Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLDFIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, August, 27 '95.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXVII, Issue 1374, 27 August 1895, Page 4

Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLDFIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, August, 27 '95.

' The Local Government Bill which was promised before the session opened has at length made its appearance in the House; and although a copy of the measure has not yet reached us, the admirable precis of the bill, which appears in Friday's DaMy Times affords an ample field from which to view the wondrous change which is sought to be effected in the administration of local government. The preface to the bill sets forth that the chief purpose aimed at is to prune and simplify the present over-grown and unwieldy system of local' government, an attempt which, whether laudable and commendable, or otherwise, is, so far at least as the pruning is concerned, carried out to the utmost possible extent by the framer of the measure. The plea which is set up in warranty of the proposed change is that, by diminishing the number, and increasing the area and control of local authorities, the cost of administration can be raa< terially decreased—by one half it is claimed. At first sight, no doubt, this appears not only to be the likely issue of the operation of the proposed measure, but also the most desirable of results. We are told in the preface, already referred to, thatvthe number of

local bodies of all sorts now in existence exceeds 550. The cost of management alone is set down at, in some cases, as high as 60 per cent, of the revenue, although for the credit of most of our existing bodies, let us hope that this is exceptional. These figures, none the less, however, look formidable, and afford primd facie proof, of the necessity of a change of some sort. They are sufficiently convincing, at any rate, to induce an analysis of the figures and an introspection of the surrounding circumstances to which the present local bodies are amenable. As a general principle, the contention is correct that the cost of administration of our local bodies, in the aggregate, is far in excess of what may fairly be laid down as the average cost in settled districts in the Old World for instance. The conditions, however, of local government in the Old Country and local government in a comparatively new colony like New Zealand are as diametrically opposite as the poles. A comparison; therefore, between the two is hardly likely to lead to rational conclusions. Population may be made the basis of local government control here, and without question a so called saving may be made in the cost of administration ; but it is more than probable that this result would be attained at the cost of efficiency. The county system at present, embraces for the greater part sparsely populated districts, within the limits of whose boundaries in many instances, could very 'easily ■be accommodated two or three of the smaller sized German principalities. These vast areas are no longer dominated by a couple of sqnatters and a few hundred thousand sheep, but all over their area are distributed settlements varying in size, from the self-governed borough of from 400 to 600 inhabitants to the Colonial equivalent of the English hamlet or the Scottish clachan, with its dozen or half-dozen habitations ; while dotted here and there the number of " hatters' " huts spread out the thin streak of settlement to still more extended limits—each and all, however, demanding road communication and traffic facilities- equal almost to the thickly populated country centres in Old World life. These innumerable small settlements, it must be remembered, are the germs of larger growths. They need nourishing and careful nursing to pilot them from infancy to manhood, and it is for the most part only by a careful attention to their wants that this result can hope to be attained. At piesent many of these settlements are situated from 20 to 40 miles from the seat of local government. To further remove them would not tend certainly to their advancement. After all too, the question to be considered is not so much a matter of per centages—that is to say the relative proportion which administration bears to revenue—as it is one of work being done, where, and when required. We think that it is only fair to admit that the county system has, under the many disabilities which it has had to labor in respect to restricted revenue, done wonders in the cause of settlement. Any fault which may be found with the system cannot be laid aHts door, but at the doors of different governments which, ' while looking to it to carry out large public works in roading and bridging, have gradually narrowed down assistance from the consolidated revenue to the vanishing point almost. With respect to boroughs governments within a government ■ — of , them it may be said, we think, that they perform a remarkably useful function in the shape of sanitation and water supply alone. The proposal to absorb them into an extended county system must mean diminished supervision and consequent impaired attention to the wants of these more closely inhabited centres. The offshoots of local government, to witlicensing, hospital and charitable aid, river and road boards, etc., etc., might well be added to the duties of counties and boroughs; but we doubt whether any interference with the two latter would prove anything but prejudicial to the interests of the community. We have not referred to the provisions of the proposed measure in detail, firstly, because the full text of the bill is not before us, and to comment upon them with the somewhat partial information available might lead to error and misapprehension; secondly, the limits of a single article are totally inadequate to deal with so large a measure. We will return to the subject next week when we hope to enter fully into all the provisions of the bill; meantime, we hope we have indicated the position which we intend to assume in its criticisn, viz., one of opposition to any too drastic dislocation of local government control. The question is a large one, calling for grave consideration by our legislators and by the people, and by the latter more especially in view of the effects of centralisation since the abolition of the provinces.