The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, JULY 22, 1870.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2973, 22 July 1870, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, JULY 22, 1870.

That section of the public more immediately interested in the subject will be glad to learn that the Act under which the "Waimakariri Board of Conservators is constituted has been, or shortly will be, repealed. They must not, however, jump to the conclusion that the Board has been abolished, and that the river is to be left to its own sweet will. There will still be a Board, but it will be constituted differently, and there will still be a Waimakariri rate, but the mode of levying and collecting it will be simplified. The new Act has been prepared in accordance with the suggestions agreed on at a Conference between the Board of Conservators and the Chairmen of the several Eoad Board districts included in what is known as the South Waimakariri District, and a brief analysis of its provisions will no doubt be interesting to many of our readers. The clauses contained in the first part of the new Act repeal “ The Canterbury Eivers Act, 1868,” and “ The Canterbury Eivers Act Amendment Act, 1869,” but provide that all rates levied and penalties incurred under these Acts, or either of them, may still be recovered and enforced. It is also provided that all debentures issued, acts done, and works made by the Conservators under the Ordinances just mentioned shall be considered to have been issued, done, and made under the new Act. Under the old Acts, the power of defining the limits of the Waimakariri district was vested in the Superintendent alone, and this was one of the points to which serious objection was taken. The new Act provides that the Provincial Council may by resolution define these limits afresh, and that the Superintendent shall, on such resolution being passed, forthwith publish a description of the district as so defined in the New Zealand Gazette and the Gazette of the province. Until the district has been thus defined by resolution of the Provincial Council, the members of the Board of Conservators will continue to be appointed and. to be removeable by the Superintendent, but immediately after the necessary action has been taken by the Council all the members, except the Mayor of Christchurch, will vacate office. Proceedings will then be forthwith taken for dividing the district into wards, and for nominating and electing new members.

The new Board of Conservators will be partly elected and partly nominated by the Superintendent. Ever since the original Act came into force, it has been felt that a Board entrusted with the power of levying and spending taxes ought not to be a nominated Board, and the feeling is altogether in keeping with English ideas of government. The constitution of the Board under the new Act is a compromise, but a perfectly legitimate and judicious one everything considered. No Board of Conservators is to consist of less than three or more than five members. If there are five, the Superintendent has tie power of appointing and removing two, and if there are less than five he has the power of appointing and removing one. The rest of the Conservators are to be elected, and if any Conservators district includes one or more cities or boroughs, or any part of a city or borough, incorporated under the provisions of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1867,” the Mayor of such city or borough shall be ex officio a member of the Board of Conservators, in addition to those already mentioned. It may be asked why the Board should not be purely elective, why, in fact, the Superintendent should have the power of nominating one or two members. The twenty-fifth clause of the New Act furnishes without assigning a reason. By that clause, it is provided that “ all property belonging to “ or in the occupation of the Provin- “ cial Government, or the Superintendent on behalf of the province, “ which, if it did not so belong or “ were not so occupied, would be “ liable to be rated, shall be liable to “ be rated for the purposes of this Act.” Whenever the Board of Conservators agree to levy a rate, whether special or general, they must inform the Superintendent and Provincial Auditor, “ or : “ some other person appointed by the “ Governor for the purpose.” The . Provincial Auditor, or the other - person, will then award what ! amount would be paid on Go- ’ vernment property, if such property were “ liable to be rated other-

“ wise than under the present proviso, “ and had been rated accordingly.” When the amount for which the Government is liable has been thus declared, the Superintendent must forthwith pay it to the Board of Conservators out of the Provincial Treasury. The member or members nominated by the Superintendent, though not necessarily, will become in a manner the representatives and guardians of Government interests, but as these ought to be, if they are not, identical with the interests of the public, we do not see any objection to the mixed constitution of the Board. It is certainly satisfactory to find that all Government property included in the Waimakariri district is henceforth liable to be rated. This is the only way in which a contribution to the defensive works could be drawn from the whole province, and as all are alike interested in the preservation of Government property the indirect tax cannot be fairly complained of. All the elected members of the Board will hold office for four years, unless they disqualify themselves or resign. The nominated members hold office during the pleasure of the Superintendent, and the ex officio members are of course changed with the changes in their special qualification. The Superintendent makes regulations for conducting the election of members, and all expenses incurred by him in the constitution of the Board, or in carrying out the provisions of the Act, are to be paid out of the Provincial Treasury in the first instance, but to be recovered from the Board when it is in existence. Any male person of full age is held capable of being nominated or elected a member of the Board, no other qualification being mentioned. If the full number of members is not elected for the Board on its first constitution, or if vacancies among elective members are not duly filled up, the Superintendent has power to nominate, and the member or members so nominated hold office in all respects as if they had been elected. It is provided that the Board shall have an office for holding their meetings and transacting business, at some convenient place within their jurisdiction, and we think it would have been well if the Act had distinctly specified that all meetings were to be open to the public. As it stands, there is nothing to prevent the Board excluding the representatives of the Press, as they used to do. The Chairman of the Board is to be elected by the members, and to hold office for four years. The mode of levying and collecting the Waimakariri rate under the old Act was both clumsy and objectionable. The new Act provides that rates, as before, may be of two kinds—general and special. A special rate is one levied and collected for the purpose of carrying out some work for the special benefit of any particular portion of the district. The total amount of any one of these rates in any one year must not exceed one shilling in the pound on the annual rateable value of the liable. When the Board has resolved to levy a rate, and has fixed the amount, the Eoad Boards and Municipalities included in the district are to be informed, and they must then proceed to collect the rate in the same way as the rates collected for their own purposes. All rates are to be held by the Eoad Boards and Municipalities in trust for the Board of Conservators, and are to be banded over “ as collected.” Under the previous Act, the Board of. Conservators were empowered to demand the Waimakariri rate from the Eoad Boards and Municipalities in a lump sum, and the alteration will be fully appreciated. The Eoad Boards and Municipalities are empowered to retain all reasonable costs and expenses incurred in making, levying, collecting, •and recovering the Waimakariri rate, also a reasonable remuneration for clerical and other work. If any dispute should arise about the amount to be retained, the Provincial Auditor, or such other person as the Governor may appoint for the purpose, will decide between the claimants and the Board of Conservators. The new Act effectually harmonises the powers of the Eoad Boards and Board of Conservators with regard to streams, sewers, and watercourses, so that no complaint is likely again to be heard on this score. Those who have lent, or may hereafter lend money to the Board, will be glad to note the stringency of the new provisions relating to the payment of interest and repayment of principal. We think it may be fairly said that the new Act embodies all the amendments which have been from time to titne suggested, in as simple and complete a form as could be desired.