LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 417, 25 November 1911, Page 5

LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL.

PROMISED NEXT SESSION. The long promised Local Government Bill is at last to be presented to the public in the shape of a measure containing no less than fi2-; clauses. Speaking at the luncheon tendered to him by the Taumarunui Borough Council on Wednesday the Prime Minister stated the. Bill was now ready. It bad required so much careful consideration that he had thought it advisable not to circulate it until after the general elcetion. The Bill would take quite a session for proper consideration by Parliament, and he thought representatives of the local bodies should have the opportunity of meeting in Wellington to discuss its provisions prior to its introduction in Parliament, lie was anxious to have it considered calmly and dispassionately, no as to plan for New Zealand a system which would meet the requirements of the central Government, by removing from it a great deal of the detail regarding the carrying on of important, works, such as required a strong financial basis. Every one of the 524 clauses in the Bill was necessary, anil his hearers would see that every consideration had been given to the matter. j Every previous proposal to reform the local government system had been beset by the difficulty of interfering with existing institutions, but the new Bill wuoid enable local government affairs to be carried on more effectively. It would take a whole session to consider the question, but the time would be well spent, for it was necessary to give greater powers to the people to carry on their local affairs with a corresponding withdrawal from the central organisation of many duties devoting on the party