LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT.
SATUBDAY, JUNE 11, 1881.
The diligent reader of his newspaper, who ia equal to the task of wading through the somewhat dry reporta of the meetings of the local bodies throughout the district, must have been struck by the mass of difficulties thrown in their way by the Legislature. Acts of Parliament, originally intended for their guidance, are amended and re-amended, year after year, until their own authors are quite in a fog, aa to how the law stands, on the Bubject. Take, for instance, the Public Works Act, passed in 1876, which was supposed to sweep away all prior legislation, and leave the field clear for a new start. The field was not left clear for very long: the Act was tinkered with in 1878; and in order, if possible, to make confusion worse confounded, the Legislature went behind the 1876 Act and re-enacted certain clauses, relating to the Bay of Islands Railway, in one of the old Acts, which had been repealed in 1876. Ever since 1878— viz., in 1879 and 1880— the Public Works Act has been again and again amended, with what result we recently attempted to show when dealing with the question of a road taken for a rail* way at Normanby, by the Publio Works Department. It then appeared that conflicting clauses had been inadvertently passed, and that the officials of the Department had astutely managed to slip a most despotic clause into the Act: acting under the authority of this clause they are trying to inflict a grosß injustice on a rising township, and hope to sue ceed in doing so without rendering themselves liable for the injury done.
It was but the other day that the Chairman of the Patea County Council, who is unusually well-read and posted in the Statutes dealing with local bodies, publicly expressed his opinion that, if a Waimate Road Board were appointed, it would be unable to levy a rate. Yet, on searching through one of the two or three amending acts of the Bating Act of 1876, we find a clause which confers the power 1 .
Again, when the matter of the recovery of unpaid rates was being discussed at the last meeting of the Hawera Town Board, a question arose whether the land of persons liable for unpaid rates could be Bold or dealt with by the local body within three years ; and though most of the members knew something. of the Eating Act of 1876, no one professed any acquaintance with the Amendment Acts, -which latter appeared not to be forthcoming.
The N/gaire Road Board and the Hawera Town Board are both of them more or less subject to Taranaki Ordinances. These have, in like manner, been amended time after time, not only by the Provincial Council, but also by the General Assembly. To find out what has to he done in order to comply with the terms of the old Ordinances, and also with the general Acts dealing with the same subject, may be a congenial task for a lawyer who is fond of unravelling a tangled skein, but is a bewildering and exasperating undertaking for any one who has never had the advantage of legal training. Besides, to add to their difficulty, the Ordinances are out of print, and most private individuals who formerly owned copies are believed to have destroyed them, becanse a study of them as amended was calculated to bring on an attack of brain fever. Consequently there is not one to be had. Take the Fencing Act, for instance, probably not one in ten of the new settlers on the Plains thoroughly understands how extremely difficult, and how costly in time and money, it may prove for him to undertake to force an unwilling absentee owner to pay half the cost of a dividing fence. It is almoßt certain to involve six weeks' delay, and may involve far more.
The instances we have adduced, all point to the necessity for reform. The chief reform needed, especially for local bodies, and one which has been advocated times out of number, is that any alteration or amendment of an Act shall be embodied in the original Act; the repealed portion being struck out, and the amendment inserted in its place, in the same way as amendments are made in committee by Parliament. A little extra cost in printing would save onehalf the legal expenses which local bodies throughout New Zealand are forced to incur, because the members are afraid to trust their own judgment when dealing with such involved and intricate statutes. Most of the illegal acts done by local bodies are done in ignorance of the exact state of the laws under which they are acting. Such ignorance is, in a measure,
excusable under the present circumstances, but would not be if copies of the laws, as amended, could be placed in the hands of every member.
Now that, through modern improvements in printing, a stereotyped copy of any Act could be easily kept on hand by the Government Printer, it would seem that the plea of great cost could hardly be urged with much force. On this point, it is difficult for any person not thoroughly acquainted with the trade to speak. The reform would be a most beneficial one ; it is probably far more practicable now than formerly, and is also one which, if local selfgovernment is to be successfully extended, deserves the careful consideration of the Legislature. Clear and explicit sailing directions are absolutely essential to the safe navigation of a ship. If the ship is to be manned and officered by amateurs, as is the case in local selfgovernment, disaster is almost certain to ensue, if the above maxim be neglected or lost sight of.
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Bibliographic details
Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume II, Issue 121, 11 June 1881, Page 2
Word Count
962LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT. SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1881. Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume II, Issue 121, 11 June 1881, Page 2
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