The Daily Telegraph TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1882.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3483, 5 September 1882, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1882.

The monicipal elections yesterday— if the mere nomination of three persons for the three vacant seats can be dignified by the name of an election—has been not inaptly described by a local paper as a " farce" and a "fiasco?" We believe the words, however, were only intended to apply to one of the persons nominated, who happens to possess no stake in Napiernothing to secure his interest in the welfare of the borough. His nomination at the very last moment saved the Corporation the expense of another election. That is the only justification, the only excuse, that we can offer for Mr Price's nomination. There may have been other reasons, however, behind those which are apparent for the performance of this " farce," which, of course, it cannot be expected that our contemporary could see. Since the establishment of municipal government in this town there have been many councillors chosen from amongst all classes of the community, but no matter from whence they have been drawn, no matter what stake they have possessed io the borough, mismanagement, waste of money, and the consequent imposition of heavy rates have been the chief characteristics of administration. It had become abundantly clear to the meanest capacity that the possession of wealth did not necessarily imply that of intelligence; and that as a " large stake" in the town might also signify the amount of the bill of sale or the mortgage over the property, it would be well to seek in another direction for representatives of the solvent classes'. Thus of the present Council our contemporary observes that its united members pay less rates than a certain single firm in Napier. We do not know whether this can be verified, but if the amount of rates a resident pays is to be the measure of his capacity to sit in the Council it is a very great pity that our " City Fathers" are not the wealthiest men in the town. But the Council has not always been composed of comparatively poor men; and, if our recollection serves us, it was when we had a somewhat wealthy body of councillors that the most reckless waste of public money, the most foolish administration, occurred. If our councillors bad been richer men at that time

they might possibly have sunk an additional ten thousand pounds beneath the streets in the shape of needless cement and bricks ; in curbing and channelling before permanent levels had been determined ; in giving double frontages to favored sections, and other imbecile extravagances at the general expense of the ratepayers. But there was a limit to their wealth, and consequently a limit to their folly. Since comparative poverty has sat in the Council there has been marked improvement in the administration of affairs. There is still room for improvement, however, and let us hope that the three burgesses who were elected yesterday will work cordially with their colleagues in bringing about a system of administration that shall combine economy with efficiency. If this be attained we shall forgive tbe absence of wealth in the councillors for the sake of the public good they have done, and for the honest performance of their duties.