The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1868.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 161, 5 February 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1868.

Ist our yesterday's issue we made copio us extracts from Sir David Munro's address relative to the abolition of Provincial Institutions, and in the course of which he recommended that Eoad Boards and Shire Councils should be substituted instead, and instanced the successful workings of these institutions in the Australian colonies as evidence of their superiority over the present expensive and inconvenient Provincial system. A. great advantage of the proposed scheme over that at present in use, is that of direct and immediate action. So that instead of procrastinating, memorialising, and all the other etceteras of Provincial Government, anything urgent that required doing can be done at once, thereby saving expense and; avoiding inconvenience. The General Government are evidently in favour of this system, as shown by their active support of the County of Westland Act, wherein the first blow at provincialism is administered. In this act all the powers formerly vested in the Superintendent are annulled and handed over to the G-overnor, who has power to delegate his authority to whomhemaythinkfit. The sth, 6th and 7th clauses of the Actreads as follows: — 5. " In order to provide for the construction establishmentandmam';enan.C3 of roads, bridges, wharves, ferries, and other public works within the said county, the Governor in Council may from time to time constitute and define road districts therein; and such districts may from time to time alter or abolish, and may provide for the constitution of boards for the management of the business of such districts, and may from time to time make regulations for the election of such boards, and for defining the number of members thereof and such regulations may from time to time alter or repeal." 6. "All roads, bridges, wharves, ferries, drains, watercourses, streams, ditches, and the like, within any such district, not being private property, shall be deemed at law to be under the control and management of the board of the district; and it shall be the duty of the board out of any money in its hands, available for such purposes, to make, establish, maintain, form and cleanse such roads, bridges, wharves, ferries, drains, watercourses, streams, and ditches." 7. "The Governor in Council may from time to time authorise any such board to levy rates upon all lands, buildings, and tenements within its district; and may make regulations for tho due and impartial

levying and collection thereof, and for limiting the amount of Buch rates to levied in one year ; and may alter or revoke any such regulations, and such rates shall be expended in the workß and for the purposes hereinbefore, described, and for the payment of the salaries of the officers of the board, and all other expenses incident to the' proper transaction of its busines." If such a system had been in operation in "Westport, we should not have been in the wretched plight we are now, respecting our river bank, wharves, roads, &c. The establishment if Municipal Institutions h.s also been urged, and no doubt would be very beneficial, at all events, anything would be better than this comparative state of inaction, whereby property ie being' sacrificed, and roads neglected and suffered to fall into a useless state for the want of a little money being ex'pended on them at the right time. The Nelson Government, we grant, have done much for Westport, but time must elapse in any case, before any wo k can be undertaken, not only cm account of the distance, but by reason of the forms and ceremonies necessary, before any work can be undertaken. Surveyors have to visit the place, make an inspection, and send in a report • the cost has then to be considered, and the probable temper of the Provincial Council taken into account, or may be that the Executive do not consider themselves warranted in going to any expense without the consent of the general body,—all this takes time, and in the meanwhile half a town may be washed away or the roads of a district rendered ; useless. It is all nonsense to talk about " demanding from the Provincial Council" and *' insisting as a right," as some of the speakers talked about at ' the meeting on Monday night. If the majority of the Council did not choose to comply with the demands—what then ? Let us take action in the matter and solicit the management of our own affairs, till then and not till then can we expect Westport to obtain that position to which it is entitled. Westport may be the port of the West Coast, but without accommodation, or without having the means of providing accommodation, it might just as well be no port at all.