The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1907. GOVERNMENT GRANTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13465, 11 December 1907, Page 4

The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1907. GOVERNMENT GRANTS.

In (lie letter which is jjiililii'slied elsewhere in this i.«isue, the lion. J. Anstey provides strong confirmation- of the views on the subject of Government grants Avhicli wo oxprcwed! in 1 lie ih«t< of (lie w:rie!« to which the pre,sent article belongs. Tinevil of tiliq system was the point wo desired to emphasise wlien \v« contrasted the success of the Waimate County in securing grants with the failure of the Levels 'County to obtain one of the votes asked' for by the Council, and we are glrtd tliati Mr Anstey is at, one with us on this important point. We tire also pleased to know that, hone of the remarks madia by either Mr Orbell or oiirselvcts in the course of this discussion ■ have occasioned' Mr Anstey any annoyance. We had formed the , opinion—erroneously as we glad to learn—that ho and Mr Flatman might have regarded our comments as a censure upon the way in which they had looked after the interests 1 of a. part of tlia Timaru constituency committed to their care by Mr Hall-Jones, and we had' certainly no intention of conveying, euch jan impression. All we had in mind was a .condemnation of the system whieli makes tlia grant, of sums of public money to local bntlies dependent upon tlw advocacy of their parliamentary representative.,,Mr Anstey admits that this , is, the casa at, present,when ha cays that •'" a local representative who' trao -able to make' out a good ease for a giant would 1 bs much more likely to gel. it than if the matter was not, brought pointedly jundjer the notice of the Minister," and lie appears to consider thivt.it has its advantages-, for he asserts that " no' sensible person, . and no Minister, would tkoume that lie was better acquainted 7 with the requirements and necessities of every local body throughout the Dominion than the local representative might be." .It is, of ■ cou'.se, only necereary to point out that the local representative is only concerned about his district ; he does not bother hii3 head- about the and necessities of local bodies outside his Own- constituency, and the consequence its that huge■■sums of tnoney on the Public Works and Supplementary Estimates are voted away by men who haVe not the slightest idfea, about ninety' pef: (»nt. of the works for.which they grants. ■Wa agree /with Mr Anstey that So.-, long as this vicious system is" -peniiitted- to continue, the only thing that local bodies can do is too mtiku the .best.of it. by joining in the scramble for funds,, seeing that, , whether, they participate or notJ iii the distribution, their rate-payers will be re- • Gponsible • for part of the total. s Our correspondent, however, is scarcely fair to Mr Orb ell in desoiibing him ais Quixotic for refraining from following this policy of expediency. , Mr Orbell made clear iii > 'tili'e -interview which we, published . on Monday that tha Levels County Council had gone through the prescribed rou- ■ , tune of■ waiting • upon the. member, for the district (Mr Hall-Jones), and submitting . ■ tiheir list for his - information and 0011sideratioii., Mr -Hall-Jonas advised' theim to send, the list to the Roads Department, ! and) told' them -their requests would bV ' considered along' with similar applic.-itjioris."' ' Then ,h l 3 wefffc to.-England, and that wa» - the last that- >vais heard of the Levels No doubly if the -L&vels Council ihad b&eti • conversant/ with air the triefca Of" the 1 • tradfe; they., would, on the, .diepartiire of • Mr Hall-Jones, ,liaye taken the precaution of . sending copies of their requirements to each of hia deputies. '• Oh the other •hand,, : we. .could nans®' isome' representatives who do not' wait to be approached in that way,. but nylio solicit from the; lodal, Jiocliesin their constituencies lists of all tyorka in respect of which grant's are desired. Mr Anstey would probably, resent—at least we hope ha -would!-—any , tsuggcalioh..,' that he should -have run after .the. Levels, Council. asking them what they wanted, aiid lie will therefore understand tliet Sentiments of those who. thought they liiild. . gone far enough w'hen they had interviewed the .sitting .member and at his direction supplied the Department with a. list of their requirements. However, Ave may finally leave this particular instance ' and revert to the. general pi ineiple in support of whioh we hav-6. been .utilising it. Mr -Anstey lias arrived! at the same conclusion as ourselves-in regard to these Governmeint grants,' and we' may' hqpe • that, hie .influence .'will-.be. used in securing the "abolition of the system. He has reached the same"- point T)y a different linao i reasoning'from our own, but by a line 'which in the South Island at all events 'will probably be mo'i® effective than the' arguments wo have* been in the habit o-fi advancing. Briefly, his appeal is ' to the self-interest of the local bodies in this is-'and, which, as he points, out, cotnes off . very badly aa compared -\vath , the,;' North Island! in ( the allocation of the Government • grants. We fear, hoSvever, that unkess a change is made next year, the preponderance of representation which the North Island will have in future Parliaments will be influenced by M>n Anstey'is own argument to continue the system which is so (niruch to the advantage of the north. If, therefore, anything, is to be done q\l the lines suggested! by our correspondent,' there is no time to be lost.