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Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1916, Page 4

TOO MAXY, COUNCILLORS. There appears to be a widespread move,nient afoot in the direction of reducing the number of those forming mi ad°ministrative body. In the Motherland the War Cabinet has been reduced to five members. 'France is following this lead, and Italy has caught the infection. The' underlying- principle which has effected this revolution is the attain-., mint of prompt and effective action. The majority of the present members o! the Now Plymouth Borough Council have caught, the reduction fever, and voted on Mondy night for a, Council or" eight, instead of twelve. Why eight? Ii five men can not only prosecute the ivai on hehalV of the Empire,; hut administer its other affairs as well, it would seem Ivy nr means unreasonable to expect, that a similar number of Xcw Plymouth citizens could administer the affairs of Ihe 'borough so n* to make the expenditure within the income. It may be urged that if twelve men have signally failed in this simple te.si<, it would he rash to expect five would sue«ed. ' Possibly it would, but there appears to be only one practiciil alternative, and that is to hand over the administration of every borough to a thoroughly qualified Commissioner, pay him well, and the'ratepayers will .get good value for their money, merely because there.will be method, order', and' an equitable system. It is not so much the money that is well spent, but that which is wastetl which is continually swelling borough rates and overdrafts, and the more Councillors there are,' the greater is the danger of waste. As to the time taken over debating minor questions, that is a mere bagatelle, as the Councillors themselves have to bear the waste. The only other question in-' volvod is efficiency. One determined and resourceful man on a public body can, and mostly does, the bossing!" the others being merely talkers. Even if borough affairs are virtually relegated to a one-man government, the position would be'bettor than it Is, provided the one man has the necessary qualifications, a.'id that aspect of the question holds good whether there are twenty Councillors or any other number. The Council's decision' was in the right dilution, and might pave the way to a. one-man administration on absolutely safe business lines.