LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 238, 6 April 1912, Page 2

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

THE NEW BILL. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Yesterday. The Local Government Bill has been handed to the Hon. G. W. Russell (Minister for Internal Affairs), and he hopes at an early date to have the necessary steps taken to summon a conference, at which local bodies throughout the Dominion will be represented, for the purpose of considering the measure, in order that it may be submitted to Parliament early in the next session. The matter of arranging a basis of representation at the conference has been left to-the Minister. He proposes to make suggestions for the grouping of local bodies. "In view of the very large number of local bodies in the Dominion," Mr. Russell remarked, "representation of each one would, of course, be impossible; consequently my idea is that possibly we may take the existing hospital and charitable aid districts as the basis of representation at the conference. The local public bodies within each of these areas might be asked to jointly select delegates to represent them at the conference." The date of the conference has not been fixed, but it will be held soon enough to enable the assembled delegates to give their opinion of the Local Government Bill before Parliament meets.