The Taranaki Herald. "Open to all – Influenced by None" NEW PLYMOUTH, MARCH 29, 1851.

Taranaki Herald, Volume II, Issue 87, 29 March 1854, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. "Open to all - Influenced by None" NEW PLYMOUTH, MARCH 29, 1851.

I'm: meetings of the Piovincial Council will, it is understood, terminate when the measures now before if, have been disposed of; and it is probable that two or three more sittings will conclude the Session. Some of the measures which at present engage the attention of the Council, though brought forward late, are second in importance to none that have preceded them ; and their passing into law, is looked forwaid to with anxious interest. Tho two principal bills are the Trespass and Impounding bill ; and the Highway's bill. The former stands for re-committal on Wednesday, (thia day), and the latter lias passed tho second reading, and awaits committee, of which notice was given for the same day. We have not yet been able to procure copies of these bills, but the main objects of the first, as far as we could ascertain from the reading in Council, may lie briefly stated as follows •. — The erection of Pounds in convenient places in the dis" tricts of the Province, to be determined by the Superintendent ;; — Establishing fees for Impounding ; — and permitting piivate parties to impound on their own land under certain regulations. This is tho extent of ihfi remedies given by the bill, in so far as the highways and unfenced lands without ihe town district arc concerned. For the lown district the proposed law is uioie strin ■

gent ; and the owner, or owners, of all cattle found straying or trespassing are made liable for damages whether the land shall be fenced or not ; without the town district damages for trespass can only be recovered by parties whose lands are fenced. We do not clearly see the principle on which this distinction between the Town and Suburban districts rests, and feel inclined to hold by the opinion, that anything less than a general application of (he clause giving damages will be found to fall short of the necessities of the case. With this drawback, however, the measure is a great boon, and bears evident maiks of having been drawn with great care, and an earnest desire to meet the numerous difficulties of the question, with the least possible amount of hindcrance or injury to the interests concerned. Thn members of the Council arc nearly unanimous on this bill and it may be expected to bo foi warded through its remaining stages without any delay. The Highways Bill is another measure of great importance. The state of the roads in every direction bears witness to the urgent necessity which exists for establishing some efficient sjs.em of management. It is to be regretted that any diffetence of opinion should exist in the Council on this bill; but such, unfortunately, is the case, as will be seen from the icport of I he pioceeclings of the last sitting, in our piesent issue ; and this is the more to be deploied, since that those objections have ie" lation to the principles, as well as the details, of the measure. The bill empowers the Siipciinlcndcnt to divide the settled poitions of the Province into convenient districts, and enacts, chat every year them shall be a meeting called of nil the inhabitants of each particular disLt let who shall be on the olecloial roll, and they shall theic elr-ci certain peisons fiotn among themselves to be Commissioners for the lepair and maintenance of the loads and highways or' the disuict ; and the said cotnmissioncis aie cmpoweied to make mi acreage late on the lands within such district for the purposes of the Oidinance, which rate vould be recoverable in the usual way. The late being for the cuuvnt expenses of the loads will, it is to be presumed, fall upon the occupiers of land for the time being whcie the land is let ; and upon the owner, whether occupying or not, if the land is not let. The object of the bill is the maintenance of the roads by local management, and local taxation ; the imposition of any lato to be the voluntary act of a majoiity of the inhabitants of the district. It is not intended to adopt the Provincial division into districts, but, to make the districts much smaller and more numerous. It is an invaiiablc complaint against taxation of every kind that in the adaptation of scales ofchaiges and lines of demarkation, individuals have to undeitake an undue proportion of the public burden : anil this evil seems unfortunately to be inherent in every system adopted heietofore, even , where the lights of political economy shine < the brightest. The principle intioduced into the bill now before the Council, namely of an acreage rate, seems less inimical to this charge than any other that could bo devised ; and the simplicity of the lule, and the ceitainty with which the lesult of a iato on this basis, may always be calculated, are useful features in the measure, and must tell greatly in its favour. The objections raised by Mr- Guivir.i/n take a defined shape, lie consideis that an

