The Star. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1882. LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume III, Issue 255, 31 May 1882, Page 2

The Star. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1882. LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

The circular to local bodies admits that the government of municipalities, towns, and villages under the Municipal Cor{>orations and Town Districts Acts needs ittle amendment. It might be worth while, before proceeding further, to consider why this is so, and to endeavor to gain a lesson therefrom, which should guide the Government and Parliament m their efforts to introduce a generally satisfactory scheme for rural bodies. The first thing which strikes the observer is that both boroughs and towns are, under the Acts referred to, independent bodies: performing all their functions without danger of coming into collision with any other local governing body; having their own well-defined duties and powers. As Major Atkinson has truly said, it will tax the energies and abilities of all tho members on both sides of tho House, to introduce a scheme which shall prove generally acceptable ; but if a lesson is to be derived from the comparatively satisfactory condition of boroughs and towns, it is tbis, that simplicity and individuality of functions should be insisted upon. Under no circumstances are two working staffs necessary, so whether road boards or counties undertake the duty of road management, under no circumstances should both be allowed to exist alongside one another. If the law required districts to choose between counties and road boards, one step towards simplicity and unity would have been secured.