LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1040, 7 May 1912, Page 3

LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL.

Auckland, May 3

A lengthy and interesting discussion on the Local Government Bill took place this morning at a conference of delegates which has been dealing with division of the Manukau Coufity. Among those present were Mr W. F. Massey, M.P., and Mr F. W. Lang, M.P. The chairman read a circular issued by the hospital board, at the suggestion oi the Minister for Internal Affairs, calling a conference of delegates of local bodies in the hospital district to elect seven delegates to represent the district at the general conference to be held in Wellington to consider the Local Government Bill.

Mr Massey strongly opposed limiting Auckland district representatives to seven men. If the Wellington conference were to be of any value at all every local body should have a representative present. He denied that the hospital board or Government had any power to limit Auckland’s representatives to seven. He did not know whether the conference would be of much use, as the Bill had not been taken seriously by local bodies, but the expression of opinion of those who had expert knowledge of local government affairs would be most valuable if placed on record. To enable this to be obtained each county should be represented, and in cases like Manukau, where the Act was not in operation, provision should be made for representation. Mr Lang pointed out that seven men chosen by a conference called by the hospital board might represent only one particular lorm of local government. There were many different interests among local bodies, and all these should be represented at the Wellington conference. The fairer way of fleeting delegates would be on the 'basis of ratable area.

Mr Massey said the real difficulty with regard to local government was in connection with country local bodies. It was the conditions under which they worked that required improvement. An important matter that needeu vs as the dual system of rating by counties and road boards. He felt that if at the conference they were to have representatives from boroughs and counties they would have confusion, as their interests were so different. There were two important points about the Bill that the delegetes should consider. The first was with regard to the franchise. As lar as he could see every elector over the age of twenty-one was entitled to one vote, and if he were a ratepayer he had another. This was a new departure, and an exceedingly important one for country districts. As tar as finance was concerned the present Parliamentary grants were distributed on a most unbusinesslike system, and the local body that had most'influence and the loudest voice was very often the one that received the largest grant. Bocal bodies should be classified into those in need of works and those which already had their roads and bridges. He had seen grants given to boroughs almost in cities, while local bodies in the backblocks were being starved and settlers cut off from civilisation for months at a time. This question of finance was one in which amendment was most urgently needed. The conference appointed four delegates two to represent Franklin and two the Manukau portions of the county.

SOMIS WANGANUI VIFWS

Wanganui, May 5

A meeting of representatives of local bodies thiouguout the district will be held on Wednesday to discuss the Local Government Bill and to appoint delegates to the Wellington Conference on the Bill. Mr W. Ritchie, chairman of the Hospital Board, who is convening the meeting, spoke at the Waitotara County Council meeting today in unmeasured terms of condemnation of the Bill. He said he had gone into it very carefully, and he could not say anything in its favour. If anything, it was going from bad to worse, and the whole proposal was a perfect farce. At the Wellington Conference the hospital district, which was a very large one, would be represented by two delegates, and it depended on the preponderance of the votes of the local bonies on Wednesday whether borough or county votes held the balance of power, and could carry the day and get their own delegates appointed. The matter of a Local Government Bill had been before the House for seventeen years, and “this botch” was all they could show for their trouble. Other councillors also spoke against the measure and condemned it as unworkable.