West Coast Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1907.

West Coast Times, Issue 14139, 15 June 1907, Page 2

West Coast Times. SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1907 .

COUNTY COUNCIL REPRESENT T&TION.

Viewed from eveiy standpoint the Westland Coatty Council appear to bare dew ck ed on a wise course at their meeting oo Wednesday last in adopting the principle of singe or separate ridings. At present the County is divided into three ridings, the Arthaxa, Kanieri, and Southern

rdiog«, escb of which is represented as

follow ; — Arabura, three members; Kan-ii-r, four members; and Southern riding, two members. This system has obtained fora great many yeirs in the Westland County and tbe only reason seated for pprpetuaiirg it is because It ban always been thepncMce. Ii ha.*, however, sevtrul point* against it, the cbiaf one being that* it ci courages tbe carrying out of unprofi aMe works to thrt members by not di.«r.l u asing their constituents rr ay secure vjtes ai a future poll. Human naUre — tven letgislat've human nsture — is fallible, and we will orlyray that the tx'tling syitdtn of representation in the Council has made this reprehensible practice possible at the sacrifice of the interests of the County as a whole. The modus operaadi has been as follows. A eertafn member in any of the ridings bas placed a motion on the order piper to have a specific work carried out whicb, to say the least of it, would giva a great amount of satisfaction to a section of his supporter?. Its accomplishment may influence hi*, flection Ja-gely on a future OCCIBIOP, and he conspqusnt'y commits himself to it. This cjurse would not be considered so objectionable but tbat at tbe same t'rne be commits all his col' leaguf s for che fame ridme, whether they were favourable to the w. rk or not, because, fhould they no f vjtewith him a b'aok merk will be scored against them blso. This may not be ai ideal state of heal politic?, but it certainly is the manner in which they 1 ava worked out on certain occasions in the Westland Council. It is for this reason principally tbat, throughout the County roads and tracks will be found tntt 1 al to nowhere, and tbat at'mcst sesvs but the smalleßt section of the ratepaytrs. For theimmora l practice which has thus grown up councillors cannot be considered wholly bhmeabh, the bad system of the past which made it poß«ibh must take its share of the responsibility. A higher authority than the County Council, the Government Administration, in fact-, bai, by doleing out Government grants to be expended io a h&nd-to-mouth fashion, instead of providing the Council with full and sufficient revenue in a statutory and legitimate manner, encouraged a system of spoon-feeding that has been baneful to the interests of the County and has had a tendency to sap the s»lf reliance of soxe of the ratepayers.- Now that theaa grants are Ikely to be much curtailed in the futura the Council have commendably take a command of the situation, the first step in that direction being to take stapa under the legislative authority bestowed on them to increase their revenue legitimately by getting tbe land valuations increased. By the increase in tbe valuations recently secured from the Assessment Court the Council's funds will benefit to tha extent of nea<l/ £200 per annum, no inconsiderable item to a body whose overdraft is or should be a source of perpetual anxiety to them. The adoption of single ridings is, as we have pointed ont, another fctsp in the right direction. It is the system practised in the ma j-wity of Councils throughout the colony, and it is a great improvement on tbat in vogue in Westland for many years past. A member represeLtiog a singls riding will be 6olely responsible to his constituents, and bis actions will also be more clearly viewed by t^e ratepayers of tbe County as a whole. Tbe effect should be also to stimulate^ healthy emulation amongct the members each to do bis be^t for the special constituency he represent?, and by this meßna the County as a whole would gun the ad vat fcige. The separate riding system uny have, and possibly bas, its defect 3 , wbich will only bd disclosed in the actual working, but at first sight it posserses many adva r t->ges oror the present system. Thecomprohensiya aai able report on tbe subject furtiisbsd by Mr E?ans (the County Clerk) was of great value to the mernbsrs of the Council in assisting them to come to a, decision on tbe sub ject, and tbat effioer may ba complimented on furnishing such a complete and lucid statement.