The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE 'SOUTHERN MERCURY.'

Otago Witness, Issue 1506, 25 September 1880, Page 17

The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE 'SOUTHERN MERCURY.'

DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, 25fch SE?Mit3ER, 1880

The cry of " Central Legislation and Local Administration. " which Mr Murray adopted the other day as part of his political platform is no new one. It has for a long time been a favourite phrase with certain politicians, and we have no fault to find with it except that it is vague and indefinite. There must, so far as we can see, be central control of Railways, as well as of Post-offices, Telegraphs, Customs, Native Affairs, Justice, and some other matters; though it may be a question whether the administration of the Waste Lands and of Education, and a number of smaller matters might not be at leasS partly localised. But even without any very great changes in our form of government, great improvement might, we are satisfied, be obtained by reorganisation. Much might be learned by a study of the system adopted after years of experience all over the world by joint-stock banks. Each district manager of a bank has large powers entrusted to him. He can give or refuse advances, and transact business with promptitude. But he is subject to inspection, and his conferences with his inspector form a guide for his operations. He makes mistakes or misuses his power, and suffers for it ; or he uses hia power well and for the advantage of the bank, and is advanced. The local heads of Government departments ought, we are sure, to occupy positions similar to managers of banks. They should not be controlled in every petty action from Wellington, or compelled to render returns of every twopenny-halfpenny transaction. Inspectors should keep them up to their work, and audit should be localised under the control of these inspectors to a very great extent. By such means freedom of action would be allowed within reasonable limits to each officer in his several department, and yet a chain of responsibility would be preserved from the lowest to tho highest. The responsibility of a subordinate department to the one immediately above it should be collective, and centred in its head, and not in the individuals of the staff. Large discretionary powers to deal with all matters within his department, without constant reference to Wellington, should be granted to odch local head. We are sure this system would work well for instance in the Railway Department, and tend greatly to increase receipts and to reduce expenditure ; while a great gain of power would result from the officers being treated as intelligent beings instead of as mere machines, and j encouraged, by prospect of promotion,

to show what is in them. This is the character of the reorganisation which is required for those departments which must, from their nature, be ultimately administered from the seat of Government. Local responsibility, and direct contact with the centre by inspection — these are the two principles that should be aimed at. And as regards other reforms, the withdrawal from the central Government of all matters which caa be well managed by existing local organisations should be a cardinal feature in any system which aims at the utmost efficiency, combined with the utmost economy. The absurdity of our present system is not ill represented by the fact that such a matter as the removal of a powder magazine has to be taken up to Wellington and made a Cabinet question, when it could be easily dealt with by a local officer like the Collector of Customs, or by a local body like the Harbour Board if committed to their charge. Endless expense and endless irritation must be caused by such a system of centralisation as this. We will summarise some of the principal propositions which have to be decided in reorganising our system :—: — 1. Shall administration be central or local?

2. If local, how local? Shall each Island, or each Provincial District, or each County be the unit 1 3. Shall public officers have full dia* cretionary powers to deal with local questions within the sphere of their authority ?

4r. How shall they be inspected and kept under control?

5. Shall the chain of responsibility to Ministers, and through Ministers to Parliament, be an individual one, or a collective departmental one ?

6. If the latter, cannot audit be greatly simplified by centring the responsibility in the local head of each department, and leaving him to provide his own checks, subject to occasional inspection 1

On the answer to such questions as these depends the adequacy of the reorganisation which the Government ia now about to undertake, and the ultimate solution of the problem, How to govern wel], and yet to govern cheaply.