"FAR TOG MANY."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 290, 8 December 1932, Page 8

"FAR TOG MANY."

LOCAL AUTHORITIES. ENGLISHMAN'S COMMENT. EXAMPLE OF BIRMINGHAM. "Everybody in Birmingham regards* New Zealand as an El Dorado* but I'm afraid some of them have become sadly disillusioned," said Mr. John Thaeker, a member of the City Council of Birmingham, England, who is now in Auckland. Mr. Thaeker, who is keenly interested in Empire settlement, and represents many social organisations in Great Britain, is- on a tour of the Dominion. "With a population of 1,505,000, Birmingham is the second city in Great Britain," ho said, "and that population includes agricultural as well as industrial pursuits, for Birmingham is approximately 14 miles in diameter. We manage the whole of this area with one authority—the Birmingham City Council. I'm afraid you have far too many local authorities in this country. This, and the multiplicity of banks, must necessarily be a great handicap to the development of any country. It simply means that land can never be cheap." Mr. Thaeker said he was also firmly convinced that New Zealand had been too much devoted to national and municipal trading. "A certain degree of national control is necessary," he said, "but on the whole, industry of every kind is better left to individual control and enterprise. Until that is done, things will never come down to their true value. In New Zealand you have ten times as many banks as we have,in Birmingham, and you have far too many local authorities." Mr. Thacker's tour embraces Christcliurch, Wellington, Auckland and Gisborne, and is expected to last, about ten weeks, during which time he will renew acquaintances made during liis previous visits in 1921 and 1030.