THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT QUESTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1731, 24 January 1885, Page 17

THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT QUESTION.

There cannot be any doubt that the question of tho day — upon the treatment of which the very existence of the Government will depencl next session —is that of local government. Pledges have been given, and their redemption will be exacted, that a large comprehensive scheme should be submitted. Judging from, the many public utterances of the Premier, there is no reason to suppose that he will suffer the opportunity afforded by his position ta pasß withont giving effect to the universal cry of New Zealand; and it is particularly fortunate that the author of the Abolition of Provinces Bill— Sir Julius Vogel— and the champion of Provincialism — Mr Stout — are both in office at this juncture. The two ex. tremes have met, and, to use a phraae born rowed from the pharmacopoeia, each will act aa a corrective of the other. What is wanted and expected, is not a return to Provincialism, but an extension of the county system, and an enlargement . of the powers vested in county councils. It cannot with justice be said that the county system has been wholly a failure. On the contrary, so far as the powers entrusted to county councils have permitted those bodies to act, it has been successful. Since their inauguration more roads have been made and more bridges built in the ipterior, and indeed throughout Otago, than ever were made and built before or since the first Gettlers landed. Of their own voluntary action iha counties have abolished bridge and ferry tolh aud turnpikes. The benefits thus, and iv many other ways, conferred by the action of tho county councils will be cheerfully rec ign a d by the travelling public at all events j aud yet there is a widespread feeling of dissatisfaction, engendered by the inherent weakness of the system of local government in vogue. Taken at their best, the phrase " local government" is misapplied when used in relation to county councils. They are only enlarged road boards, and of real true local government power they do not posseßß even the shadow.' Even within their limited powers they are unneceßsarily hampered by having to

obtain the sanction of Ministers— or, more correctly speaking, of under-sccretaries —at Wellington, who oannot be suspected of having any knowledge of the matters referred to them. Even the revenues of the counties •re insecure. The Atkinson Ministry deliberately deprived them of laud revenue and subsidies which bad been guaranteed for & certain period by statute — a direct act of repudiation. It follows that the gold revenue and contributions from tho fund for the payment of rates on Crown lands are only paid on sufferance ; and that a dishonest Ministry may also deprive; them of theie on the same plea of publio exigency; that was used on the former occasion.-' Of^'eourse these things were not done without the consent of Parliament, but every Parliament is pretty much what the dominant 'patty desires it to be. Men and members will go to great lengths to keep their *' party" in office ; therefore we cay the county revenues are merely retained on sufferance. If this were the worat— bad enough aB Buoh a condition of affairs undoubtedly is— the evil might be borne in the hope that Parliament would refuse to assent to any further spoliation of the counties. But it is not the worat. There ie an absolute lack of local authority which i» most prejudicial to tho country, and the people who make the oountry. And this extends beyond the narrow limits of the counties. It affeots all New Zealand, and all the people in the Colony. Tho time of Parliament is taken up by the consideration of petty local affairs to the exclusion, or brief consideration, of matters of vastly,' greater importance to the community at large.' "Was I," askad a member of the House a few sessions ago, " sent here by my constituents to discußs such questions as the erection of a pump at the Thames, or the digging of a drainage ditch at Christchurch ? " Assuredly he was not elected for any such purpose. But the time of members and the House fa largely taken up inch irrelevant matters, which could be much better and more satisfactorily dealt with by local authorities. Yet so tenacious are Ministers — or their secretaries — of power that they resist' the most reasonable demands for referring business to the local bodies. Thus a committee in 1883 drafted regulations for the disposal of voteß of money as rewards to prospectors, and in 1884 the same Committee — composed mostly of new men — repeated the recommendations of their predecessors, nothing having been done in the interval. The present Government has adopted the regulations framed by the Committee, omitting the essential element that the consideration of applications for rewards should be relegated to a local board to be appointed by the Governor — the Warden being ex officio a member. As a result, applicants must go to Wellington to Wellington to prosecute their claims. There are scores of similar illustrations of the present system of government.

It iB understood— in fact it baa been so stated publicly by Mr Bam,anoe at Wanganui — that the Premier will unfold the views of bis Government on this momentous question when be addresses a Dunedin audience. It is to be hoped that he will restrain any ultraprovincialist proclivities. The true solution of the problem is to be found in the rigid application of one word — Decentralisation. We believe we utter the general sentiment of all colonists when we say tbat Parliament must be divested of its inferior powers: that these powers must be conferred on local bodies ; that the geographical limits of the counties, or local governing bodies, must be largely extended; and that adequate, and even ample, revenues must be appropriated for their use by Act of Parliament. Anything short of this will be a failure, and a disappointment to tbat considerable portion of the public which lives beyond the towns and their suburbs. These should not be included in any new mode of local government, for the reason tbat they have full powers tor their own purposes now, and ifc would be simply a renewal of Provincialism in its worst aspect to suffer the dwellers in tho towns to have a preponderating influence in the affairs of the country districts, as they necessarily would have if inelnded, by reason of their immense majority of population. Not long since Mr Stout, if our memory is correct, suggested the division of Otago into local governments having the game boundaries as the educational districts. There could not be a more fatal mistake than to adopt this suggestion. The educational districts are two only— Dunedin and Southland. This would mean simply a return to Provincialism, which it is certain would be resented and bitterly opposed by the outlying districts. These will not give up to a public body sitting in Dunedin their present rights— slender as they are — of local self government. There are diverse interests and communities of interest which will have to be considered and respected in any future arrangements. Otago does net end at the Waitaki, nor Southland at the Mataura. The North and South portions of the Provincial District are each entitled to a separate local government. So, also, is Central Otago ; and then the counties which are not situated within either of these sections will be left to form a government of their own, having mutual interests. Thus roughly we assume the province should be divided into 'four counties ; but of course it ehould be left to every county or part of any county to declare within which local governing district it desires to be looated. It is not for us to suggest how this should be done. The outlines being fixed there will be little trouble in filling in the details.

