are rated is situated within the county, possessing* m the aggregate not less than half the rateable property therein, praying the council to abolish such distrit. 'Such petition must even then be published m the district not. less than one month before presentation, and will altogether fall to the ;, gvpuiid if a counter petition, is got up within two months, signed by an equal or greater number of electors possessing m the4gg!£gate one third r only of the x'ateable property m the district. Thus, no road district need fear to be taken, unaware, or off' its guard. The proposition to be merged m the county must come j froia a majority of the -ratepayers, , and' the Act be attended with the utmost possible publicity.

As we have said, it is the intention of the framersof the Act that the road boards 'Should ultimately become merged i>i the counties, but £he country will not be ripe ifor that stage of the now local government system .€oi* probably some years to 'come. The road boards have yet much local work before that could as ill be attended to by the county = as'- the county work could be performed from Wellington, and no hasty step -should be taken .m thi3 direction. The question, nevertheless/is being" discussed both m Wanganui and Rangitikei, the geueral opinion being m favour of merging the road boards into the counbv councils. -There may be special reasons why tins should be desirable m those districts but such do not exist here, indeed it is doubtful if the question will be mooted at all.

The acceptance of the entire Act by couuty councils stops -short of this. That questaon .is simply, whether a county council shall, declining to take advantage of the. county form of government, simply act as an agent or distributing body between the colonial government and the roadboarfis, apportioning to the latter the moneys accruing sfrom, subsidies payable to the county out of the land and consolidated funds, and surplus 1 land fund, after deduction .by the colonial government for performance of such works as would be otherwise done by the county, or, whether it shall perform these '.itself and expend the balance of the moneys either m subsidising the various road boards or m taking m hand the making and repairing the main roads. In -either case the road boards will have presumedly as much money »to spend on their own local immediate works. The only difference thatcan be, is whether the balance available, after the performance of coanty works, will bo greater m the one case pr m the other — which will do the county works more economically, the colonial government at Wellington, above and independent, so to speak, of local opinion m far-away country districts, or the representatives of those country districts immediately within reach of and directly responsible to the ratepayers. This is the.point on which the interests of the ratepayers generally hinge, and will be for firstj consideration. The works must be done — either «by county council or the colonial government.