The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1868.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 431, 17 December 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1868.

Mb Tyler uttered aa aphorism the other day, when he stated, at the meeting of the Progress Committee, that "it was a very important matter that Municipal Eeserves should be maintained in their integrity." It is an aphorism which, in Nelson Province, has unfortunately not received all the respect which it deserves, and the same may be said of a few other parts of New Zealand which have been distinguished by the existence of even a more lively public spirit. If we are not mis-informed, the city of Nelson itself, beautiful in its situation and its surroundings, either failed to secure, or to maintain, when secured, such a belt of land as has, in other New Zealand towns, been reserved for the use or recreation of the inhabitants. And in Wellington, what was once a public estate has been so frittered away into private hands that its existence as a public estate is scarcely recognisable. Even in Dunedin, the very custodians of public property the City Council—initiated a scheme by which one of the finest public parks in the colony would have shared the same fate; but, thanks to the spirit of the citizens, to their mass meetings, and to some of the first men in the country, including the present Attor-ney-General ,and members of the Ministry, the scheme never went beyond initiation. It does not require any exceptional experience to know that in other colonies matters of no greater public interest have led to popular demonstrations culminating in riot.

Westport has, within the past few days, furnished a similar and small —some people may think a contemptible—illustration of how public property may, without the exercise of active vigilance, be alienated from its

proper purposes. It was discovered by the Progress Committee that an application had been made for an agricultural lease of land upon the ground which was, at least, intended, if not absolutely legalised, as a Municipal Reserve. It was also known that similar applications had previously been made to the Commissioner, but had been by him wisely refused; and if the agricultural knowledge of the Committee did not justify them in stating, they were, at least, bold enough to insinuate, that the man who selected a shingle-bank for the object of an agricultural lease did not apply for what, with due regard to the spirit of agricultural leases, could be granted. With this knowledge, and, we take it for granted, with the conviction strong upon them that they were doing a public duty, and only a public duty, the Committee deputed three of their number—" all honorable men " —to comply with the law in its technicalities, and to place before the Warden a series of objections. These objections were: —

Ist, That the said land (one and a quarter acres, applied for by one Samuel Thorpe) has not been set apart for the purpose of granting agricultural leases thereon and therefor, as provided by the Gold-fields Act, 1866.

2nd, That the said land is within that area intended to be set apart as a Municipal Reserve, if not already so set apart.

3rd, That the said land is within the intended town boundaries of Westport. 4th, That the said land will be required for Municipal purposes. sth, That the said land is the only spot available as a thoroughfare from and to the bush, and will be required as such for bringing in firewood, &c.

Yesterday was the day appointed for the hearing of these objections, and of such answers as could be given to them. It was obviously a misfortune for the public understanding of the case, if not for the public interests, that the application and the objectionß were not treated as are all other cases coming under the G-oldfields' Act—that they were not heard in public court. That they were not so has certainly not satisfied the objectors, and it is, at least, presumable that it has given no more satisfaction to the public. That this exceptional course was adopted is probably easily explainable by the existence of discretionary powers on the part of the Warden, and by the existence of the belief that, to attain an understanding of a simple case of the sort, the formalities of a public court were not requisite ; especially as it resulted in being merely an inquiry preliminary to a reference of the matter to the Superintendent. We put this explanation as a probable one ; but it nevertheless remains that the case is one in which public interest is taken, and that the circumstance of its not being publicly heard is, as has been said, a misfortune. The whole question was raised, not upon personal, but upon purely public grounds, and by a body avowedly representing, not their own, but the public interests. Whatever may have been the answers which were given to the objections by the applicant, Dr Thorpe, we do not choose to retail them secondhand. They will, no doubt, be formally reported to the Progress Committee by the gentlemen who represented them, and it will be perfectly within the province of the Committee, regardless of any conclusion of the Superintendent, (to whom, we believe, the matter was referred hy the Warden) to express their opinion as to how justifiable these answers are. We do not suppose that anyone would begrudge a residence to the Medical Officer of the Hospital, but, if it be upon that plea that the application be made, let it be made with no alternative of public property finally falling into private hands, and let it be granted by the Superintendent, if at all granted, as the pro tempore trustee for the Municipal Council into whose hands the property will ultimately fall. Whether it should, under any circumstances whatever, be granted or not, remains a fair question for discussion by the Progress Committee. Even the dictum of a Superintendent, however _ supreme, cannot override the public sense of right and wrong.