TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1881.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 58, 22 March 1881, Page 2

TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 1881.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. — * Shall our system of local government be changed ? if so, in what direction? are questions that are being asked throughout the colony just now: and there are numerous indications that during next .session the wkole subject of how local government can best be provided for and carried out will be fully considered by Parliament. Under the Provincial system there were certain advantages we do not j now enjoy. The Land Fund was Provincial revenue, and by means of it the country districts were entitled to a greater share of expenditure on roads and bridges than they have ob taiued since abolition was effected. Another advantage was that legislation ou licensing, fencing, dog tax, and similar matters could be adapted to the peculiar characteristics or wants of each Provincial district. Since Provincialism was abolished our loans have been doubled and nearly trebled, the yearly payments of interest and principal requiring not only the colonialisation of the j Land Fund, but also the imposition | of a property tax. Consequently, a i return to Provincialism would not be j likely to obtain for the local bodies j the control and expenditure of the j Land Fund ; whilst the advantages j arising from the adaptability of the ! Provincial system to the varying i needs of different districts might be , obtained by giving the County Conn- ; cils discretionary power to bring into | or restrain from operation such enactments dealing with local matters as might be unnecessary or would injuriously affect particular counties. In short, the advantages of Provincialism which could now bo obtained may be gained under the County system ; whilst the latter is cheaper, simpler, and more effective than that which preceded it. A return to Provincialism in any shape or form is therefore out of the question, and is regarded as such by nine-tenths of the colonists. The County system has proved a success, -without doubt; notwithstanding that it has not had a fair trial. It ha 3 been working side by side with Highways Boards,— bodies whose functions should certainly have been transferred to the County Councils. It has been crippled by want of funds, and its powers and functions have been unnecessarily circumscribed. Still the system has done good service to the country at large, and any alterations made should be, we think, ia the direction of improving and expanding the present County system, rather than abolishing it for something else. By expanding the system we do not mean making the Counties larger, upon which point our views differ from those of the Rangitikei County Chairman, who has proposed the following motion — That in the opinion of this council the machinery provided by the Legislature to take the place of the abolished provincial system of government' ia utterly inadequate to carry out the functions of a good local government ; that it is absolutely necessary that a better system be provided; that the counties as at present constituted are too small, and their powers are not sufficient to enable them to carry out the functions of a good local government ; that they should be grouped together according to the natural features of the country and community of interests, with an elective council, to whom should be committed the administration of all measures connected with the local affairs of the country, including the waste lands of the Crown, and that a sufficient portion of the revenue on a sound and permanent basis should be placed at their disposal to enable them to open up new country, maintain roads, and exercise all functionß of ft cood local government, ao that the Legislature may be able to devote its attention to its proper functions. The proposal to group together counties having a community of interests appears at first sight an excellent one ; but the "interests" discussed in County Councilsara asa ruleof so local ftcbftraetar that they we far more

satisfactorily settled in the present small Councils than they would be in large ones. Besides which, it is extremely doubtful if large Counties would be either -as economically or effectively administered as those now existing. One other point is, that under the present Counties Act provision is made for the union of two or more Counties having a community of interest and desiring to unite. The directions in which improvements in our system of local governments should take effect are, we think, as follow —1. The Highways and Road Boards should be abolished, their functions being transferred to the County Councils. 2. The County Councils should have power givan them to rate up to 2s in the £, to compensate for the loss of rating power caused by abolition of road Boards. 3. All proclaimed townships having an annual rateable value of say £3000 should be entitled to be erected into Town Districts, being lived from control of the County Council, possessing power to rate up to 2s in the £, collecting license fees, (fee, payable in the district, and being in fact minor boroughs. 4. Thecol-o-iy should maintain all bridges above a certain size, and all main arterial roads passing through native, Crown, or unrateable lands, such roads, for iusLuauo, us those from Masterfcou to Palmerston, Hokitikato Christchurch itc. 5. Sufficient of the land sale payments should be handed to the Councils within whose districts the blocks sold were situated to enable them to make all roads necessary for the settlement of the land. G. A subsidy on the basis of uncompleted roads * through lands already sold should be paid to the Counties, to enai'le such roads to be rendered fit for traffic. 7. Where found necessary to promote efficiency and economy, the boundaries of the Counties should be modified . 8. Discretionary power should be given the Councils as to whether enactments dealing with purely local concerns should be . brought into operation within their boundaries, including such matters as dog tax, impounding law, bottle spirit licenses, &c. 9. The number of Councillors should be increased, meetings being held every three mouths, and the Chairman being elected every two years (unless ousted by vote of the Council), for which period Councillors should sit. 10. The Chairman should have power to call for tenders, pay ordinary accounts, carry on urgently-needed works without vote of the Council, and speaking generally act as an executive officer in much the same way as did the Provincial Secretaries. j Of course there are a number of ! other features of the County system in | which impri ivements might be effected , but the above proposals embrace an ' outline of the measures we think best ! calculated to afford the country local \ government of a more simple, econoI mical, and efficient character than ; it possesses.