GENERAL GOVERNMENT ESTIMATES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XI, Issue 831, 12 July 1876, Page 3

GENERAL GOVERNMENT ESTIMATES.

As a very proper corollary -to the foregoing article we present an abstract of the Estimates for Government services m Marlborough,, .as laid before the Parliament. The. first officer for the Province namedtin the document before us is the Messenger at .Blenheim, who with the Deputy-Com-missioner of Stamps (also Deputy-Registrar of Deeds, and Clerk and Draftsmen- iri Land Transfer Department) are to have the sanie salary .as a + - present. There is no provision for a Returning and Registration Officer for Marlborough, although there is such offices, for we. believe, every other district m the Colony. A Revising Officer is : provided for a district comprising Nelson, Marlborougl-, Canterbury, and Westland, at £225, ' but unless^ the Act is amended so las: to allow more time for the work, than at present, the would-be electors of one of those places are likely to come to gr'ef every . year as. Marlborough did this. : Under the head of " Education," the staff for the whole Colony is shown. These will be a Chief Inspector at £600, one Inspector at £500, 4 ditto at £400. 3 Sub-Inspec-f tors at £350, Chief Clerk £270, Clerk £100, travelling expenses £1,600, printing, station-' cry and contingencies £600. Allowances for schools m Marlborough for nine months' £4,100, less two-thirds chargeable on the Land Fund of the Province, leaving a, net, sum of LI, 367 to be provided. 'The office ©f Sheriff is to be retained, the

remuneration being the fees, which is an extremely nominal sum ; also an officecleaner to the department at a salary of •L 6 10s. These two functionaries appear to *be all that are to represent the Supreme Court establishment, as there is no provision, for a Registrar, or a clerk, as m other places. Under the heading of " Resident Magistrate's Courts," however, there appears to be a better provision. The Resident Magistrate, Blenheim, is set down at the same salary as at present, (but the duties of Registrar of births, &c, are attached, .which w,e presume is an erpor), and the guru of L2O is ajLlpwed for. travelling expenses ; clerical assistance at Blenheim is increased from Lsp to LIOO. Clerk at Picton, bailiff at Picton and Blenheim, and office cleaners at each place are retained at the same rates as before. "Under the heading "Police," the same staff is set down as at present, and at the same rates, but the item, of contingencies, which we presume means travelling expenses, Llso is omitted. Under " Gaols " the same staff is set down as at present. There is no change m j;he Transfer and Registrar of Deeds departments. In " Postal and Telegraphic " there are some changes ; the cadet is increased from L6O to L 75, and the lettercarrier from L7S to LBS • a cadet at Picton is also set dovn for an advance of Lls, and there is an lacrease of L 5 on the total to "country-postmasters." The "White's Bay lineman remains stationary ; the telegraphist at Waiau is to be raised from LllO to L 115,' Cheviot and Kaikoura remain as they were at LIOO, but the assistant at the latter place is set down for an advance of LlO ; Kekerangu is to be reduced L 5. In the Blenheim office, the total is raised from L 2280 to L 2570, the counter- jlerk is increased LlO ; and the assistants at Picton and Havelock a like amount, the messengers remaining as they were. Under heading of " Customs " there is no change so far as Marlborough is concerned. Under heading " Marine," the harbormaster, Wairau river, is reduced Ll2, quite unnecessarily we may say, for the officer was not sufficiently paid before. The lighthouse-keeper at Cape Campbell remains stationary. Under "Native Department," the only item for Marlborough is medical officer L 25, which a foot-note. says was paid from Civil List last year ; and Ll2O for schoolmaster's salary. Under " Militia and Volunteers," is travelling allowance of officer commanding LIOO, and same for instructor LSO, rent of office L2O. The estimate for expenses of Picton and Blenheim Railway is reduced very considerably m the total. Last year it wa» L 9,136, but is now L 7,73 4; and without going miuutely into the several items, we may say tliafc the changes wh£jh experience has doubtless shown to be necessary, are very numer- : ous, some salaries being raised, others dispensed with, while some are reduced.