THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto : Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1921. COUNTIES AMALGAMATION.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4338, 4 November 1921, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto : Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1921. COUNTIES AMALGAMATION.

* The chairman of the Thames County Council (Mr Henry Lowe) on two occasions, this week made remarks strongly condemning the existence of small counties, or.local governing body areas of small dimensions. He', and also Mr A. Bruce, made reference during the course of a Harbour Board function at Thames a few days ago to a Bill brought down by the late Rt. Hon. Richard John Seddon several years ago, which was intended to wipe out a lot of small local bodies. Unfortunately; the Bill was too comprehensive, as it was intended to give county councils the control of educational institutions, hospitals, and other concerns. At any rate, the tenacious old road boarders, jealous of their little brief authority, killed the Bill. But time is proving that the Bill, though too wide and all-em-bracing in its scope, was on the right lines. Here we have three counties in this district, Ohinemuri, Thames, and Hauraki Plains. A vast amount of reading and bridging is required to be done ; each county is too weak individually to buy the necessary up-to-date machinery to carry out work during favourable months of the year and let it lie .idle for the remainder. There is an' unseemly and throat-cutting squabble as to what bridges shall be erected, and where the sites shall be. Progress is retarded on every hand by internicine strife. The Hauraki Plains County Council wants machinery, and. so does Ohinemuri and’ Thames. In addition, Hauraki wants county chambers. : An area of Crown lands as large as the present arei of the county is (we are given to understand unofficially), to be handed over to the Plains Council. This will mean that the revenue of the Council will be doubled, and the work of administration and engineering materially increased, .(t is certainly the most important development since the formation of the Comity, and will spell very great progress on the Plains. There can now be no question that county chambers are an absolute necessity, and an assistant engineer and further office staff will be required unless the Plains County is going to attain double the staff efficiency of any other county office in-the Dominion. Also

a number of wharves will be handed over as well, A loan of something over £30,000 will shortly be re-submitted to the ratepayers for country machinery, quarries, and county chambers. But the sum- the ratepayers of the. Plains County whl again be asked to give their sanction to the raising of will be the barest minimum, and will certainly not be adequate to meet the new liabilities; nor will it solve the vexed question of bridges. It is an open question whether or not the time is ripe for an amalgamation of the Ohinemuri, Thames, and Hauraki counties. The first obvious objection to such a proposal will be that the Plains County was formed because the residents were not satisfied with the treatment thej received from Ohinemuri, Thames, and- Piako. But it must 8 be borne in mind that the absence of the riding system permitted of the spending of the rates in a most unjust manner, farming areas being neglected, while good roads were made, in mining areas, and laid off without any regard to their use for a farming community. Now the system has changed, and the advent of ridings ensures a much greater measure of justice being done to every part of a given county. If the Plains County carried its loan proposal, it would then have some tangible assets, in the form of machinery and quarries, to throw into the scale ; Ohinemuri has splendid County Chambers at Paeroa, which would serve for the purposes of a county comprised of the three existing counties amalgamated, possibly with parts of the Ohinemuri County taken over by Tauranga and Piako. Riding members would represent every portion-of the combined area as they do now; roading could be done on a comprehensive scale, patchwork being avoided, and the question of bridges could be settled definitely, once and for all, by a single council. Administrative expenses would be much less in the aggregate than they now are for the three counties, and uniformity of policy and practise would obtain over the whole vast area. The proposal is one that is worthy of the earnest consideration of all thoughtful ratepayers in the three counties, and especially of the members of the Ohinemuri, Thames, and Hauraki Plains County Councils.