The Evening Star MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1877.

Evening Star, Issue 4361, 19 February 1877, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1877.

Thb action of the City Council at the special meeting on Monday last with regard to the Municipal Corporations Act is, we think, very much to be regretted j and from the report of the proceediuga it would hardly appear that Cr. Fish, in the terms of his resolution, put a fair issue before the Council, mixing up as he did the question of the postponement of the consideration of this Act with that of the very objectionable ninth section of the Eating Act, 1876, upon the subject of the amendment of which everyone is agreed. Is it the idea of our Councillors that in all the legislation of last session there is some "lurking devil" inimical to Dunedin interests, or is it possible that the seven gentlemen who voted with Cr. Fish had not perused, or, if perused, had not properly comprehended the scope and tenor of the new Act, all advantages under which they have determined shall not be made available to the City until after the next municipal elections? For the course taken no arguments appear to have been adduced or reasons stated, if we except the very vague generalities of the mover of the resolution and his qualified statement as to the leasing of the Corporation reserves, upon which point we may observe that Part XIII. of the Act, which deals with reserves and endowments, does net upon the face of it appear to elfect any alterations as to the terms upon which the Corporation may deal with the reserves held by them in trust, but we presume section 177 was alluded to, in which we see nothing objectionable. The Town Clerk certainly raised a technical objection to the adoption of Part XL, in that it might interfere with existing or immediately contemSlated contracts for kerbing, by rendering it oubtful if the Council could, recover for the kerbing then laid or contracted to be laid. On more mature consideration, however, that officer will see that arrangements already entered into would not necessarily have been interfered with, and we quite agree with the Mayor upon the subject that even if this matter of the kerbing did involve a small extra expenditure it would have been as nothing compared with the great practical benefit obtained fnTO. the adoption of that portion of the Act which includes it. Without attempting it being btypnd the limits of our space—to give anything J ike another analysis of the new Act, we will call attention to certain points upon which we ar<3 o( opinion great advances have been made upon past legislation, and especially with regard to the increase of the powers so essential to satisfactory and economical municipal government. These extended powers granted under the enactments of Part Xf. of the Act have reference, in addition to the ordinary functions of municipal bodies, to the establishment and construction of waterworks, and the construction of street tramways, for all of which purposes the raising of special loans is authorised, such loans, our readers are aware, being only able to be raised under section 10 of the Act, i.e., after approval by a majority ot at least one fifth of the burgesses actually voting upon the question, thus entirely guarding against any arbitrary or hurriedly considered action on the part of the Council in such matters, and relegating the decision in each case directly to the ratepayers themselves, who by a substantial majority affirm the desirability of the work and the borrowing of the necessary money. The Mayor did not hesitate to express his regret that the Council did not fee its way to adopt Parts XL, XII., and XIU. of the Act - a feeling in which we think all who have given careful consideration to this admirable measure will concur. Apart from other considerations, the special power to extend the waterworks is one which, to the

great advantage of the City, could be immediately made available. Parts XI. and XII., dealing with the powers of the Council and the by-laws, are most elaborately drawn, 111(1 would appear to be completely exhaustive in their character. They are practically a consolidation, amondme.it, mcl extension of the laws existing under the several Municipal Acts and Ordinances previously in force, with the special advantage iu their compilation of the opinions of the various municipalities throughout the Colony, which were all communicated with, andwbich not only expressed a general approval, but, in may cases, made exceedingly valuable practical suggestions, which were embodied in the measure, and especially in that portion of it dealing with the bye-laws. If, as it has been alleged, thrre is rcasonaVe doubt as to the legality of the existing City bye laws, quite apart from the excellence of the provisions for this purpose in the new Act, it was worth the consideration of the Council to adopt them, and we cannot but regard their decision in this matter as hasty, if not ill-considered. Without any loss of dignityjthe question of rescinding the action of last Monday's meeting might be entertained. Fart XIII., which is the other portion of the Act the Mayor expressed his regret had not been adopted, deals exclusively with the subject of reserves and endowments, and is of an exceedingly important character, especially as affecting Dunedin and other Otago municipalities. All lands heretofore reserved for the use or endowment of a borough are to be granted in trust to the Corporation for the original purposes for which such laud vvas reserved, and the Governor in Council, upon the request of smy Corporation, may reserve any waste land of the Crown within the Provincial district in which the borough is, and unless both Houses of Parliament, by resolution, express their disapprobation may grant such land to the borough— the total quantity of such land not to exceed 200 acres within the borough, or 2,000 acres in any other part of the district. Section 177, Part XL, gives authority to the Councils to deal with their reserves by way of lease, subject to certain conditions and except? ons, of whioh the following are the most important: All letting to be by public auction, and no lease* to run over sixty-six- years; the rent to be annual rack rent without premium or covenant for renewal, the pasturage only of public reareation grounds to be let and for no period exceeding one year, and the public to be in noway restricted in the use and enjoyment of such grounds. We do not know whether section 353 has been found necessary, or whether it is introduced into the Act as a precautionary measure, but its provisions certainly teem very suggestive as to possible malversation on the part of municipalities, which we think scarcely probable. It enacts that if any Council shall have wrongfully or illegally disposed of any of the real oi personal property of the borough, or ha 3 permitted any of the reserves to be u ;ed for purposes not aathori-edby law, the oxpouses conuected with any proceedings or iufoimation at the suit of the Crown in such matters shall not be paid out of the borough funds, but by the members of the Council who, by voting or otherwise, assented to such illegal acts.