The second point for consideration is the degree of extension and limitation of the powers which shall be conferred upon or rested in the proposed local bodies. The larger the population, and the more extensive the area of the local governing districts, the larger and more extensive should be the powers entrusted to the governing bodies. It would be supremely ridiculous to enlarge the counties, for instance, without at the same time enlarging their functions. And in fact there is not any necessity for interfering with the existing counties at all. It is only their status that requires alteration. What road boards are relatively to county councils now, county councils should be to the local governing bodies of the future. In other words, the area of jurisdiction and the powers conceded sfruld be duly proportioned each to the . hr. It is impossible, therefore, even to ss^est what should be the limits of authority until the geographical limits have been determined.

But, whatever may ultimately be done in these respects, there iB one cardinal point which must be insisted upon if any good is to come of the reconstitution of our local governing Byßfcem. The authority of the new governing bodies must be absolute and final. There must not be any references to Wellington in regard to matters of administration, but „each local body roust bo complete and intact in and of itself. Responsibility and authority must go together, or no beneficial outcome can result. As an example of the way in which county councils are at present hampered by restrictions jealously imposed on them, presumedly by the opponents of the county system of local government, reference may fitly be made to the clauses of the Land Act dealing with de-ferred-payment sections, xt w provided, that

one-third of the payments from this source shall be devoted to the construction of roads in the block ; but before the counties can obtain payment of the third, they must submit plans for proposed works for tho approval of a land board sitting in some coastal town— say Dun c Un — the members of which cannot reasonably be supposed to have any knowledge of the Bpeoial requirements of the settlers. Thus a local body, which is diroefcly responsible to the ratepayers for tha expenditure of publicmoneys, has to ask and obtain the assent and sanction of a distant and wholly irresponsible body be fore it oan obtain funds for executing necessary pubiio works. Numerous similarly absurd reBtrietions might ba quoted, but we torbear. It is sufficient to say that no system will be acceptable to the country which doea not leave local governing bodins free to act without interference in respect of all things affecting the interests of the resident community.

As to the general tenor of the powers and authorities to be hereafter vested in local governing bodies, it may be sufficient here to say that they should be both legislative and administrative. It is of slight import whether Acts of local legislation are termed " ordinances" or "bye-laws," so long as they have the force of law. And there cannot be any objection to the more important of these being rendered subject to the veto of the Governor-in-Council, as were most of the old Provincial Ordinances. , The main spring is that the legislative powers of the local governing bodies should be as wido and extensive as can in fairness be claimed, so as to remove from the Parliament the necessity of considering matterß of purely local import, A very strong exemplification of this argument may be found in the tedious and wearisome debates about Dog Registration Acts, Fencing Acts, and the Imponnding Act — the last-named of which was only suffered to pass last si3sion by the concession of introducing special clauses affecting Nelson, MarlborougE, and Westland. It has been repeatedly shown that no two Provincial Districts are of one mind on these and kindred subjects, for the obvious reason that the circumstances of each are bo entirely diverse as to require different legislation for each. Scores of illustrations of the same nature could be cited were it necessary. Perhaps nothing is more indicative of the confusion of ideas which beset the framcrs of the original Counties Act than the crude absurdities compressed into the clauses granting certain legislative powers to county councils. Thus they are solemnly empowered to regulate the use of market-places where no markets are held, to provide for the inspection of abattoirs where no abattoirs exist, to authorise the construction of tramways where there is a difficulty in maintaining an ordinary road, and to enact byelaws for the management of recreation reserves which are vested in other local bodies.

Much discretion, and some of the wisdom begotten of experience, will be requisite in the framing of any measure which shall give satisfaction to the Colony. The Parliament has tried its " 'prentice-hand " on the county system without very much success. The touch of the master-hand is now wanted. A second failure would be disastrous. A success — even though it be only a partial success — will establish the reputation of the Ministry that achieves it. Indeed, paradoxical as it sounds, partial success would be the most successful, for there is much need of caution in the handling of this business. If only the local governing bodies are framed on a sufficiently elastic basis, their powers can be extended as occasion serves and future .exigencies may demand. It will take some time before our people can recover from the cramping effects of the existing system.' Local government has been so belittled, and the revulsion from provincial government haß been so great, that the people will require some schooling before they will be fitted for the discharge of enlarged powers of the nature indicated. Nevertheless there will be much dissatisfaction if their faculty for self-govern-ment is not put to the test. Not that their possession of that faculty is doubted, but becausa its due development has baen checked by the absolutism of Wellington centralisation upon even trivial matters. Who can question the fact that this centralising system has had a depressing effect on all enterprise ? Our roads and other local public works have indeed been benefited by the change from Provincialism ; but the self-reliance of our psople has been emasculate^, if not altogether destroyed ? Any new form of looal government, if it is to ba efficacious, must aim at restoring the feeling of self-reliant independence with whioh the people were formerly imbued, and no system failing in this respect can or will be permanently successful.