LOCAL BODY SYSTEM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21296, 24 September 1932, Page 13

LOCAL BODY SYSTEM

REORGANISATION SCHEME COMMISSION NOT FAVOURED MINISTER TO CALL MEETING [by telegraph—special reporter] WELLINGTON. Friday Although his efforts to secure a reorganisation of bodies in New Zeal land had temporarily to be abandoned when he took over the difficult portfolio of Employment upon the departure of "the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates for Ottawa, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. A. Hamilton, expects to bo able to give attention to the question during the present session. Answering an inquiry to-day, Mr. Hamilton said that although there had been great agitation for a local body commission, he personally believed that the public was rather tired of commissions and committees. A regional planning scheme for the Dominion had been prepared and he hoped to secure its adoption by gentler means than legislation. The public mind was prepared for a reorganisation of local bodies and he thought that local bodies themselves would join enthusiastically in the scheme if the position was clearly represented to them. "Mr. Coates has intimated that he will shortly resume the portfolio of Employment, which has kept me very fully occupied since last session," said Mr. Hamilton. "I hope shortly to call meeting of members of Parliament interested in local body affairs to see if we can initiate a scheme to deal with the local body problem. This would give tho scheme a start and later we could call meetings in each of the regional areas into which the Dominion has been divided. "Methods of this kind would, I am sure, be preferable to setting up a commission and bringing its recommendations before Parliament for legislation."

FEWER BANK ACCOUNTS SAVINGS IN POST OFFICE MORE CLOSED THAN OPENED [BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL >EPORTER] WELLINGTON, Friday It was perhaps a sign of the times that in the year ended March 31, 1932, for the first time since the Post Office Savings Bank was established in 1867, the number of accounts closed exceeded the number opened. Figures quoted in the annual statement, which was tabled in the House of Representatives to-day, show that while 78,674 new accounts were opened, 79,627 were closed. The number of deposits received during the year was fewer by nearly 300,000 than the number received in the previous year, and the amount was less by £5,000,000. 'Withdrawals for the year exceeded deposits by £6,024,095. The average amount of eaoh deposit was £l3 14s 6d, which was lower than in any year since 1908, while the average amount of each withdrawal was reduced from £l9 Is to £l6 12s. - , ... The total amount standing to the credit of all accounts at March 31, 1932, inclusive of interest, was £43,255,499, compared with a maximum of nearly £49,000,000 in 1927.

LOW DEATH RATE DOMINION FIGURE FOR 1931 FEWER INFECTIOUS DISEASES [BY TELEGRAPH —SPEdAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Friday In spite of the Hawke's Bay earth--quake, which caused 260 deaths, the crude death rate last year fell to 8.34 per 1000 of mean population, a figure which is beaten only by the record low rates in 1924 and 1923, /tates the annual report of the Health Department, which was presented in the House of Representatives to-day. The total number of deaths was 12,047, compared with 12,199 in the previous year, a decrease of 152. New Zealand has a very low general but owing to the steadily-reducing birth rate, the annual natural increase of population is only 1 pei 1 cent. The principal causes of death were itemised as follows: —Heart disease (all forms), 2817; apoplexy or cerebral hemorrhage, 634; diseases of arteries, 420. The report states that an outstanding feature,- noteworthy over many years, is that the death rates from common infectious diseases appear to show a steady and definite reduction. The greatest example is typhoid fever. A five-year average taken *SO years ago gave a mortality more than 40 times that for the five years ended 1931. The report expresses the hope that the restoration of economic balance can be achieved in order that the beneficent influence over many years of a steady improvement in nutrition and hygienic environment of poorer people will not bo greatly lessened. A noteworthy sign of the times was that the deaths from suicide had increased from 193 in 1930 to 226 in 1931. THREE PRIVATE BILLS [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Friday The following bills were introduced in the House of Representatives to-day and read a first time: —The Carterton Borough Council and Wairarapa South County Council Empowering (the Hon. A. D. McLeod), the Meat Export Control Amendment (Mr. W. J. Poison), and the Akaroa Cocksfoot Seed (Mr. J. McCombs).