Summary of the Local Government Bill.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 48, 24 August 1895, Page 2

Summary of the Local Government Bill.

BOROUGHS ALREADY CONSTITUTED. The boroughs constituted by thi^ Bill will be -.— Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Thames, Wiinytrmi, Napier, Palmerston North, L\ i.'.clton. Oamaru, Timaru and Inwro.irgill. In denning these boroughs the commission shall include all the adjoining boroughs existing at the time of coming into operation of the Act, or such parts of them that will make each of the boroughs comprise nine square miles, and have no points distant more than six miles from one another. COMMISSION AND COMMISSION DISTRICTS. The Colony is to be divided into eight commission districts, for each of which a commission of five members will be appointed. Four of the members of the commission are to be elected by the local bodies of the district, while the fifth is to be appointed by the Governor in Council. These commissions are to continue in office for five years, when a new election will take place. The eight commission districts are the Provincial Districts of Wellington, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, Auckland, Nelson, and Marlborough, Nelson aud Southwest goldfields and Westlaud and Canterbury, including Chatham Islands, and Southland and Otago, including Stewart Island. POWJiRS OF COMMISSION. The powers of the commission include the following ; — To divide the Colony into counties ; to propose the names of counties ; to constitute borough districts ; to divide counties into ridings; to fix the names of the borough districts and ridings, provided that where any absorbed borough or town district, cither alone or together with otlicr areas, is constituted a borough district, such commission shall use the name oi' such borough or town district as the principal word in the; name of such borough district ; to fix the boundaries of each of the boroughs named above, cither by declaring the same to be unaltered or by iucludiug in such borough any adjoining area or areas ; to determiuc what road districts shall be retained or amalgamated or absorbed : to either declare any such borough to be an undivided borough or to divide the same into wards ; to fix the names of such wards ; to divide the colon}' into special districts ; to name each special district. CONTRACTS. In carrying out contracts all municipal contractors will be liable to observe the working hours of labor, in no case exceeding eight Lours a day,- and to pay to his workmen the rate of wages and overtime generally accepted as usual and fair. This notwithstanding any agreement made with any work man. The contractor is to keep posted in some prominent place the working hours on the contract, aud the rate of w.igcs paid, aud provision i.s made for inspection aud h'u< s with a viow to c it'orcing these conditions. Then: is to be no subletting of contracts without the consent of the council.