The N.Z. Mail PUBLISHED WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1904. LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1680, 11 May 1904, Page 49

The N.Z. Mail PUBLISHED WEEKLY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1904. LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM.

It is doubtless a necessary incident of democratic rule that a large number of citizens must be prepared to render honorary service to the State; but it is possible to carry this principle to an extreme that makes the duty oppressive, and leads to the substance of democratic control being lost, while the form remains. New Zealand, the home of the most advanced democracy, provides abundant examples, in her local governing system, of the excessive use of democratic formulae, with the result that the people have really less control of affairs than is the case in some other countries. Our local governing bodies number thousands,, and include tens of thousands of individuals, all supposed to be engaged in managing the business of some 800,000 people. There are Councils, Boards and Committees to look after every separate public duty. Each little district has three or four of these bodies, and the result is matter of

notoriety. • The interest of the electors cannot be sustained in the numerous elections that take place; there are only a limited number of people possessed of the leisure and inclination to undertake the duties of membership; and the consequence is that in most cases the work of local government falls into the hands of a limited coterie, who hold a controlling position in each body, with practical continuity of office. It is, in the circumstances, very creditable to New Zealand as a people that local government is carried on with such a .ugh degree of efficiency and freedom from scandals as is the case.

The necessity for reducing the number of public bodies has for years been recognised, but Parliament and Ministers have shrunk from the task of passing a comprehensive measure to amalgamate some of the different Boards and Councils. Speaking at Hokitika some months ago, the Premier touched on the subject, and intimated his intention of bringing down a Bill next session, applicable to Westland only, to combine the functions and reduce the number of local bodies. This, he said, was by way of experiment, prior to legislating in the same direction for the whole colony, it would, in our opinion, be better to attack the problem in a different way. If the change is for the better, every part of the country ought at once to have the benefit of it; if the benefit is doubtful, the people of Westland may well resent being made the subject of am experiment. The Government, apparently, still shirks the heiculean labour of reforming the whole system, aind would prefer to’ tackle the question piecemeal. In that case, we submit it might bo better to bring down separate Bills dealing with different divisions of local government. For example, one measure might include county and road district bodies; another, municipal councils and licensing committees; a third, hospital and charitable aid boards, benevolent trustees laond similar bodies. In this way the whole anight be covered ar the course of a few year®, and our local governing system brought within reasonable limits.

The department of local government that calls most clamantly for reform in the direction indicated is that connected with the administration of the education system. The multiplicity cf bodies dealing with education, from the elementary schools up to the universities, is really staggering. We have TJ'niversiity Senate, University College Councils, High School Boards, Technical School Boards and School Commissioners. Then we come to the thirteen Boards of Education that have the oversight of the sixteen to seventeen hundred public primary schools; and after these we Loseparate school committees for each kittle district, and for* each separate school in the cities. There must he over five hundred school committees in the country, and if we allow only the minimum anembership of five to each committee, we have 2500 persons devoting part of their time to this single branch of local government. The number of people so engaged is actually much larger, bub we wish u> avoid over-stating the case. What are the duties of those committees, and how are the members elected'F The duties are of the most trivial and almost menial character. Practically, all that the school committees do is to look after the cleaning of the school and premises, the furnishing of the playgrounds and similar work. The funds supplied to them for these purposes are, in most cases, miserably inadequate, and when any additional expenditure is thought advis»able, such as to provide a school library or give the pupils a picnic, the members of the committee organise an entertainment or go round with f, bhe hat.”

Such being the case, is it to be malrvelled at that comparatively few people offer themselves for election to these .committees? As a matter of fact, the experience in most districts is that the same members are re-elected year after year. They are supposed to he chosen by the householders, male and female, off the particular district, or by the parents of children attending a particular school; bpt in nearly every instance only a small number of people take any interest in the election; the whole proceedings are, indeed, the veriest travesty of popular control. The moist important duty of the school committees is the election of the Boards of Education. The net result is that the latter bodies, which are supposed by indirect, popular vote to be representative of

the parents and householders, represent hut an insignificant minority. Another duty oast [upon the school committees is a power of 'consultation with the Boards of Education as to the appointment of teachers. This consultation, when it is any more than a mere formality, is a fruitful cause of friction and dissatisfaction; for the Boards have power to act in opposition to the advice of the committees, whose privilege of “consultation” is thereby reduced to

an absurdity. The whole method of controlling the public schools ought to be altered; and this ooukl he done by a measure that would neither alter any of the essential features of the education system nor open the door to debates about Bible-reading, conscience clauses and the like. A desirable reform would be effected by reducing the number of school committees and extending their powers ill some directions. There is no reason why two school committees should not suffice for the whole of Wellington city. In many country districts, too, several committees could very well be amalgamated. If their scope were enlarged, the people would at once begin to tako an active interest in the election of members. The matter of school attendance, including the appointment and direction of truant officers, might very well be placed in the hands of school committees. In this connection, we are pleased to note that following upon our recent inquiry into school attendance in the city and our remarks thereon, the Wellington Board of Education has appointed a truant officer to remedy the state of things to which we drew aittenition. It is our belief that - matters would net have been allowed to drift so long had the duty of enforcing regular , attendance been cast upon the school committees. In no other country that ■we know of is there such a complex and involved method of control in the public education system. The intention of the framers of the Education Act was to place the schools under the control of popularly-elected bodies; but the, machinery has been proved ineffective, and ought now to be amended. We trust* the Ministry and Legislature will take the subject of local government reform into early and earnest consideration, aind will begin the work without further delay.