Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1940. DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION.

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 December 1940, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1940. DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION.

W HEN the war is won, there will be many problems to solve, and great readjustment will be essential in international, national and local administrative affairs. The problem of finance, in itself, will be stupendous, and for years it will not be easy for Overseas to borrow from Britain, whose remaining resources will be required by herself: The need for economy will be general, and many projects, good in themselves per-

haps, will have to be deferred un til money is available. Prudence suggests that knowing what musi come, a start cannot be made toe soon, to conserve funds, but oi this there is no sign. On the contrary, administrative expenditure is increasing throughout the Dominion, and to make the position worse, less is being obtained foi the outlay, owing to the higher costs. .

One change that may come through the pressure of post-war circumstances, is the candidature to a greater extent than exists .today, of men really qualified to control national and local administration. There are some to-day, on all local bodies, who 'Combine experience with the desire to serve, but the proportion ,of those in the Parliament and district councils and boards, who have

little real , qualification for the tasks they undertake, is by no means small. Their own politics, or apathy of others, account for the election of those unsuitable, and it is no surprise that public debt and expenditure have grown enormously, under amateur or reckless administration. Public bodies are now for the most part “big businesses,” and it is wrong that the unqualified should run them. This aspect was referred to recently, by Mr. M. H. Oram when speaking to the Palmerston North Rotary Club on political service and its relation to the State. He said: “You can’t foist yourself on an unsuspecting public in any other profession. You cannot control the financial resources of an institution by just ‘tickling the ears of the groundlings.’ ” It is interesting to note in connection with public body administration, that the Christchurch City Council will submit the following remit at the annual municipal conference in March next: ‘ ‘ That the Government be requested to make provision in the Municipal Corporations Act for the payment of fixed allowances to members of city and borough councils or, as an alternative, that provision be made for members of» city or bor- 1 ough councils to be compensated for monetary loss resulting from time lost from their permanent employment while attending -to the business of the council.” The proposal has its merits, but will not necessarily remove the defects in the present position. If councillors are to be paid for their services, the door will be opened wider to the “professional,” just as payment to Parliamentarians has done, and the probability is that expenditure will increase rather than diminish. Economy rarely attracts votes. The remit may revise the proposal to substitute qualified Town Managers—as in some U.S.A, cities —for councillors. There are few ratepayers who are satisfied with the present state of affairs, but at next year’s elections, it is unlikely that sufficient energy and interest will be aroused to bring about drastic reform.