acicagc late would tluow too much of the burden of the tax upon the laige landed proprietor, and that that class would be helpless lo control its amount, opposed to a large body of small holders, who, being more interested in the maintenance of the loads, would be inclined to submit, for the attainment of their olijoct, to an amount of luxation, which, although no mallei of moment as rcgaids the small holder, would be an unsufTerablc burden to the laige one. We inusl |mf aside tho suggestion of avoiding a land tax by levying one on carts cattle and hoises. It would be impossible to raise anything like an adequate amount by such means. The establishment of tolls at the ptesent time would be equally barren of beneficial Jesuits, by leason of the expenses of collection. The rating of productive land by assessment, would be a tax onindustiy and improvement, every way intoleiablc and unjust, since the absentee and all owneis of uniinptoved land would escape the tax, while the value of their propeily would be gieatly nnpioved by the expenditure. To diaw upon the General Revenue for this service is not lo be thought of, as it i must negative all idea of obtaining new | lines of road, and indeed every other disciiplion of impiovemenl. It may he fur 1 1 he" uiged that under the present necessity i (or new lines of road, U would noL he either ' proper oi just so to a'ppiopii.ito tho General k venue. The. duly of making new ' roads devolves on the Local Government, i and is demanded by public convenience' and propeily becomes chargeable ( on the General levenue ; but, once made the chaigcs for repairing and maintaining them, should unquestionable fall upon the particular localities bencfilling by tho use of them. The complaint regarding the complicated machinuiy mtioduced into the lull, does not we contend lest on sufficient grounds ; and the doubt expii-ssed, whether there is patriotism enough to ensure a due peiformance of the duties of the Commissioneis is, we conceive, in a, gicjt tnea&uie disproved in the person of the gentleman who staits tlie difficulty, and whose disinterested perlormanei: of the duties uiideitaken at his election is, wo hell ye, only a typo of the universal interest felt foi the public welfaie. As legaids, tlien, the two grcnt objections viz.: — the unequal bearing of an acieage rale ; and th * position (if the large landholder — the first will, we think, be found untenable, inasmuch as all lands will be equally improved in value. The 500 acres if split into 50 acre sections, would be chargeable separately, and there seems no good reason why, because they are in the hands of a single individual, they should not be liable for the improvement of the distiict, as they would he equally improved in value by the expenditure, The second objection, rests in a great measuic on the fust, and would consequently fall with it ; but if them is a veiy strong feeling that the large owner of land might he coerced, a compiomise to some extent would be advisable, latherlhan that a measure in which so general an interest is taken should he lost, by allowing a vote foreveiy 50 acics up to a ceitain maximum. No doubt, every effoit will be made by the Council to surmount the difficulties which have been suggested — and it is earnestly to b(j hoped that nothing will be permitted to delay beyond this session, a measure^upon which the geneial convenience so much depends.

By the Rebel we have leceived our missing files of the Auckland papeis. We learn from these papers that the American steam ship Golden Age had atrived at MelLourne

on the Mill till., having sailed from Liverpool on the sth December, the passage occupying 71 days. On allowing 20 days for coaling and calling at intermediate ports, she has taken but 51 days to run her distance. Although the Golden Age has not brought the AiiilrnliisisCn Mail, and the intelligence is disjointed and iinpeifcct, our conlempolaneshave managed to collect a mass of intctcsting niatler relative to the stiuggle going on in Eastern i.uiope. yiie following is fiom the New Zca m lander of the I Ith insi. :—: — " L'he inli-liigence from the scat of war on the Danube possesses considerable importance, although it is still in various par ticulars vagtto and even contradictory. Theie is no doubt, however, that hostilities weie going forward with activity, and that victoiy continued to wait on the arms of. the Turks. The Russians aie icportcd to have sustained great comparative loss, not only in minibus but also in the eminence of some of the officers killed. Still, m> pitched battle, or veiy decisive engagement, had token place, Humours prevailed as to the peiseverance of the four Powers in their negociafions for peace and the probability ol an aimislice pending the.se effaits was talked of. '"In the mean time, however, Omar Pacha, and Piince GortschakoiT had received oideis fiom their lespective Governments to prosecute the war with eneigy." ' " The latest intelligence of the war, as summed up in a leading article of the Times of December 5, and other extracts on the same subject, will be found in our columns." We cannot give the ai tide above referred to, to-day— but copy fiom the Southern Cross of the 14th instant (the latest paper leceived) the following able summaiy :—: — " The war, so far as it has gone, has hitheito, been entiiely in favour of the Turks — not only in Europe, but moie parlicul.-u-ly in Asia, where the mountain tribes appear to be aiming e:i masse in aid of the Ottoman, and to the imminent peiil of the Russian supiemacy. The details, which we have given elsewhere, will show the character and the piospects of the strife. — Whether Russsia shall seek shelter in an armistice ; or whether the Tuiks are likely to miss then oppoitunity by granting breathing Innu to their oppiessor, remains to be .seen. " With lespect to the Western powers, France has evidently espoused the Turkish cause in a much more magnanimous spiiit than Great Butain. And as the rival branches of the I-Jouse of Bouibon have met and made their peace, it is extremely probable that, to prevent outbreak at home, Louis Napoleon may find it expedient to employ his aims abioad. The French arsenals aie repiesented to be in a state of energetic activity — steam ship 3of the line weie being equipped with great expedition, and the manne contingent was kept in a state of continued augmentation, and ten new battalions of Chasseuis de Vincenncs were to be organised. Winter, and the inteiruption it must occasion to the moie lrnmediale helligeients, seems destined by all parties, to be employed in earnest preparations foi whatever emergencies the Spiing may call forth. Fiance, it is s.iid, will no longer tolerate the neutrality of Austria. As one of the four Powers pledged to maintain the independence of the Ottoman Empire, Austria is not very obscuiely tuld that she must fulfil her obligations, or prepare to be regarded as an enemy. A French ai my in Italy seems 'to us to loom ominously thiough the future. ' " Peace, at any piice, is still the seeming determination of the British Government : — but the maintenance of the rights and independence of Turkey is the generous anxietye ty of the British people. It strikes us that the Government feel assured that to arms they must eventually