The Dominion TUESDAY, JULY 5, 1910. THE MUNICIPAL PARLIAMENT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 860, 5 July 1910, Page 4

The Dominion TUESDAY, JULY 5, 1910. THE MUNICIPAL PARLIAMENT.

To those who, like ourselves, deplore the indifference of the public to municipal politics the holding of the biennial conference of the Municipal Association will appear as a very welcome event, and one that it would be useful to transform into an annual fixture. As wijl be seen from our report of the opening session, the attendance of delegates is- very large and thoroughly representative, and the subjects and spccchcs interesting and important. For some time past there has been a growing conviction, and it is a well-founded conviction, that tho municipalities are exposed to a very serious danger—the danger of sterilisation through the eagerness of the general Government to encroach upon their authority, and their functions. In this respect they arc very much worse off than the English municipalities, but even there the necessity for resisting Government interference is regarded as of supreme importanec-and urgency. At the annual meeting of the Association of Municipal Corporations, opened on April 20 last by the Lord Mayor of London in the Guildhall, the President, Mit. J. S. HakmoodBaxneh, M.P., laid down what ought to be taken as embodying the cardinal aim of our municipalities in words that are well worth quoting. He referred to "the increasing desire on the part.of the Government Departments to obtain more or less absolute control of local authorities," and added:

"That is, I think, one of tho greatest dangers threatening municipal life at the present time, and unless it is faced, wherever possible averted, it will in time go far towards depriving municipalities of (hat reasonable degree of independence which they havo enjoyed in the past, and iu the enjoyment of which they have achieved many things for the welfare ol tlio country. We do not of course claim that they should bo uncontrolled ill all their actions. . . . While, however, we do not object to reasonable control, it appears to 1110 that the action of the Government Departments is, according to the modc-rii practice, going too far— both in that I hey seek to interfere in regard to matters of administration frequently of a comparatively trivial character, 'which ought to bo left to the persons elected for tho purpose, and in that they seek to take tlio initiative and to tores local authorities! into action against their wishes."

That these words arc specially true of New Zealand it is impossible for anyone to deny, nor can it bo questioned that Mi:. Wilfokd would have failed in his duty had he not referred in cmphatic language to "the action of the Government in the past in practically -throwing to the winds the recommendations of municipal conferences." He proposes, so he announced, "to ask the conference to make a strong protest on this matter," and we trust that the conference will back him up with a very energctic response. Of the multitude of questions on the agenda-paper of the conference only a few can be considered of immediate importance, and the conference will be well-advised if it follows the President's advice and so limits the requests it places before the Government as t-o prevent tho ignoring of the really important matters. It is unfortunate that the confercncc did not agree to the pro posal that a Mayor should be electeci every two years instead of annually, since a Mayor requires at least two years to have his effect upon a city. The conference displayed greater wisdom in rejecting tho proposal that the Mayor should be elected by the councillors. Wo should like to believe Mn. Devine to be right in his assertion that "if the Mayor were elected b,y tho Council men of greater calibre would seek entrance to the Council," but who in Wellington can refuse to believe that the Mayor of Dunedin is more correct in his suggestion that the innovation would "lead to the formation of cliques"'? The present system though it has its faults, at least secures that the public shall take some real interest in municipal questions, and it makes for men of calibre as much as any other system can possibly do. The problem of the municipal franchise is unfortunately treated as a problem of general politics, and we suppose it is natural that it cannot bu discussed solely from the municipal point of view. It appears to us to be a very extraordinary thing that the conference should have affirmed, even by the narrowest of majorities, the principle that the Parliamentary roll should be used in municipal elections. The narrowness of the majority, however—lit! votes against 30—ought to be regarded by Parliament as a reason for delay in taking any definite action. Of the remaining remits disposed of yesterday we can only notice one more —the proposal brought forward by the Petone delegate that the Government be ultimately liable, for all rates levied 011 lauds reserved by the Government. The familiar ease of the land taken in Petone for workers' dwellings lias been often enough discussed in the past, but the Petone liorough Council is only one oi many local bodies which have been robbed of rates by the Government's extraordinary and indefensible. idea (.hat; lands owned by theStale should derive benefits from municipal effort without sharing in (lie. maintenance of the municipal treasury. This remit was carried and also a second motion affirming .the same principle in respect of land used by flic State as education re--1 serves or for State-tradinc enter-

prises. Sincc the Government has at. last given way to popular indignation in the matter of the Crown Sails Act it is permissible to hope thai; in this matter also it may at■tend to the voice o£ reason and justice.