THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1918, 29 September 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1874.

The question is still frequently asked by those most interested in obtaining a satisfactory reply, what has become of the Government of Nelson 1 It is understood that the Superintendent and the Provincial Secretary have leturned to Nelson after an absence of some months from the scene of the duties they draw liberal salaries for not performing, and as yet there 13 no indication of any of the many great benefits they were to effect for the Province while at Wellington. All they have succeeded in accomplishing for the good of Nelson simply amountß to nothing, while they have been eminently successful in; making an exhibition of themselves before the whole Colony, and in holding up the Executive and its mode of conducting public business to the contempt and derision of the Parliament, by their unseemly bickering and childish recriminations. It must be admitted Mr Curtis did good service by using his personal influence, which is very considerable, and utilising his official position, which is; of still greater weight, with the General Government, in furthering the objects the Greymouth Harbor Improvement deputation had in view during their recent visit to Wellington. But it is questionable if this new born interest taken by the Superintendent of Nelson in anything relating to the progress of Greymouth, lias not been awakened as much by a desire to teach his dogmatical Treasurer that he is not going to have it all his own way abroad, as well as at home. There is no doubt, and it is only what may be expected, that Mr O'Conor's sympathies lie in the direction of Westport and its welfare, and for that reason, if for no other, Mr Curtis would join the opposite side, and endeavor to forward the interests of the rival town of of Greymouth. Nevertheless he lect a hand most efficiently in making the journey of the deputation to the seat of Government a comparative success, and as it seems ungenerous to impute motives in cases of this kind, we tender Mr Curtis the thanks to which his actions on the occasion entitle him. Bnt what has the virtual head of the Government done for the Province, and especially for the Gold-fields since his accession to office 1 Everything was to be changed when the "party of progress" succeeded in placing its representative man at the wheel. He was to effect a complete revolution in tho hitherto existing state of affairs, and as for promises, Jack Cade himself when he guaranteed his ragged followers, that among other reformations, when he became King, every pint pot in England should by Act of Parliament be compelled to hold a quart, was not more lavish of specious assurances than was the Provincial Secretary ana Treasurer of Nelson when, with saponaceous arguments, he talked over the "Know nothings" who placed him in power. Where are all the roada and

bridges which were to be constructed on the gold-fields with the money set free by the wholesale reductions in departmental expenditure, which Mr O'Conor, with that perspicuity of vision for which he is remarkable, " saw his way " so clearly to effect ? It was expected that at least an effort would be made by the members of the Nulson Executive, when at Wellington, to get the main road through the Grey Valley completed, but there is nothing yet done towards finishing this most important work. As a consequence mail communication is suspended, ordinary traffic is impeded, and, if not entirely stopped, it is kept open at the risk of human life, and freights have risen and are rising, necessitating delay and extra expense in the carriage of machinery and merchandise. It was thought that when permission to raise a Provincial loan of sufficient amount to do some real good was withheld, that an attempt would be made to induce the General Government to complete, and for a time maintain, the main thoroughfare between the most important inland town in the Province of Nelson &nd the seaboard, but no movement that has publicly transpired was made towards effecting any arrangement whereby the trunk road, which, equitably, should be considered a Colonial work may be made fit for traffic. If the Nelson Government intended to do justice to the inhabitants of this of the Province, that portion of the main road between Drayton and the Little Grey Junction would be made long ago, for it is preposterous to suppose that the money could not be raised for the work, if a sincere desire to do so existed. Again,. the new Executive, in addition to wiping out every trace of the old Government, was to initiate an entirely new system of its own devising, whereby redtapism and all cumbersome official routine j were to be abolished, to be replaced by prompt, efficient, and energetic action in dealing with governmental affairs. The following magnifisent specimen of the working of the Circumlocution Office, just to hand from Nelson, will show how well an amendment has been effected in this respect. An account of a very trivial amount for expenses incurred in connection with the first election of the Ahaura Local Revenues Board, in October, last year, was, some months ago, handed to the Receiver of Revenue for the Grey district, and by that officer forwarded to head-quarters. In due course the document came back with a memo, that further information was required. This was furnished, and after due examination and departmental enquiry, the account i 3 again returned withjan intimation that the Road Board is responsible, the debt having been contracted in its behalf, but that the money can be paid out of the next subsidy received by the Board from the Government. The result is that the small debt which is due nearly twelve months still remains unpaid. The former Government of Nelson was famous for the amount of " consideration" it usually bestowed upon matters generally, especially if the subject to be considered required to be dealt with promptly and decisively ; but under the old regime there wa3 none of that huckstering about trifles, as in the matter of petty expenditure, or shirking of clearly defined responsibility — as illustrated in the present relations between the Government and the Road Boards — which so distinguishes the so-called Government of Economy. The new brooms, on taking office, were, after the manner of "scrubbers" in general, to sweep every vestige of routine and circumlocution away in dealing with public affairs, but all the boasted administrative reforms, so blatently proclaimed as about being inaugurated, have ended as they begun, in gaseous vaporings. The present Executive of Nelson has copied and retained all the faults of the late Government, without possessing a tithe of the ability — misdirected as it waa as far as the were concerned — of its predecessors.