PALMERSTON AND SHAG VALLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 11 March 1882, Page 14

PALMERSTON AND SHAG VALLEY.

. (IBOJI OUB ,OWN CORRESPONDENT.) i • ' . " March 6th. ' " Prior to entering upon my record of current events this week, I wish to refer to a matter which ia causing » little discussjon here. This is the double tax levied by the County Council and District Road Board. The County Council Has levied a rate of Is in the pound ; but'in addition' >' thiß >' those r fs^ y fV n '£? northern ridings whosd ' road boards, have riot Jet SedffiW'Ppuniy Council are.callecjl titwtt'toWjan' extra tax of .an equal amount }a the ßoaa Board) tomeet .the, expenditure con? . seauent, upon, the .carrying on of local works;] Thw dlwiie. miposiubiijwa^nbb; Unexpected iby i old road boarUsy*tem l ef.jna7^emen,iy fbUifap not the less unwelcome, -more especially as they cannot see q&HRjK of r getting out of this dilemma without putting themselves into as position pf VWyirig* the'drftapng-" Out of thefrvjnK-pan into the fire." For the last 10 tasßd-themeelves^eavily m order to form and Hlaintain ''their roads and .bridges, ao that at! present ' their accommodation in that respeot'i ,can',yca^ly'be •excelled. 1 Were the District; &oad 'Board'"then' to merge into the County} Council, ithe rates .which are lifted in this dis ; trictwdald doubtless be -almost /wholly, spent in the southern ridings in improving their ,roads, which eeem to be in a very bad state, judging from the nu*berj§f ipetitions/ferjimprovements and repairs with which the.. Council is almost invariably' >sa>d;' at' every nteethg by ratepayers, .from, tlw .Blueskin and NorthEast;.' Valley- Road ".Districts. Now the bnly!reasonable way I can see by which justice ' could be meted out to each riding, supposing all the road boards were to merge into the Council, would be by keeping separate accounts for each riding. This proposition, I think, would sweep away all the objections which prevent those who still cling to the road board system from submitting their affairs to the control of the County Council. To meet tho extra expenditure which the southorn ridings eeem ,to require, a special • rate should be raised in those ridings, for, if hitherto they have not been put to the expense of forming their own roads, they should not complain of having to do so now, instead of forcing support from the other districts of the county. Bisto be hoped that the Council will take such steps as will induce those road boards that have not yet merged to do so, for if the present state of affairs is allowed con- I tinue, it is evident that great dissatisfaction will exist. At a meeting of the Palmerston School Committee, held on Monday evening, it was decided to vote for Messrs K. Eamsay, J. Green, and M. Fraer as members of the Otago Education Board. „ . , , , , ' By this time stacking is almost concluded here, and the harvest may be looked upon as at an end. There are one or two large farms on which the grain is still in the field, but their owners intend threshing in the stook. Three or four threshing-machines have commenced work, but the present state of the . weather prevents them from making very .rapid progress. ( From ,what T can learn, those who have already finished threshing have ! ' found the result below their anticipations. ! r J'hc yield of straw is perhaps better than wa's at one time expected, but in comparison the yield of grain is disappointing. Within the past week our weather, which is as % r ariable as a weathercock, has changed greatly. A great deal of rain has fallen since Tuesday last, nearly every day being dampdrizzling. For about an hour and a-half on Saturday evening rain fell in a regular deluge, accompanied by flashes of lightning and violent peals-of thunder. On Sunday, again, a close, constant rain poured down all day, in . consequence of which the places of worship were almost deserted. ' If the weather we have had since the commencement of the year continue until its close, thoße who prophesied that this season would be as dry as the past one will find themselves sadly mistaken. As the ground is at present in a moist state, a good many farmers are engaged in sowing grass seed in the stubble.