LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 July 1933, Page 6

LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

In an address given to the local branch of the Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand, Dr. E. P. Neale, secretary of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, gave some pertinent reasons for the overhaul of the existing system of local government. To have 681 local authorities functioning in New Zealand with memberships of over 5000, professional and clerical officers numbering 3650, total staffs of 45,402, and with an annual wages and salary bill of £6,500,000 seems a tall order for the local government of about a million and a half people. The facts have often been stated previously, the Government has expressed a determination to reform the system, but legislative action to bring about that reform seems as far away as ever. Moreover, the Ministry cannot claim to have had no expert advice. As Dr. Neale pointed out, Mr. J. W. Mawson, late Director of Town-planning, had suggested a division of New Zealand into 23 districts each of which, he considered, was for all practical purposes a self-contained social and economic unit. Mr. Mawson suggested the appointment of a regional committee in each~ of these districts to discuss matters of common concern. Among these would be the question of local government, and. he felt certain that from such committees recommendations could be obtained that would assist towards greater co-ordination and an improved system. There * may be good reason against' the adoption of Mr. Mawson’s proposals, but when instances are given of boroughs such as Ross, Kumara, and 'Arrowtown with populations of less than 500 retaining a Mayor, councillors and all the trappings of borough status it looks as though reform of. local government is an undertaking that is long overdue,