The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men. Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. SATURDAY, JAN. l14,1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2420, 14 January 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men. Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. SATURDAY, JAN. 114,1888.

Prominent amongst the many anomalies of the cumbersome system of administration which has swelled into being iu New Zealand is that of local Government. The old provincial system had served its purposes well in the early conditions of the colony under the progressive stages made after the self-governing constitution was conferred upon it.But the provinces, with the legis lative powers and functions they possessed, came to be a hindrance, often in conflict with the higher legislative assembly of the colon}' and in their demands, seemed likely to assume the shape of fin imperiutn in imperio somewhat dangerous to the developenient of the colony as a whole after the initatiou of the Public Works Policy. Hence it came to pass that the provinces were abolished, and the supreme legislature absorbed their functions in a great measure. It is true that counties were created for the purpose of undertaking the more purely local requirements previously performed by the provinces. 'lie powers conferred upon the counties, however, have been of a crude form. With the exception of wider range of country over which they have supervisionand their large facilities for borrowing, they ire only an improved description of Road Boards, whom they should have entirely superseded, whilst with whom and other local bodies they are frequently in antagonism. The county system remains still in n, skeleton form. In its development and wider application lies the necessity, as well as the opportunity, for reforming the whole machinery of local government at present iu existence.

The abolition of the provinces turned loose upon the colonial Parliament the whole force and energy of party intrigues, log-rolling, and political schemers with designs on the public revenues. The actual administration of the country's affairs became centralised in Wellington, an evil the colony has been labouring under for several years past. Ostensibly the work of carrying out local requirements has been relegated to a multitude of local bodies brought into being by Acts of the Legislature. In reality they have only provided plausible excuses for creating new departments and increasing the dimensions of an already over-grown Oivil Service at the seat of Government. Is it not an wholly irrational position for the colony to be placed in, that with a population equal to a second-rate English town, it is considered necessary for our common welfare to be burdened witli County Councils, Boroughs, Bond Boards, Town

Hoards, Education Boards, Hospital Boards, River Boards, Domain Hoards, Waste Lauds Boards, K:il)bit Boards, School Committees, Library Committees, Cemetery Committees, Jjico/isiug Committees, :tnd what not? Each of those bodies have certain powers of taxa-i-iou conferred upon them, and possess BOparate staffs of official?. Our form of Government is

an unwieldy machine with too many wheels, ail of which require constant application of grease from the hand at that exercises a paternal control over all its movements. The system is not in harmony with the circumstances of the colony ; it is very costly and multifarious; a simplification and re-modelling of it is called for. There is in the United Kingdom a strong feeling in favour of a reform in the same direction. At the annual conference of the National "union of Conservative Associations opened at Oxford on November 22nd, Lord Salisbury, in the course of an incisive speech on tlie political situation, referred to the subject and said':—" I believe the foremost of all subjects of legislation is the reform of our local government, lleform of local government is wanted because of the extreme anomalies which pervade our present system ; enormous numbers of bodies constituted, with areas and duties overlapping each other, so that it is very often difficult to ascertain how anything can be carried out, or to persuade those who have to carry out the duties that they have the power to do so. . • • The object of local government is to diminish central government, The object of local government is to place in the hands of the people of the locality the power hitherto exercised by departments in London— departments able and undoubtedly highly organised, but too far separated, socially and locally, from those with whom they have to deal, to be able to determine the measures which will be most acceptable and most useful in the locality. The object is to diminish the power of Whitehall, in order that you may increase the power of every local centre. . • ■ There is one othei

vmri'Ose —a subsidiary result —which we hope for from the reform of local government. Our central government has always been the domination of the party system."' Reform in our own system of local "•overnment points in the direction indicated by his lordship. We should'decentralise our administration by deleting a vast amount of the functions of government from the Big Wooden Building in Wellington and entrust them to the County Councils. There is no necessity for the great number of separate governing bodies. Their duties can be performed by the counties. With the exception of Municipal Corporations and Harbour Boards, the consolidation of the duties at present performed in an imperfect manner by so many other different bodies can be effected to the advantage of the colony. The entire machinery of local Government could be merged into the County Councils by enlarging their powers and responsibilities. Tlie control of rivers, maintenance and construction of roads and bridges, management of reserves and domains, cemeteries, the administration of local police, hospitals, educational matters, licensing, rabbit and other concerns would be better in the hands of one strong local body with plenary powers, than so many petty creations of centralised officialdom. The counties thus enlarged would relieve the colonial Parliament of an immense burden of administra tivc work, whilst their local status would be so much raised as to tempt the best and most capable public men to seek the honour of seats in them. As Lord Salisbury said in the speech we have quoted from, we would have "a Government anion" neighbours, who know each other, instead of government by a distant centre, however high its qualification may be, which does not know those for whom it provides."