THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1868.

Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 310, 9 January 1868, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1868.

S.ome people \yill pigbably think that the Committee appointed by the ])iiblic to take stem to, secure the protection of tb,e tpwn *\gftfa'fs the river rather tmyeHed beyppd iss functions in assuming to, itself the light pf saying that Greymoutb, shpulp^ become a Municipalhy. W$ haye a vivid remembrance that ■\yheu the Improvement Committee, composed of men \yho. were pledged by a public meetUig to obtain corporate po\vers for the town, made the attempt to. carry out their obligation, their efforts were met with so much opposition as to lead to the disorganisation of the Committee ; and possibly some of the pld leaven of hostility may still remain. But we are sure that the general good sense pf the citizens of Grey mouth must approve of the revival of the effort beforetime made to secure Uie means of providing for the good government of 'the town; and as the former- champipn of the anti-muni-cipality party has seen the error of his ways,, we hope that before long Greymouth may take its place in tho rank of incorporated to.wns. L/ast session of the General Assembly, an Act was passed, applicable to' the whole colony, providing for the creation of Municipal districts under certain conditions. The Act, which is a very lengthy and elaborate one, \» so trained as to. be applicable in whole or part to any district whose inhabitants, are desirous of availing themselves of its privileges. We will endeavor to, gi,v(f such a'summary of its provisions as may be considered necessary for the information of the public: — Qn the petition of not less, than ou,e hundred householders resident, within auy district np.t exceeding in area nine square miles, and containing resident householders upt less thau two. hundred and fifty in number, the Governor may by proclamation constitute

such district a borough, unless a counter -petition signej.l by an .equal or greater number-be presented. The inhabitants of such borough shall be incorporated under the inline of " the Mayor, Councillors, and burgesses" of tli.e borough, and enjoy all the rights and privileges of 'bodies corporate: In each single borough there is to be a Council of nine members representing the various wards into which, the borough is to be divided. In order to qualify any person to become a Councillor he must be an elector duly enrolled ; but after the burgess-roll has. been compiled he must have been enrolled 011 it iv respect ot property of the rateable value of £25 par annum. One-third of the Councillors are to retire in rotation every year and their places filled by fresh elections, but members can be re-elected, Any and every male person of full age in opeupation, op the owner of rateable property is entitled to be jjlac^l on the roll of burgesses. For the first election of Councillors, those only can vote who are on the electoral roll of the district* Two assessors and two auditors are to be elected every year. At the first meeting of the Council, the members must proceed to elect a Mayor, who may be either one of themselves or any one duly qualified to be a Councillor, to hold office until the next annual mee + . ing, after "which the Mayor will be elected by the burgesses. The Council may make bye-laws affecting streets and footways, naming streets and numbering houses, spouts and drains from houses, crossings, rubbish iv streets, lighting of streets, obstructions, water works, wharves, places of improvement and recreation, buildings, fire prevention* nuisances, slaughter houses, carts and carriages, boats and boatmen, hawkers, &c Or it may adopt the provisions of the Act applying to the above matters. We now come to the most important part of the Act — the ordinary revenue and borough fund. ■ The Act states that the ordinary revenue of the body corporate of every borough shall consist of — Ist. Rates, not being special rates, tells, or rents of tolls. 2nd. Moneys received by the Council under any grant or appropriation by Act of the General Assembly or of the Provincial Couucil (in the case of Westland of the County Council). -3rd. All the moneys which the Council may receive under or in pursuance of the Act. The Council must at least once in every year, and may from time to time as it shall see fit, levy general rates, but no such rate or rates must exceed the amouut of one shilling in the pound in any one year. " Separate" rates for purposes of special benefit to a particular portion of the borough may be levied not exceeding sixpena* in the pound. The Council of any Borough may contract loaus on mortgage of rate?, provided that such money bo only expended on permanent works. But the amount of such loans must not exceed at one time five times the amount of the rates levied during the year previous. So far as the principal machinery aud functions of the Act are concerned our readers are now in possession of as much information as it is necessary for them to have before signing the petition to the Governor, which will shortly be scut round for signature.