TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. FRIDAY, 15th MAY, 1936. LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 52, Issue 3756, 15 May 1936, Page 6

TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. FRIDAY, 15th MAY, 1936. LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

PUBLIC opinion in New Zealand is too strongly wedded to the idea of democratic representation in local government to suggest more direct administration. All the same, it is freely recognised that there has developed considerable overlapping and wastage. The general Government has had on the stocks for several years various proposals for the review, if not the reform, of local government. Generally the Ministry speaks of a reduction in the number of governing bodies—a greater concentration of authority in larger units. In all, there are 679 local authorities functioning in New Zealand, and the aggregate of taxation levy is £6,030,479, equivalent to £3 18s 3d per head of population. Whether the quid pro quo of valus is given for this expenditure is hardly a question for discussion. The public interest is apparently well served by the retention of a democratic vote; and if people are prepared to accept whatever the franchise returns to them it seems futile to suggest that the privilege may be costing them dearly. It is rather alluring, nevertheless, to •discover how emergency dispels the popular idea. In Napier, after . the disastrous earthquake, special legislation delegated the function of a borough council to two appointees, who gave less thought to the political and more attention to the practical side of administration. Then, in 1932, the Thames Borough Commissioner Act was passed in view of the acute financial position in that borough. Similarly, the Matakaoa county was given over to a single commissioner in 1933. In these three cases a form of local authority administration was instituted out of necessity, but it is now of more than passing interest. The experience in Thames borough is illuminating. When the commissioner, Mr C. L. Grange, took charge in September, 1932, the net public debt was £250,063. Since that date the sinking funds have been applied in the reduction of the loans, and one year’s interest has been capitalised. To-day the net indebtedness is £236,000. From an immediate point of view, as affects the citizen directly, the elected borough council in the last year of office levied a rate of 3s in the £ on the uniihproved valuation. In his first year the commissioner reduced the levy to 2s 6d in the £, and there has been a progressive reduction until to-day the levy is Is 7d in the £; and even from this he allows a rebate of 5 per cent on monthly instalments. This, surely, is a tremendous change, not only in the amount of the levy, but in the system of its payment, which allows the citizen to pay twelve monthly instalments instead of one annual payment. Nor is that all. When the elected council was retired the bank overdraft was £20,000, and the commissioner in three short years has paid off this debt and has the general and all of the separate accounts in credit when, at the same time, the rating levy has fallen from 3s to Is 7d in the £.

Well might it be asked, then, whether the idea of a democratic vote and the influences which attend it in local body administration are really in the public interest. It simply means the subjugation of the business of a community to those theoretic preferences or prejudices which sway councils in their decisions. The idea of a commissioner may seem harsh—even autocratic; but, be it asked, what business forming part of the community organisation would admit the popular vote as its method of direction 7 If, then, a system is not considered sound in individual business, how can it be practical for administration in business as a whole ? The evidence all goes to suggest that a definite instead of a political direction would better serve the public interest. Councils may mean well, but they are subjected to altogether too many considerations which defeat the idealism expressed in the franchise. The public might well be its own worst enemy, and could even be entitled to protection from itself. In Thames, at least, the franchise is an exploded, fallacy. It seems timely to suggest that the popular vote, when carried into administration, is a dearly bought privilege, an extravagance which only wealthy communities can afford.