THE Thames Advertiser. THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1875.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VIII, Issue 2131, 26 August 1875, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1875.

■Tiie Opposition liave' had a meeting, and have determined not to go to a division on the second reading of the Abolition Bill, They have shown a wise discretion in not exhibiting their weakness to the country, especially after the debate they hayo raised upon the question, But wo hope that they will really consider tho details of the Bill with care, and not swallow tho clauses wholesale' after liaviug fought out tho principle. This policy, wo regret to say, has been, too frequently adopted in tho Assembly during tho last few years.

It will be quite impossible for this district to keep up tho roads and streets muoli longer, without somo outside aid. At tho present moment k the goldfields roads and tracks aro in many cases nothing but a sea of mud and mire, whilst tho heavy traffic in tho Borough is rapidly destroying those portions of the streots that havo, beon made. And the people of tho Thames aro not in a position to do moro than they have dono to help themselves. Tho highest rate allowed by law has been levied, but at tho present tiino this is the only, aud tho single, tourco

.of rovenuo to whiclLPur local bodies have to look for an income, and it is ridiculously inadequate for oven tlio most pressing of our road repairs. Tlio Borough, indeed, is in quito a liclploßS condition, and tho ratepayers grumble, ; but not'without good and sufficient reasous. With a revenue of something less' than £3,000, derived from rules, tho'Borough is called upon to keep tlio roads in good repair for gold fields traffic—that is to say, for the ovrling of quartz, day and night, in addition to tho oidinary traffic of tho town. It must not bo forgotten that within tho limits of tho Borough thcro arc many miues and a largo numbtsr of batteries, which contribute a largo "special" revenue in tho shapo of duty upon gold and in fees for licenses, &o. This revenue is all paid into tho pnvincial account, and much of it is frittered away in keeping up Provincialism, instead of being applied solely to goldfields works and roads, as was originally intended when this special form of taxation was levied upon gold mining. Wo are satisfied that tho members of tho Borough Council', liavo 'dono all that men could possibly do to keep .tho roads in decent repair with tho limited fuuds at their command, At tho • present moment' tho Borough account is overdrawn to tho extent of nearly £■1,000, and had it not been for this advance, traffic must' haVo in certain parts of the town. But it is a public scandal that a goldlield con-: tributiug as tho Thames has dono to tho rovenuo of • tho province, should bo left in tlio position in which wo find ourselves. Thd Thames has for years past really propped up the Province of Auckland, aiid but,for tho revctiuo derived from this goldfield, tho provincial system would have broken down long ago. Lot .those of our readers who aro inclined to doubt these statements turu for a moment 16 a "Statement of tho rovenuo aud expenditure of tho provinco of Auckland from tho Ist April, 1874, to tho 3lßt March, 1875," and they will thcro find what tho Thames contributed towards tho provincial revctiuo last year, and what it received in return. After payment of interest aud sinking fuud on loans, amounting to £41,819, tlio General Government handed over to tlio province, in cash, a sum of £48,178, one-fifth of which,'on a population basis, fairly belongs to the Thames. This would give as our local sharo of tho advances by the General Government, a Bum 61 £9,035. To thiff Bum must bo-added.tho gold duty and goldfields revenue, amounting to £11,128, and a further sum of about £3,000 for publicans' and other license?. Tbeso items together amount to tho very handsome total of £24,203. In addition to this thcro aro certain miscellaneous item?, such as refunds from : various sources, balanco in hand at tho commencement of tho yeai', aud an overdraft at tho end offy so, that tho revenue which really would liavo fallen to tho -Thames, had it been separated from Auckland, was not muoh.short of £30,000. And what became of this money? Wo can Bee at a glance by lookiug-'at tho expenditure fiido of tho balance-sheet how it was swallowed up, together with fill other provincial, revenue., In the'first place, £5,292 was paid away in tho salaries of tho Superintendent, members of Executive, .Speaker, Chairman of Committees, Librarian, and other officers who. aro necessary under tho provincial system. Tlieu wo liavo tho expenses of members, a trip, down the. TSaat in a chartered, steamer, aud a largo item for "contingencies." And tlio balanco was spent in keeping -tip variouß establiahmonls, paying tho costs of departments, and'" upon certain works. But the Thames was compelled to bear a larger proportion of tho total expenditure thaiint should 'have, been" called upon to do, as tlio system had to bo kept alive,' and that' was ! dono mainly at tho cost of tho goldfields. Tho Borough Council arid tho other local bodies should not loso sight of tlio petition which was. forwarded to Wellington,. praying for a grapt of money for goldfields roads and tracks. Tho Public Works Committee reported in favour of ;tho prayer of tho petiiionerc, but wo have yet eccn, no action taken in tho matter by our representative, It is quito impossible for us to carry on through auothcr year unless wo iro able to secure some portion of tho goldfields rovenuo. Should tho Abolition Bill becomo law, the Borough will bo placed in possession of an incomo of £9,000 or £10,000 per annum, but should tho Pmvincialists succeed in delaying tho measures for a year, it will be a rather serious matter for tho Thames, as-neither tho Borough nor tho other local bodies can expect much from Provincialism, seeing that bo largo a sum is required to keep up the useless Parliament at Auckland.