The Hawera Star. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1933. LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION.

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 27 September 1933, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1933. LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION.

Delivered every evening by 5 o’clock in Hawera Manaia, Kaupokonui, Otakeho Oeo, Pihama, Opunake, . Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Ngaere, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Te Kiri,' Mahoe, Lowgarth, Manutahi, Kakaramea, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Whenuakura, Waverley, Afokoia, Whakamara, , Ohangai, Mereinere, Fraser, Road and Ararhta-

As a result of the pressure of public’ opinion, following upon the publication of the Naiiopial Expenditure Commissioin’s report, the Government has at last signified its intention to appoint a Royal Commission, to investigate the possibilities of reducing the costs of local govermnen't in New Zealand. The taxpayer would be wise, however, not to* indulge himself in dreams o-f reduced costs omd lowered faxes, for the indications aire that the Government has no indention of going out of its way to meet trouble in this connection. The president of the Associated Chambers Of Commerce the other day forecast that the proposed eommisSiooi will be restricted by its order of reference to the counties and the rural districts they embrace and that, as far as municipalities, power boards, metropolitan drainage and tramway boards are concerned the order to the commission is “hands off.” It may be assumed that the president Of the Associated Chambers was not merely guessing when he gave utterance to his statement and that his forecast is an accurate summary of the order of reference. It may be also assumed' that, the commission having done its work, there will elapse a considerable period of time before the Government begins to carry out any reforms that may be recommended. The Dominion has had an unhappy experience of commissions in general. In many eases the results of their labours never see the light of day, but are burled away in places where they can be depended upon to. lie undisturbed. There is* now, in the archives of our Parliament, more than one report on the cost of local body administration and at least onie of them is over thirty years old. A re-reading of the Hansard reports of the period reminds one that all the arguments in. favour of amalgamation, con trail sat ion under provincial local body government, systems, and so oni are hoary with age, and that the objections to any reforms arc ms weak to-day a)s they wore thirty and forty fvg-o. There is b, eonsisftelncy am this that is not pleasing to- those who build their hopes on the growth of an enlightened democracy, and it extends right down to the electors themselves. The people still cry aloud for economies and tax reduction®, but they are judt as jcallous of their parochial institutions as ever they were. By restricting the field of investigation of the Commission the Government lays itself open to the suspicion that, it is adopting the old political method of dodging an. unpleasant issue. If the Commission is to examine the position only in- respect of rural authorities it will concentrate its attention on a small portiloln only of the field of local government, and will simply touch the fringe of the larger problem to which attention has been- so frequently drawn. Rural government requires simplification, and investigation; of the working of the county councils in conjunction with that of such bodies as town boards, rabbit boards, river boards, drainage boards, and road boards is vdry desirable, but figures that have been cited show that an insignificant fraction of the total Dominion expenditure on locaT government is accounted for by the operation of these minor authorities. If they all went out of existence there would still be some five hundred local bodies operating through - out the country, inclusive of 125 county councils. The Commission- will presumably consider the possibilities of amalgamation of counties from the angle of a reversion to. a. larger and stronger county which was recently mentioned by the Minister of Internal Affairs as a possible basis of local government reform, but counties ' are • rather more easily created than absorbed. In the meantime hospital boards, borough councils, and other bodies which present local government, in some of it® most important aspects are to remain serenely outside the Commission’s cognisance. The expenditure olf the boroughs alone, the president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce lias pointed out, amounts at present to nearly half the total local government expenditure. It is apparent that if the scope of the Commission’s inquiry has been correctly indicated, the effectiveness of the appointment has been strangled before the Commission has begun its work.