OVER-GOVERNED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 150, 19 March 1908, Page 8

OVER-GOVERNED.

(by TEr.ECKirn—tirECiAi. ■ correspondent.) ' . Auckland, March' IS. - Commenting upon; the much-governed condition' of '•New- ZealaAd, a writer in -the "Herald" says Here we are,'with a total population' of' only ■ slightly over 900,000, and yet, if wo includo school committees, wq liavo roughly speaking about 2300 local bodies of various kinds, with a total membership 'of 14,000. These'bodies,' of course; are quite separate'< and- distinct from. tho largo and constantly-increasing list of departments of tbo Civil' Service, tho numerical growth of which; like Tennyson's brook; seems destined to-go on-for-ever.- It may bo granted that the members of all these bodies are actuated by an honest'desire to do thoir best to advance the interests of thoso-whom th'oy represent, but it can hardly be doubted that the' work performed by the great multitude of counsellors - could bo not only more economically,' but more- efficiently, carried out by one-half or one-third of the - number' of bodies. There is-a constant overlapping of duties,' and the' division- and frequent conflict of authority j which is -so often in evidence, is tho only natural result. Tho last issue of the New Zealand-Year-Book supplies some interesting figures as to tho number of local governing bodies engaged in the great task of "controlling" this newly-created Dominion. There were, when tho' latest returns' were made' up;'"'97 Counties, each of .which,- with fow exceptions (such as.Eden and Manukau), possess a; County Council. In addition to tlicso Councils, there- aro' upwards of ' 200 Road Boards arid about 400 Town Boards; as well as a, host of small country boroughs, all engaged in doing work that surely might be entrusted to the' County Councils. The number of. small'boroughs and tho proportion with a population \of-only threo figures is a groat feature of tho penchant for over-government. Thero are/in : all -some 103 municipalities in the ' two ' Islands, and ' in. no" fewer than twelvo- ! instances tho population is ■ under 1000, . whilst- in soven cases nil the ■ machinery of tho Municipal Corporations Act is callcd into requisition 'fiir the government •of .less than. GOO individuals.. The absurdity of tho whole thing, one' would think, in this enlightened age, would be as clear as the noonday sun, but still the system of multiplication of bodies, which is about as expensive and muddled as it is possible to conceivo, oontiriues to flourish in tho land-