CORRESPONDENCE. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. TO THE EDITOR.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1385, 19 May 1881, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE. LOCAL GOVERNMENT. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — The subject of local government seems to occupy a considerable share of public attention now, judging by articles which have recently appeared in the Press and circulars which have emanated from the Manawatu County Council and a joint committee of the Rangitikei County Council and the Rangitikei Highway Board. It seems as if each successive (Government was afraid to open the question, but "coming events cast their shadows before," and it is to be hoped the present administration see the necessity of no longer deferring consideration of this question. We are repeatedly informed by Sir George Grey that the present system, as a substitute for provincialism, was not fit for any free man to live under, yet no attempt was made by his Government to establish a system that was fit for free men ; and I think their last official declaration of policy on the subject by the Native Minister was that ""they would allow the local bodies to work out their own salvation." A very simple and pleasant process, no doubt, provided it were practicable ; but, unfortunately, it seems to have been forgotten that the local bodies simply have to carry out duties prescribed within the four corners of Acts of Parliament, ! and, in'theicase of County Councils where the .whole ,Act is, not in operation, cannot hold a meeting except for a specified object stated in' the Aot, whereat they could make the attempt to work out' their own destiny. Following out this intention, therefore, I apprehend local bodies may carry on under thd present Acts until Doomsday without haying arrived at the desired salvation. ' ' ' ' ' ' ' A circular of the Manawatu County Council was recently considered at a meeting of some of the representatives of some of the local bodies in the neighborhood of ' Hamilton; T will ' shortly r^ferto 'clause 1 1 of' the ye"co.inmendati6ns in this oironjatf. It ro&ds thus ;— J" That in selling any new block of Crown land an estimate should be made of the sufiaf per acre required to complete all the roads' ' within tsooh block] andM'that^s land is' sold for cash, such riuni be handedf-ove* t<s "the r Qowntj!;Oounci^of!the.aistric«fw4thw 4 wktek \% blQcH^Mftated/ $W- mwti&i-. sold j and that tye G^ernb}en,t;^f noce^ , sary for fjq{*nei4. f r.ea9OQs, should, : add'iQ the upset prtyft'.qf lh>;la^foe,.am;Qus

required for road making, and guarantee to purchasers that the money so allotted should' be spent on the roads in their block by the County Council within three years from the sale; and that tHe mdney as received bejhanded over at once to the County Council," etc. <- » Surely the gentlemen at the, Hamilton meeting, intended to" be a conference of members" of local bodiea fr.om the four counties, in which ifcjrignally failed, did nokgroperfy' consider the. full scope and meaning ofrthjs resolution, pr they would never have' agreed, to recommend the adoption of "a. system which, I venture to say is utterly impracticable, — qne which no Government would attempt to embody in an Act of Parliament, Knowing full well that before it got through the second reading the results woujd be so shown up that the endea\or io pas's it through committee would be worse than useless. It shortly means this, that before selling new land, an estimate of the -cost necessary to complete all the roads in the block is to ' be made', and the amount added pro rata, I presume, to the ordinary price of the ' land. By way of analdgy, 1 let me' point out • that we ( have been settled m Waikato now' for ' about sixteen years ; that at, the first, and at intervals since, large sums of money have been spent by the Government in making some of the main roads, that for the last twelve or thirteen years Highway Boards have been in operation over the whole district, raising considerable sums by rates, supplemented by annual grants from Government by way of subsidy, and , special grants for special roada and bridges that this money has all been spent under the supervision of those most interested in its economic application, and what is the result ? I venture to say there are not, in the whole of the four counties, fifty miles, of road which could be called completed, even in the most liberal ,and colonial sense of the term. Yet the Manawatu ' County Council, their action being endorsed by the meeting in Hamilton, propose that in the future the cost of completing roads be added on to the price of land before it is sold. Why, the engineering expenses alone, to arrive at the cost of making the roads, in many instances, if added on to the price of the land, would render it unsaleable, let alone the cost of carrying out the works themselves. The Government regulations direct that no roada are to be laid off with a steeper grade than one in fifteen on main roads, and one in thirteen on by-roads. Taking this as a guide, let anyone consider what might be the cost of grading all the roads in Waikato on this scale, building bridges to suit, and covering, say, even twelve feet wide, with about six inches of sand or gravel, leaving metal out of the question altogether, and I think no one would consider less than this would complete a road, even in the very mildest sense. Further on the resolution recommends that the Government should guarantee to the purchasers that the County Council should spend the necessary money to complete the roads within three years. Would any sane Government guarantee how any County Council would expend its funds for three years in advance, or even three months ? Besides, are not we all living in hope that County Councils, as at present constituted; will have gone the way of all flesh, long ere three years have elapsed ? Under this happy system all the roads are to be completed in a district within three years ; an operation which has not been anything like achieved in Waikato in sixteen years, where road-making facilities are much greater than in many parts of New Zealand. The result of .adopting the system advocated, even if considerably modified, would, in my opinion, be that the price of Crown lands, already in some instances too high, as recent sales have shown, would be so enormously increased by the addition of the money required to make the roads, and which is to be paid in a lump sum at the time of sale, that none could be bought except the choice pieces, and those only by capitalists, who could afford to pay fancy prices, while the remainder would remain for an indefinite period on the hands of the Government, waiting for some one to buy it at a price which it would never pay anyone to give, even when the roads were made, thus defeating the very object sought to be attained. I will not further refer to the Manawatu resolutions. JEa uno disce omma. I regret to see that the much more sensible and practicable resolutions of the Rangitikei Conference were dismissed at the meeting of one Board in Waikato (the Tamahere) with the curt notice that the subject had already been discussed with the Manawatu Circular for a text. I sincerely hope that the resolutions passed at the Hamilton meeting will not go forth as the result of the deliberations of a conference of local bodies in the four counties. The manner of calling the meeting was, I think, wanting in courtesy (unintentional no doubt) to those bodies. Probably, if the ordinary course had been adopted of sending a circular to the chairman of each body, stating what was proposed, and asking co-operation, the result might have been different. I AviTl not occupy your space with further reference to the subject, but would direct the attention of those interested to the very sensible and practicable recomrnendationsof the Rangitikei Conference, as published in your issue of the oth inst. — I am, &c, - Edward G. MoMijjn. Harapepe. May 14, 1881.