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Another view of the variation in size of the hospital districts can be seen from the distribution of population served by the various Hospital Boards :— Table showing Population served by Hospital Boards in the Year 1941-42 Population of Hospital Number of Hospital District. Districts. Under 5,000 .. .. .. .. .. 3 5,000- 9,999 .. .. .. .. .. 7 10,000- 14,999 .. .. .. .. .. 8 15,000- 19,999 .. .. .. .. .. 8 20,000- 49,999 .. .. .. .. .. 8 50,000- 99,999 .. .. .. .. .. 3 100,000-149,999 .. .. .. .. .. 2 150,000-199,999 .. .. .. .. .. 2 Over 200,000 .. .. .. .. .. 1 Total .. .. .. .. 42 In the case of Whangaroa, Bay of Islands, and Hokianga Hospital Districts, which cover only the area of the counties of the same names, the County Councils in each case-are the Hospital Boards.^) For electoral purposes a hospital district is divided into wards which may cover the area of one or more territorial local The Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act, 1926, suggests that in the construction of wards each contributory district^ 3 ) should have, where possible, at least one representative on the, Hospital Board, the actual number to be determined by the relative populations and the relative values of rateable property in those districts ; but where " by reason of the number of contributory districts ... or by reason of the smallness of the population of any contributory district or of the value of rateable property in that district, . . . it is impracticable or inexpedient to give full effect "to the above provisions " the Governor-General may . . . combine into one or more combined districts any number of contributory districts ... in that hospital district for the purpose of the election of representatives on the Board . . . .( 4 )" G. ELECTRIC-POWER DISTRICTS As their name implies, Electric-power Boards are concerned solely with the distribution of electric power, but, unlike most other ad hoc bodies, they are not the only bodies concerned with this function. Many territorial local authorities distribute electric power in their areas. The following table shows the bodies responsible for the distribution of electric power in 1944 :— Table showing Types of Local Authority distributing Electric Power in 7944 Type. Number. Electric-power Boards .. .. .. .. .. 41 City Councils .. .. .. .. .. 6 Borough Councils .. .. .. .. 29 Town Boards .. .. .. .. .. 3 County Councils .. .. .. .. 5 Private companies .. .. .. ~ 0 Government Departments ~ .. .. 2 Total .. .. .. .. 92 On account of this diversity of control the districts of Electric-power Boards do not cover the whole of New Zealand. The area of a Power Board is determined in terms of an area which can be normally and conveniently served as a unit. Such districts are constituted by the Governor-General following a petition signed by not less than one-fourth of the ratepayers of the proposed district.( 5 ) The electricpower district may cover the whole or part of the territories of one or more territorial local authorities, and any such local authority the whole or part of whose territory is within the electric-power district is known as a " constituent local authority."( e ) As for Hospital Boards and Harbour Boards, the electric-power districts are divided into wards for electoral purposes, and two or more constituent local authorities may be grouped into a " combined " for the election of representatives. In addition to the electric-power district properly so defined, there may be, and frequently is, attached to a district an " outer area( 8 ) " within which the Board may supply electricity to consumers, but where the residents have no vote for members of the Board and are not liable for any rates which may be necessary to meet deficits( 9 ). No statistics are available to show the area of Power Board districts, but it will be evident that since to some extent power-supply is a function of population and is related to the geographical configuration of the country, no deductions can be made from crude population or area statistics as to the efficiency or otherwise of any " size " figures.

(') Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act, 1926, section 26. ( 2 ) Ibid., section 14. ( :i ) " Contributory district "is defined as the district within the jurisdiction of a Borough or County Council, or a Town Board or Road Board, situated within the hospital district. See Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act, 1926, section 2. (*) Ibid., sections 13 and 14. ( 6 ) Electric-power Boards Act, 1925, section 3. ( e ) Ibid., sections 2, 12, and 13. ( 7 ) Ibid,, section 11. ( 8 ) Ibid., sections 2 and 3. (•) For a discussion of the rating-powers of Electric-power Boards, see Part I, Chapter VI, C (3), page 80.

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