A.—4,

140

" puted as of a capital value greater than the selection price thereof." No land held as pastoral runs only " shall, apart from any valuation which may be put on " any houses or buildings, be valued otherwise than in respect to the annual rent " thereof." The permanent endowments are the same as those under the Local Government Act, during the first five years double the rates raised, and subsequently pound for pound. The Governor in Council may advance loans to any Divisional Fund to be spent on permanent works, the plans and specifications of which have been first approved by the same authority. Loans are limited to an amount the interest on which at five per cent, is equal to the net revenue arising from works already constructed by loan, added to the rates collected in the year then last past, and the Treasurer is to deduct the interest on the loans from the annual endowments of the Board. All accounts are to be audited by the Auditor-General, or such officer of his staff as he appoints, at least once in every year, and if the books and accounts are negligently kept, or are falsified, the Colonial Treasurer is to withhold any further payment of endowment until they are kept to the Auditor-General's satisfaction. Pursuant to this Act the Audit Office has prepared all the forms of books and accounts, which are to be kept by the Divisional Boards by double-entry , and has issued full instructioas as to the manner in which they are to be kept. It has further taken the accounts of one Board for the year, and printed them in full, as detailed in the general cash-book and ledger, so as to present a complete specimen of the mode in which the entries are to be made. It will be observed that the accounts of Municipalities are not required by the Act to be inspected by the Audit Office, but may be so at any time by order of the Government; and they will, I believe, in future be all inspected by the Audit Office. On the other hand, whilst the accounts of the Divisional Boards are subject to the Audit Office, there is no special power to proceed against individual members of the Boards, or to do more than to stop the payments of endowments. There are at present seventeen Municipalities and seventy-five Divisional Boards.

The local government of South Australia is provided for by four Acts (1) the Municipal Corporations Act of 1861, with several short amending Acts, (2) the Main Roads Act of 1874, (3) the District Councils Act of 1876; and (4) the Waterworks Act of 1874. 1. The Municipal Corporations Act applies to the City of Adelaide and certain other towns having Corporations, but the Governor may, on. a petition from not less than two-thirds of the ratepayers of any district, proclaim it to be a Corporation under the Act, with certain modifications, so as to be suitable to the proposed borough. Every resident in the colony of full age, who is owner or occupier of any land or buildings, and whose name appears in the assessment roll, is entitled to be enrolled on the " citizens' roll," and may vote, or be elected to any office, at any election, provided that he has paid all rates payable at the time of his application to be enrolled. The Council consists of the Mayor and two Councillors for each ward, and on the Ist of December the Mayor and one Councillor for each ward, and the Auditors, go out of office. Any person elected to be Mayor, and not accepting office, is liable to a penalty of £50; and any Councillor or Auditor to a penalty of £25, and the same penalties are payable upon vacancy of office by absence from meetings, in the case of the Mayor for one month, and of Councillors for three months, and of Auditors for six months, but the Council may remit or reduce

South AtTSTBAIiXA,

Municipal Corporations.