The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2442, 6 March 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. TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 1888.

O.ve of the most remarkable features of the colonial economic fabric that arrests the attention of observant strangers Visiting New Zealand, -is the redundancy of the machinery supplied for the administration of local affairs. It would be difficult to discover anything more illustrative of the., extravagant length to which tho Management of our own Affairs idea has been pushed than the obese, system in vogue in this colony. In no other country in the world have plenary powers of local Government been provided in so oxcessivo a degree as in New Zealand, and nowhere Lave the anomaly and evils of over Government been so sorely folfc as they are at the present moment by the inhabitants of this colony. The immense number of district govern-

ing bodies continued to increase, from time to time, since the dawn of the Vogelian epoch seventeen years ago. Whilst the tide of expenditure of borrowed millions, spread with lavisii hands over the whole country, continued, the dazzled eyes of the people did not perceive the difficulties that were springing up around them like excrescences on the countenance of a debauchee. Each local body, new and old, had conferred upon it powers to spend money without stint, obtained either by loansorinthe shape of substantial subsidiesf rom the central Government. These allurements were sufficient to cast a spell over the doubts of the sober-minded, and to blind the bulk of the people to the future consequences that lay in store. Every one of these administrating bodies created, or provided a reason for the creation of new departments, or other additions to a rapidly increasing civil service radiating from Wellington; and, eventually so large was the control over them all carefully retained ii: its own hands by the General Government that in reality the whole work of local government became centralised ill Cook's Straits, the local bodies per se, being nothing more than sub-offices of the departments at the official capital, with the legislature acting as a Board of Works, or huge assembly of parish councillors. The whole of this overgrown piece of red-tape mechanism and parliamentary masquerade, costing upwards of three millions sterling per annum, has been hitherto deliberately accepted as necessary to govern a country, and manage the internal affairs of a people, not exceeding in number at the present date the population of a London suburb, or second rate English city.

But the reaction has been setting in for the past two or three years, and the steady decadence of the public revenue, together with the loss of national credit in the metropolis of the financial world, has had the effect of bringing the country back to a normal condition. First the subsidies to local bodies were reduced, then feeble attempts were made to economise the Civil Service. With tho disappearance of their revenues, the local bodies began to feel the weight of their unnatural position and the people felt the oppressiveness of the whole burden of taxation, which was fast driving away from them all the channels of prosperity and progress. Now tho attention of the colonists has been entirely bestowed upon the evils which have been heaped upon them and are crushing them. The " roar " for retrenchment we are all familiar with, as well as the effect of that "roar " on the Parliament and the Ministry. The Civil Service in every department has, in consequence, been undergoing a process of re-organisation, by which ita ranks will be retrenched and a yearly saving made of a few hundred thousand pounds. It is not, however, in the central Government alone that reduction and economy are demanded ; correllatively with that process it is clear that the system of local government, which is altogether abnormally and irrationally disproportionate, must necessarily be remodelled.

Writing on this subject on a former occasion we referred to the various local governing bodies, which are found in New Zealand, each enjoying a separate existence, and nearly all of them with borrowing powers and liberty to tux the people. These bodies are counties, boroughs, town boards, harbour boards, road boards, river boards, domain boards, hospital boards, rabbit boards, licensing committees, education boards, school committees, library committees, and perhaps others we know not of. The listis a formidable one. "When we come to analyse a district and enumerate the number of the separately constituted bodies established under this wonderful system that are to be found within its boundaries, we must stand aniozed at the spectacle presented to our gaze. : The people are awakening to the fact that we have too many local tax - levying bodies for so sparse a population. The work essayed to be performed by the whole array of bodies can be efficiently and effectually carried out by by, first, the County Councils, who could be entrusted with higher functions and powers of local administration comprehending the dutiesof education, hospital and charitable aid, domain lands and reserves, licensing roads and bridges, etc., thus doing away with all those other separate and utterly superfluous bodies. Secondly, for centres of population, the municipal form of government, distinct from the county, would be sufficient to perform all other local requirements. Thus we would have two local bodies, in place of a legion, which would be found more in accordance with the condition of the country, the population, and the wishes of the colonists generally.