THE MAYORAL ELECTION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 175, 18 April 1908, Page 6

THE MAYORAL ELECTION.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. The "humorist" who occasionally lends divorsity to the editorial columns of . our evening contemporary ■on Thursday last essayed a defence of the Mayor's astonishing over-estimate of the tramways' profits for tile year. In the course of a. series of strange ejaculations and inane irrelevancies our contemporary arrived at the conclusion ."that there was a profit on the tramways, and that the reaj question raised—that : is,' whether the Mayor.has or has not that full acquaintance with the- tramways' management of which ho boasts, and whether his judgment in such things is or is not as .sound as he claims—matters nothing at. all in the present election ■ contest. What >did ■ we' claim ? That for a Mayor who professed to keep a close scrutiny of the. city's, tramway management Mr. Hislop had mad© a remarkable blunder. We proved it.' How? By showing that he had emphatically declared, less than , a week, boforo the close of the. year, that thero would bo a net profit of from £7500 to £8000, whereas the actual profit was £5668. In making his estimate Mr.- Hislop had the published returns for at least-eleven out of the twelve months to.guide him. Ho knew, that at the end of February the total net- profit was £5323.-..He at the outside had only one month's net profits to estimate, ..and he did' not.mako his estimate until over three weeks of that month had passed.' Ho knew that tho average profit per month for the preceding ■ eleven months had been about £454. He had his boasted close acquaintance with the tramways management to guide him. 'And what worth to him was this knowledge; and what value his judgment? In the face of the facts at his disposal he, in reply to our criticism, estimated a net profit for the month, then in its closing days, of at least £2170. The actual net profit was £245. It is idle to ignore that Mi - . Hislop committed a. serious error of judgment. It is not a largo matter in itself, and had our contemporary treated it, fairly wo. should have been prepared to rest content with our original exposure of Mr. Hislop's inaccuracy; But, in the faco of tho .attitude adopted, and in view of tho _ Mayor's boasted business judgment and his professed close watch on tho tramways management, the blunder assumes importanco as indicating that when the full facts aro_available for scrutiny. Mr.- Hislop's business judgment is not the superior thing his. claquers would lead us .to believe.

; Mr. Aifcken is to speak at the Town Hall Concert lloom nest Tuesday evening, tlio big hall being taken for the nest fortnight for the Catholic bazaar. A number of rumours | have been set in-circulation in an underhand manner concerning Mr. Aitken's candidature, and no doubt that gentleman will take full opportunity .to reply-. to .these and, to •other unfounded / aspersions ■ aimed ati'him' during the election campaign. Mr. Aitken's record "as a public man has been so absolutely free from the slightest suspicion of impropriety that an open attack would -merely react ion those, making it, honco this:resort-to,under-hand methods. Mr: Hislop, no doubt, cannot control such of his unattached supporters who-persist in these scandalous practices,' and tnoy probably do no harm amongst those who have any knowledge of Mr. Aitken's character, but it is most regrettable tHat these tactics should be introduced at all. An astonishing statement was made "by our evonipg contomporary in last Thursday's issue'. In the course of an editorial containing a variety of • extravagant expressions, it stated that. commentators: on" the Mayor's actions had gone so far as to!ask why he had not been arrested. Its' actual words aro as follow: "'.Why is ' not :Mr. Hislop arrested?' these commentators almost shriek." The " Post " knows ; that iio such question, or anything like it; has been'{asked. Why, then, does it say, that it has? .it. may' be that this is; our evening contemporary's 1 idea of humour. We. suppose.it is.: But ; where.does the humour come in? J'

Organised kboury sovfar as', it is 'represented by the; Trades Council, is. stated to be supporting Mr.- Hislop's candidature iii; the .present .contp&t. .. What 'has it to' 1 gain, legitimately from Mr.". Hislop that .'it' would'nit receive from Mr. Aitken; Is Mr. Hislop a fairer employer'than Mr. Aitken? Has Mrl' Hislop doiie anything for labtiur during his' three years' termof offlcb? ' 'Is he likely/ to dp anything more than Mr. Aitken next ■year, if'elected? If so, what? It'is'stated 1 that the ■ tramway employees" expect "riioro from Mr. Hislop"than they would: get from' Mr. Aitken. Why ? Does Mr. Hislod's past promise any more for labour than Mr. Aitken's? -Will anyone say that Mr. Hislop is a fairer-dealing man than Mr..Aitken?- .Citizens . generally, as well as labour circles, would do well., to -give these ;questions" a littles, serious attention before making up their minds which candidate to support.

Mr. Cyril Irwin Dosent,. who has bein a member of the Knrori Borough Council, for a number .of years; announces himself as 'a candidate for the' Mayoralty..

MORE SINKINC FUNDS. . 1 [TO 'THE EDiTOE.]. ; ....V ' Sir, —In your issue of this morning, Mr. Hislop is! reported to bavc'>said, speaking on the matter of sinking funds:— If Mr. Aitkon- knew of anything wrong in connection with tlio investment of sinking funds,' he'should'say so." • What humbug this is 1 It was tho hon. T. W. Hislop who moved in tho _Council the resolution, wliich deprived the sinking fund commissioners of all power save that of signing The' Mayor-was much too cle-i ver to let his fellow-commissioners, know-all that was going on. When a. cheque for a large, amount was taken to Mr. T. E.'Martin for signature (he then being a commissioner) and Mr. Martin refused "to sign it, as he doubted the legality of tho transaction, what happened? Four days after the Mayor moved a resolution that removed' Mr. Martin from .office after 20 years'; service, appointed Mr. Palmer, Town. Clerk, :in his stoad, and got him to sign the cheque which, both .Mr. Martin and Mr. Aitken had refused to do. , '

Tho Mayor is a good hand at hoodwinking some people, but I-.think I havo .his measure after twelve months' Council experience. I wish tho Mayor would; share the' Town Hall with me some'evening. I. have, absolutely no time for his municipal methods. Personally, I would like to seo Mr. Aitken returned, if only for the one: purpose of preventing a recurrence of what has been going on during the past three years. lam concerned in this fight—not in the interests of Mr. .Aitken solely,' but in the' interests of the citizens. I say emphatically it is not in the interests' of the city, to return Mr. "Hislop. He has established more bad precedents in' three years than the 'whole of. the Mayors who, precoded him ever dreamt of.—l am, etc.,' F. M. B. FISHER. April 16. : , i .