THE Marlborough Express. SATURDAY, SEPT. 28, 1872.

Marlborough Express, Volume VII, Issue 434, 28 September 1872, Page 4

THE Marlborough Express.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 28, 1872.

" Givh me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above nil other liber tie* —Milton

There ave two subjects on which the free and enlightened British Public, of both sexes, are always prepared to talk—namely, the Weather and the Taxes—and probably there are no other subjects on which a greater ignorance prevails. In nine cases out of ten the popularly weatherwiso know nothing whatever of the science of Meteorology ; and we have as frequently found those who grumbled the most ,about the injustice of this or that particular tax, toll, or rate, wore utterly ignorant of the first principles of Political Economy, The truth of our conviction is constantly forced upon us by the twaddle we. are frequently compelled to hear, and the ignorance too often displayed in print by those who should know better, , That it is the duty pf the Legislative.and Executive .branches

of all Governments to watch carefully over the revenues and expenditure of the State, no sane man will deny; and in exercising this watchful vigilance it is a moot question with some as to which is of the greatest importance—thorough efficiency, or thorough economy, in every department. For our own part we consider that without efficiency there will be no economy, although there might be parsimony; >ve never abuse a or a rate until we have enquired for what purpose it is levied, and to what applied. These reflections are the outcome of a motion passed by the Borough Council at its last meeting, affirming that an application should be made to the Provincial Government for the transfer to it of the Wharfs in Blenheim, and we notice that our transpontine contemporary has considered the question also, but in its own “ peculiar” fashion. XJniike him, however, we are not so impatient but that we can discuss the merits—or, as our friend puts it, the “ demerits ” —of the question in a' temperate spirit, knowing as we do that the motion was made with the best of intentions. We may state, therefore, to begin with, that we consider the proposed transfer would be impolitic, and in this single particular alone we are at one with the News, and propose to give our reasons for coming to this conclusion. In doing this we must first dissent to the argument used by the writer, that the owning of the wharfs by the Council would be “ levying a tax on importers ” and “ shopkeepers,” as not being a fact, since any tax paid by them would be charged to the consumer as a matter of course, with a charge for profit upon the outlay ; this would be inevitable, as surely as that the charges, for freight and carriage are added at present. Nor do we think that, if correct, the argument would weigh with the public at large for a moment; for, generally speaking, the public looks upon the tradesman as a kind of vulture, and would not mind how much he was plucked if they could believe the charges did not fall upon themselves in the long run. But we will point out other reasons for thinking tne step would be impolitic. Granting, for argument’s sate, that the Neios is rights it is not the interests of a few tradesmen which must be considered, but those of the masses. The wharfs were erected by the Provincial Government out of the general revenue of the whole Province, and are therefore public property; consequently it would be unfair to allow the Borough Council or any other local body to acquire and make a profit out of them. The cost of collection of the necessary wharfage dues’ would alone be a heavy charge upon the trade of this locality, besides which the impost would have to include the maintenance of the structures, and unless it brought in something more than these two items it would be far better to let the whole Province continue to maintain them, and as well reap any advantages in cheapness of goods. Again, it would be impossible to confine the landing of goods to the present wharfs, and surely no one would dream of charging wharfage dues without bestowing some benefit in return. We need not point out that goods are landed on the river banks where no wharfs exist —that, in fitet, we have such an extensive water-frontage on private lands, that it would be futile to dream of making a charge at the wharfs alone, as they would be but rarely used if dues were charged. At present we have a free port and free wharfage—advantages possessed by few towns in the Colony—which will do more to advance the general interests of the town and the public than any amount of tolls which might be levied could possibly do ; and therefore we trust that the Provincial Government will retain the management of the wharfs in its own hands, and decline to grant the prayer of the Borough Council of Blenheim.