The Star. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1879.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3362, 17 January 1879, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 1879.

A notice, signed by the Town Clerk, appears in. another column, informing the citizens that " the valuation of the City of Christchurch for the year 1879 is now open for inspection at the City Council Offices." The valuation of ratable property in municipalities is a work performed under the provisions of "The Rating Act, 1876." This Act requires that ou or before the fifteenth of January in each year the valuer appointed shall transmit to the local body a valuation list in a certain form, and during the month that intervenes before the fifteenth of February it is open to " any person who considers himself aggrieved by reason of the unfairness or incorrectness of any ratable value in the valuation list, or by reason of the insertion or incorrectness of any matter therein, or the omission of any matter therefrom, may object as herein provided." Now, " The Rating Act," as its name implies, has reference solely to questions affecting the true adjustment of the valuation of property in order that rates made by the local body shall bear equally and fairly in proportion to the financial interest o£ the latepayers within the City. In order to secure that no one shall be wronged through the incorrect or unfair assessment of his property, it is provided that, not only shall the notice to which we have referred be published in some newspaper circulating within the Municipality, but that notice of any valuation made by the valuer shall be given in a form prescribed "to every person whose name appears in the valuation list." But if any objection is sent in, the purpose and object of such objection must be to Affect the position of the objector in regard to the assessment, and through the assessment, to the payment of rates. In short, the Rating Act is a Taxation Act ' and nothing else. Now, having drawn the advertisement in the strictest and dryest phraseology in accordance with the requirements of the statute, the Town Clerk goes on to add a foot note of his_ own, which runs as follows : — " .N.B. — Particular attention is drawn to the above, as on the correctness of the Valuation List depends the Burgess 8011. Names wrong on Valuation List will appear so on Burgess Roll unless put right. Now is the time to correct errors or make alterations." Now, we take leave to point out, that with no doubt the best intentions, the Town Clerk is here mixing up, in a quite unjustifiable and illegal manner, two totally different and distinct things. The acts and things to be done in connection with the compilation of the Burgess Roll are at least two months ahead ; and, as the Town Olerk very well knows, the objections referred to in " The Rating Act, 1876," as having to be sent in, have no relation whatever to anything to bo done in the making up of the lists of those entitled to vote at elections. " The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876," details fully the steps to be taken in the pi'eparation of the Burgesi Roll. On the 21st day of March the TownClerk is required by the Act to begin the work by compiling a list of ratepayers names from the Valuation Roll, omitting all defaulters ; the list so compiled ia open for inspection by all interested from the first of April to the fifteenth, and it is during this time — and it is the only time — that any errors in regard to names can be objected to with a view to tie correctness of the Burgees Roll. When the Town Clerk, therefore, goes clearly out of the well-de-fined track of the law and tellß the ratepayers that " now is the time to correct errors or make alterations," with a view to securing correctness " on the Burgess Roll " he states what is neither morally nor legally the fact. We are sure that the Town Clerk has acted in this matter with the very best intentions. No doubt if any names appear wrong in the Valuation List and are corrected now, when he comes to draw up the Burgess List that document will be more correct than it otherwise would ; but on the other hand great changes may take place in the City between now and the time legally fixed for the making of these amendments, and i£ the Town Clerk's appeal to have the alterations attended to now is acted upon to any considerable extent, those who in simple confidence will rest upon bis assurance of the proper time and the correctness of their action, may find themselves disfranchised when they go to give their votes. The Town Clerk will find that he cannot go wrong in confining his actions strictly within the four corners of the Acts of Parliament framed for bis guidance. It ia hie duty to issue the notices required by the statute for the several acts and things required to be done just at the time and in the ways indicated by the statutes. Directly he travels out of the straight legal course and begins to lay down independent tracks of his own, he exposes himself to unfavourable comment, and we would remind him that there are plenty only too eager to avail themselves of any opportunity that may be afforded for unfavourable criticism of his conduct. We strongly

advise him to withdraw at once that j moafc incorrect, uncalled-for, and inju- r* dicious " N.B " which he has thought \ proper to append to his last official , notification. ' — ■ i