A WRONG IDEA.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 168, 9 April 1908, Page 6

A WRONG IDEA.

It is somewhat amusing to note the. attitude adopted by a good many people in the present Mayoral Election campaign towards the holder of the Mayoral office. It appears to. be taken for granted that any great work carried out during the term of office of any particular Mayor, or any improvement in the methods of administration, 1 is necessarily due to. the individual efforts of the occupant of the Mayoral chair for,the; time being. No doubt agreater share of tile credit or discredit falls to the lpt of the Mayor .than to individual councillors; but on no .previous occasion have, the Mayor's efforts been paraded' to the exclusion of tfye work done, by councillors. This /fact is well illus-. trated by an article published last evening with reference to the demands of the tramway . employees ■ for increased wages. This matter , has been under consideration for some time, and conferences have" been lield, some progress being made.' And yet now, in the very midst of negotiations, it is solemnly suggested by our evening contemporary that the whole matter should- be hung up for weeks. / And why ? Because, forsooth, the Mayoral Election is in progress, and'the Mayor, being a ' candidate for re-election, it would be wise to leave the matter until the election of his successor. Surely to take up this attitude is a serious reflection on the Council as'a whole— a quite .unwarranted ; reflection.. The Tramways Committee is familiar with the whole details 'of the position, and to imply tliat it is not capable of. dealing with the dispute is to declare ,a lack of confidence in the men in whom the burgesses have expressed their full confidence. If the matter rested _ entirely with the Mayor, there might be some ground for the "proposal to delay the negotiations, although this wouid probably be regarded as an indirect- reflection on Mr. Hislop, and resented accordingly.. But the subject is .'one for the Council.as a whole, not one for'the ilayor,'aMl it is quite time that the public realised the drift of thiiigs, and recognised that.-it is opposed to tlieii": interests-'that' municipal gOyernment 'in' ■ Wellington sliould become a one-man affair.