I WAS glad to see in your letters page (August 7) that

councillors from Torridge District and West Devon

Borough Council have at last taken up the cudgels against

the government's plans for the re-organisation of local

government.

At last the Boundary Committee, which is supposed to be

'independent' of government, admits it is not

'independent' but is working on plans under the Secretary

of State's guidance and has said that if the plans don't

comply with the government's wishes, they will impose

their plans upon us. So much for consultation. It's all a

deceit.

The Roman Governor, Petronius Arbiter, said about re-

organisation: 'We trained hard... but it seemed that every

time we were beginning to form up in teams, we would be

re-organised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to

meet any new situation by re-organising, and a wonderful

method it can be for creating the illusion of progress

while producing confusion, inefficiency and

demoralisation.'

Is it any wonder that poor old Petronius committed suicide

in AD65?

How many of the re-organisations caused by this

government have caused chaos at great expense to the

taxpayer?

Perhaps it is their policy to create 'confusion, inefficiency

and demoralisation' of the public so that they can

introduce schemes against their interest, by stealth.

J W Reid

Limehayes Road

Okehampton