THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1948. CATCHMENT BOARD RATING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26956, 16 December 1948, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1948. CATCHMENT BOARD RATING

The recent announcement of the newly formed Otago Catchment Board of its financial requirements for its first administrative year will, not unnaturally, have aroused considerable interest in this extremely rate-conscious community. Apart from the sum of £ 3000 that it will find necessary to redeem election and current expenses the board will budget for an outlay of £BSOO to cover its administrative expenses for the full financial year commencing on April 1, 1949. The budget is a modest one, and provides for the bare essentials in the establishment of the new organisation, but since it represents yet another levy on the taxpayers of the province—and a double levy on the taxpayers of Dunedin—it is important that those who will be called upon to pay should have a clear comprehension of the reasons why, the money is being collected and how it will be spent. The Otago Catchment Board has under its control the erosion and conservation problems of the whole of the province, with the exception of North Otago. Under the Soil Con- s servation and Rivers Control Act it •has authority to levy rates for administration, general purposes and special works, but only the administrative rate can be levied as a flat rate, and it is not permitted to exceed one-eighth of a penny in the pound on the capital value or the equivalent on unimproved or annual value.

It might be remembered that at the hearings before the Local Government Commission in Dunedin in September, 1947, the chairman of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council expressed the opinion that the administrative costs of an Otago catchment area would amount to £IO,OOO a year, involving a rate of one-twentieth of a penny in the pound on the capital value. On this basis the contribution from the city of Dunedin would be approximately £4500. The representatives of the Dunedin City Council opposed, unsuccessfully, the proposal to include the city area in the Otago catchment district, pointing out that the ratepayers of the metropolitan area were already contributing towards the cost of expensive drainage works, and that an anomalous situation would arise if they were to be subjected also to rating by another body for the same purpose. These objections were, however, over-ruled by the Commission, which considered a definite community of interest existed between the city and the country areas and greater efficiency could be obtained by including the whole province—excepting the North Otago Conservation District—in one catchment area. This wide view of the problem can be accepted, though there has since been expressed considerable regret that the Commission gave such scant attention to the proposal that the Clutha watershed should be placed under the control of a semi-auton-omous, revenue earning organisation modelled on the pattern of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The argument that Dunedin shares a community of. interest with the' country districts is incontrovertible, but in fairness to the , ratepayers of the city the anomaly of double taxation for administrative costs should be removed. At present the sum involved is not significant, but as the scale of works increases the costs of administration will rise, and the experience of other boards in New Zealand indicates that the controlling body in Otago might soon be asking for the maximum legal rate in order to obtain efficient supervision of the many expensive works that must be undertaken. MURDER AND EMOTION The grave concern felt by members of the Women’s Service Guild, a Wellington organisation, at the position which exists in regard to serious crime is'expressed in its annual report, portion of which we published in our news columns yesterday. The Guild is not alone in its opinion that the public is not sufficiently protected from major offences and particularly from the crime of murder. Within the last year or two there have been several shocking cases of murder and these have prompted a number of organisations, including the Federation of New Zealand Justices’ Association, grand juries, and prominent citizens to express their belief that the death penalty should be restored or, alternatively, that a “ life ” sentence should not be an empty phrase. When the subject was referred to in the House of Representatives last session, the Minister of Justice gave little hope that these appeals would be heeded. He said that whenever there was a particularly brutal murder there would be “ some emotional discussion ” on the matter. The expression, to say the least, was an unfortunate one. Mr Mason also said that the suggestion was that before the abolition of capital punishment there were no brutal murders. Surely the real cause for concern is that these brutal murderers are now likely to be loosed upon the public after a short span of years and may repeat their deeds.

Since then greater emphasis has been given to the protests by the conclusion in Wellington of the Horton trial. “ Emotional discussion ” is not a term to be applied to the jury’s expression of concern over the possibility of the accused being released among the public at a comparatively early age, and obviously some attention should be paid to the words of the Chief Justice, Sir Humphrey O’Leary.' “That rider will be recorded,” his Honor said. "I hope that my words too will be recorded and that both will be given due weight in the years to come. There is only one sentence I am permitted to impose and I sentence you to be imprisoned with hard labour for life.” Sir Humphrey had earlier announced that Horton had recently been liberated from reformative detention after serving a sentence for attempted assault with intent to commit rape. If this criminal were to serve only the twelve and a-half year term, which is the average “ life ” sentence in New Zealand, he would be under 35 years of age when released. In this one case, therefore, are presented in an acute form most of the problems which

have so concerned the minds of many people. The Government will do well to consider its implications. It has been recognised that the increase of serious crimes has made it advisable for a heavier sentence to be imposed, and it would be strange if the penalty for the most serious of crimes were to remain at the minimum which has prevailed in recent years.