[ESTABLISHED 1875.] Manawatu Daily Times The Oldest Manawatu Journal. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, MARCH 27 1914.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 12753, 27 March 1914, Page 4

[ESTABLISHED 1875.] Manawatu Daily Times The Oldest Manawatu Journal. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, MARCH 27 1914.

IN so far as Mr Poynton's judgment in the River Board appeal cases recognised the community of interest of all members of a corporation it was in agreement with common sense. It is obvious that as a certain amount has to be raised every year by means of rates, if any portion of the rate-producing property is injured or destroyed the burden must fall more heavily on the rest, and therefore the latter are ! interested in protecting property other than their own. Neglect to realise the responsibility of the whole corporation for | what happens in any particular I part caused trouble in this dis- ; trict some years ago when the affairs of the portion adjoining ; Palmerston were managed by the Manawatu Land Board. The Board's district was divided into wards, and the members failed to remember that it was their I duty to watch over and adminis- ; tgr the affairs of the whole. I There grew up a disinclination l to interfere with the affairs of I any particular ward, which were ( left to be dealt with by its reprel( sentative. All went well for a , time till a settler had a grievance in connection with drainage. His representations were , practically ignored by the Board as a whole, and as a result he ; brought an action against it, secured a verdiqt for damages, and in order to obtain the amount of the verdict, put in a receiver; so that for some time the Board meetings became purely formal. It had no re-

venue, because the receiver collected the rates and used all income to satisfy the judgment of the Gourt. Thus the fact was impressed on the Board and the ratepayers that it could not localise the liability, but was responsible for neglect in any part. This was evidently the position in Mr Poynton's mind when he elaborated his judgment. But it is somewhat surprising that while he thus clearly recognised the responsibilities. he failed to include in the alterations all who were in similar positions to those who actually objected. The result of this has been to create anomalies which are obviously unjust. Unfortunately, also, there is no appeal against the decision, nor does

there appear to be any means by which it can be rectified for at least three years, and then the proceedings for rectification must be originated by the Board. Of course by that time the dissatisfied ratepayers will use their best efforts to ensure the election of a Board who will undertake reclassification, but in the meantime there will hare been a heavy charge for rates on some whose next door neighbours will go practically scotfree. It is regrettable that at the very outset the basis on which revenue will be obtained is unequal and injustice is being

done. The only remedy that can be immediately applied is to have the present Board abolished, which will mean a fresh election and a new classification.

THERE is such a dearth of genuine political ideas that one suspects that our politicians have lost any originative ability they may ever have possessed. The leaders on either side are confining themselves to criticising each other, and they drift off into side-issues. Mr Massey has not yet defined any policy, and though he has named a few subjects he has not given any idea as to how it is proposed to deal with them. Sir Joseph Ward shelters himself behind a declaration that he is not going to publish a policy which may be stolen by his opponents.' As to the other politicians who have been delivering themselves it matters little what they may say, but they too have been singularly bare of original ideas, and have merely berated the one party or belauded the other, according to whichever side of the rail they have temporarily descended from. We may commend to their earnest attention some remarks recently made by an Irish Nationalist, Professor T. M. Kettle, which apply to our politics as fittingly as they do to the British. He said:—"We all shout se loudly that nobody hears his own voice. We wallow in a sea of leading 1 articles. We cram ourselves into drab and draughty halls; we slap our knees in railway carriages; we rattle the plates at dinner with dialectic vehemence; we sleep on the preparation of nasty epigrams; we muddy our souls with that form of art

known as the 'thumping poster:' It is necessary for our comfort that our opponents should be daily convicted, not only of scoundrelism wholesale, but of scoundrelism retail. N Every day must furnish a new crisis, and an unprecedented, betrayal. No Shop Hours Act shall procure them a half-day's respite. It would be no fantastic definition of an 'active politician' to say that he is a man who is always arguing with another man, without ever seeing the other man's point." Considering that we pay our politicians £3OO a year we surely have a right to demand that they shall give some thought to political problems, and place their views before the electors.