COUNTY MATTERS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1742, 17 January 1888, Page 4

COUNTY MATTERS.

Jn accord with the general movement for retrenchment which is now taking place among all public bodies from the Government of the colony dowrvwards,' and which has longsinc'e beer] forced upon prjvate individuals by the protracted period of depression through which we i have been passing, we observe that the County Council is going m for an amalgamation of offices and for the re duction of salaries. This is a prudent and necessary course, and while the works catr'ud out by the Council are also being reduced m extent, the officers will, we feel sure, acquiesce, if not with cheerfulness, at least with resignation. Like them, we had rather matters had been otherwise, for both the Clerk and Engineer have rendered good service, and, under a more prosperous state of things, might fairly have looked rather for increase than decrease. But if the cloth be short m quantity the coat must necessarily be scant m dimensions, and there is an old proverb about " needs must," the force of which circumstances now and then compel everybody to admit. While this general shortening sail is going on, it is not surprising that a member of the Council should have mooted the question as to whether we have not more local governing bodies than is consistent with economical Administration —a. motion having been Übled by Mr Holmes for the division of the county into tfvo, and the erection of that portion on either side of the river into a separate county. We assume of course that Mr Holmes object is not to increase the nurabei of governing bodies, as would at firsl sight be the effect of his proposal, bul the reverse, it being apparently thought that if* there were two counties instead of one, a general merger of the Road Boards m one or other of them woulc lollow. Now, although it is not to th< interest of a local paper to advocate the reduction ot the number of govern ing bodies, which means a consequen reduction m the number ol advertisers it is not to be gainsaid that if one body can do the work of four or fiv< there would be a less proportion of th( local rates swallowed up m expense: of management. As the various Roac Boards do not advertise their balance sheets it would take considerable tim< and trouble to ascertain exactly wha their expenses of management amoun to m the gross, but it cannot fail to b< a considerable sum, and that it represents m the case of some of them ? large . proportion of the total rat< levied is unquestionable, amounting we believe, m one case to no less thar 22}4 per cent. While m the Count] of Waimate there is only one governing body —the County Council —and while m the larger County of Waitaki, most, i not all of the Road Boards, have mergec m the County; there are m the presem Ashburton County no less that nine Road Boards and two Town Districl Boards, viz., south of the river the Longbeach, Coldstreara, Rangitata * Anama, and part of the Upper Ash burton Road Boards, and the Tinwalc Town Board, and north of the rive; part of the Upper Ashburton, and th< Wakanui, South Rakaia, Mount Hut and Mount Somers Road Boards, anc the Hampstead Town Board. Probably m any event the Town Boards woulc decline to part with their autonomy but as regards the Road Boards, it i evident that a very cqnsiderable savinj m the cost of management would b< possible if, for nine, there were sub stituted two governing bodies. And a; regards some of the Boards the amount of business transacted must be verj small indeed, to judge by the infrequency of their meetings. For example, the Anama Board meets, w( believe, only once a year, and has ther little or no business to transact, while the Coldstream meets only m June and December, and during the last si> months there was only one small mat ter requiring consideration. .No doubt other Boards, the Wakanui, and South Rakaia for instance, have important matters to attend to, but it is <vel worth the ratepayers' consideratior whether, if there were two /Counties one on either side of the river, the) could not get their affairs quite a; satisfactorily administered as ridings, more especially as the Counties Act now provides for separate accounts being kept of revenue and expenditure within ridings. Speaking generally, there is no doubt that the less machinery jn connection with local administration, the less is the cost oi management, and therefore Mr Holmes' potion, at least deserves full discussion and careful consideration. But there is. another thing m connection with Cou,oty management (and for that matter m connection with the management of Borough affairs, also) to which we desire to call attention. It is the rate of interest which is now being paid upon overdraft. As the overdraft m the case of the Borough was, at date of last meeting, m round figures ,£ISOO. and as the County overdraft is, at this moment, not far short of (the precise figures are, we believe, the annual charge for interest is a matter of importance, and both Councils should see to it that they obtain necessary accommodation as cheaply as other similar bodies. Now this is not at present the case, for if we mistake not, both bodies are paying, or have been paying, until now, at the rate of zy 2 per cent, their bankers being the Union Bank of Australia, while we observe by the published report of the proceedings of the Waimate County Council, that that body has just received and has accepted an offer from the same Bank for the right to (verdraw its account to the amount of at a charge of 7 per cent per annum —this arrangement to be m force for three consecutive years from date. Surely the like terms are, or ought to be, obtainable m the case both of Asbburton County and Ashburton Borough. This is clearly a matter requiring the attention cf our local administrators.