H—2B

32

Too frequent alterations of the boundaries of local authorities will, we consider, interfere with the stability of local government generally. Subject to interim consideration of areas where rapid development may take place, we consider that a review of area is necessary, particularly in urban localities, after a period of from ten to fifteen years. This would overcome the frequent piecemeal adjustmert of boundaries between rural and urban authorities which has occurred over past years, with loss of stability in the case of rural authorities on the one hand, and the creation of considerable technical and financial difficulties in the case of urban authorities on the other. In general, the need for reorganization of the districts of rural authorities is occasioned not so much by closer settlement as by the inability of counties to cope with the growing and changing problems associated with construction and maintenance of roads and bridges and the development and improvement of rural centres. "Higher standards of administrative and technical skill and improved methods of dealing with these problems demand greater areas in which to operate efficiently. Having regard to the above-mentioned principles, we had no doubt that reorganization of the districts over which the present rural authorities in the North Canterbury region exercise jurisdiction was long overdue. As has been stated earlier, communications, more particularly in the last two decades, have improved considerably. Such improved means of communication by rail, omnibus, motor-car, and other road vehicles, and the more widespread use of the telephone, quicker mail services, and the use of radio in the field of local government, have all contributed to the virtual shortening of distances. Each in turn has resulted in democratic representation becoming more effective in enabling the needs and wishes of electors to be gauged and met. Communications with members of local authorities and their staffs in widely scattered localities can, under present-day conditions, be effected for the most part economically and efficiently and without loss of time and the wastage of man-hours. Distance which at one time could be undertaken only in terms of days or hours, can to-day be measured in minutes in many instances. The comparatively recent growth of ad hoc local authorities which undertake such functions as the supply of electricity, land drainage and river control over much larger areas than those administered by long-established territorial authorities exemplifies the efficiency of operations over a wider area and the effects of the virtual shortening of distances through modern means of communication. There are, of course, limits to efficient coverage, dependent in particular localities to a large degree on the extent of the concentrations of population. Accordingly, the tendency in such circumstances would be to reduce the efficiency of the undertaking, and also to move local government in its real sense further from the elector. Such questions can only be determined by an examination of the position in the particular locality or region. In many cases the territorial local authorities' districts which were constituted in New Zealand in the latter part of the ninteenth and early in the twentieth centuries have remained much the same in area and population. In general they are too small in a number of respects, and accordingly too costly to administer efficiently, having regard to present-day costs and standards. In rural and certain small urban districts this factor is more apparent. The cost of employing administrative and technical staff and of acquiring and maintaining modern plant and equipment cannot be justified because of uneconomic usage and because the capital outlay cannot be afforded. On the other hand, under present-day conditions the use of manual labour with a minimum of equipment in lieu of modern plant often proves costly, and in many cases does not achieve satisfactory results. The virtual shortening of distances enables man-power, plant, and equipment to be effectively used over much wider areas. The need for local authorities to discharge greater responsibilities demonstrates the need for reorganization of the districts of certain similar types of local authorities, and we consider that the creation of larger districts with greater revenue potential and wider coverage will, in general, enable the present-day problems with which these similar types of local authorities are faced to be dealt with more economically and efficiently. In our opinion,