The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2683, 21 September 1889, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Equal and exact ]ustice to all men, . Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. SATURDAY, SEPT. 21, 18S9. Among the many reports and Par- ; lianientary papers presented to the ! House during the session just 1 closed, was the report of the Committee appointed to inquire as to what form of local government is best adapted for the requirements of New Zealand. The report, however, does not grapple with the question, and leaves it quite open

for further consideration. The subject has occupied public attention for some years through the press and public meetings, and tho conviction has forced itself upon the mind of the country that it is necessary to. introduce a more comprehensive and simple form of local self -administration. The Committee, however, express their regret that the short time at their disposal had hnnn quite insullicicnt to do more than collect general information which enabled them to discuss the subject referred to them. They appear to avoid committing themselves to the onus of elaborating any definite scheme in the direction aimed at, and have contented themselves with merely pointing out a few of the most salient features of

the question wherein reform is needed, and which should form the groundwork of any system that may, hereafter, be decided upon. The Committee simply offer the opinion that "it is very expedient that some new system of local government should be established, and that it should be framed with the following objects, viz : —(1). Decentralisation. (2). Reduction in number of local bodies. (3). A definite and fixod relation between the finance of the. General Government and that of the local bodies. (4). The establishment of local districts with elective governing bodies. The districts to be comparatively few in number and to be defined with due regard to community of interest and the natural features of the country. The four large cities of the colony, with their suburbs, to be made separate districts, and the remainder of the colony to consist of not more than sixteen districts. (5). The constituting of local Councils by election by the Borough and County Councils (or Road Boards where " The Counties Act, 1886," is not in force) within each district, with provision that the Governor-in-Council may, where necessary, alter, for the purpose of such election only, the boundaries of any borough, county, or Road Board district."

That is all the Committee venture to say ; but, attached to the report are submitted a number of returns showing the cost of local institutions and requirements, the subsidies to local governing bodies, and payments under powers of various Acts of Parliament, and the expenditure out of the Public Works Fund. These returns date back several years. There is also a summary of the value of real and personal property iu the colony, with an estimate of the sum a tax of one penny thereon will produce to the general revenue. Besides the foregoing there is a table, taken from the Property-tax Assessment of 1888, showing the total value of improvements and the value of unimproved land outside of boroughs. These returns are as suggestive as they are instructive.

We regard this report of a Com mittee of the House of Representatives as the initiative in an important political reform, and accept it as an earnest of more decisive and definite action in the near future. It affords some measure of satisfaction that it is asserted to be very expedient to establish some new system of local self-government. Public opinion has been sounding the same key-note for years, and, like the demands for retrenchment, it will, in all probability, develop into a " roar " by the time the next general elections take place. The pith of the whole question is contained in the first object enumerated by the Committee in that single word Decentralisation. There is a flood of meaning in a solitary line ; there is in it a concentration of eloquent chapters on the abuses of the system of paternal government from Wellington with which the colony has become satiated and corrupted. It is no longer desirable that those evils should be continued. We wish to see the General Government confined to purely national affairs, and all parish, all local, matters left entirely to be administered by the country districts themselves. The Committee recommend that the number of local bodies be reduced ; which, of course, is very necessary. But, they have evidently treated this part of the subject vaguely ; for, in suggesting the establishment of elective local councils, they apparently allow borough and county councils and road boards to con-

tinue in existence; they do not suggest an amalgamation of these separate governing bodies into a solidified whole, and actually propose the creation of another new body. The principle of establishing suitable districts with an elective administrative council is a sound one; it is what we have so often favoured. The machinery, hosvever, is already at hand. It only needs the enlargement of the powers of County Councils, merging in them other superfluous local bodies, and entrusting to them the supervision of all local requirements and the carrying out of all Acts bearing on local affairs. The Committee suggest that there should be sixteen of these districts created, having due regard to community of interest and physical boundaries. We, however, venture to think that the existing County Councils, with the blending of one or two together where advisable, would be less cumbersome than the number proposed-the latter would really be a modified form of the old Provincial Councils. We have said

that the appendices to the report are suggestive ; we think the Committee have intended that they should be so. They provided the

information, and have left those who read to make their own inferences from them. For example, they show what were the sums paid out of the Consolidated Revenue for local purposes, which, for the year ended 31st March, 1889, exceeded £1,013,000. Hospitals, Asylums and Charitable Institutions received over £142,700 ; Police and Prisons, £146,500; Stock Department (including rabbits), £40,000 ; Proportion of lands sold and leased,

£17,900 ; Rates on Crown Lands, £15,400; Education, £377,000; Harbour Boards, £42,000; Goldfields and Gold Duty, £42,300; Payments from loans, £83,400; Koad and Bridges, £105,000. These figures are irrespective of local rates. The impression this conveys is that all these matters arc of a purely local character, and could be more efficiently managed by competent local authorities at less cost, in a manner that would relieve the people of a heavy load of unnecessary taxation and the Legislature of a vast deal of the debasing influences and log-rolling with which it lias become associated by excessive

centralism. The more the Committee's report and returns are studied the greater the lesson they teach is found to be embodied therein. There is a short and simple table embodied with the others, without a word of comment, which states that the value of real property is £90,000,000, less mortgages, .£30,000,000, and personal property, £55,000,000, less debts, £20,000,000; or a total of £115,000,000. It is estimated that a tax of one penny in the £, without exemption, on that amount would yield a revenue of £480,000. In addition to this, the estimated stamp revenue, exclusive of postages, for 1889-90 is given at £279,000. From these two sources alone so large a sum as £759,000 in direct taxation can be taken out of the pockets of the people, to be disbursed by a pernicious centralism beyond thoir direct control.