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Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3615, 12 February 1883, Page 2

By tlio time this sheet is in the hands of our readers the Harbor Board elections will be practically over. The poll, however, remains open till 6, but -we fancy very few votes will bo registered after 5 o'clock. Anything- that we may have to say now can have no influence in the disposal of votes. The one great object of the ratepayers at this election has been to put on the Board men resolved to obtain for the port a commodious harbor. The whole of the six candidates were as one on this subject, and on that score there was nothing , to choose between them. There was another point, however, which perhaps did not receive the consideration it deserved. It was this—the desirability of electing those of the candidates who would work as one man in harmony with Mr Orraond in his efforts to get a harbor for this port. All the candidates arc in favor of a harbor, but are they all equally willing to sacrifice something in order to get one ? Out of the forty odd plans sent to London it is just possible that the judges, iv giving their verdict, may add that, in the event of the design to which they award the prize proving too expensive for adoption, they recommend some other one. The elements of discord would then be apparent enough in the proceedings of the Board, and from which no little mischief might arise. So far there has been no difficulty. The old Board was unanimous in voting a £500 bonus for the best design, and in leaving it to the London judges to award the prize, while the AgentGeneral was to arrange with the judges the amount of their remuneration. Nothing could havo better shown the unanimity of the Board than the readiness exhibited in taking these initiatory steps. No time was lost, and money was a secondary consideration in so important an undertaking. The object now is to secure a Board that will be equally unanimous in the future. Tho difficulty that has yet to be surmounted will present itself in Parliament. We can count on the support of the threo Hawke's Bay members, but oanweho an equallvoertain of that of the Board itself ? This question will be answered by the result of these olections. A point has been made of the desirability of infusing- "new blood" into the Board, and it is this new blood from ■which we may expect discord. Our morning contemporary, for instance, after admitting that Messrs J. A. Smith and E. Lyndon have done good service, shares in the feeling entertained by a large portion of the community '' that it would be well to tiy an infusion of new and younger blood." We confess that no such feeling is sharod by us. Mr Smith and Mr Lyndon, it is acknowledged, have done good service, and they went hand in hand with Mr Ormond in the present departure for a new harbor. If returned they would again work with him. What more can be wanted from the town members on the Board? We hope, when the niunber.s are up, to see Messrs Smith and Lyndon at the head of the poll, to show that the ratepayers are grateful to them for what they have done in tho past, and their confidence that they will be equally loyal in the future. It is of the utmost importance that the Board should bo unanimous when making its application to Parliament for permission to raise a loan," and this, v o trust, has not been lost sight of by the ratepayers in recording their votes to-day. New blood is in some cases a very desirable infusion, but when the old blood has not lost its vitality, and is doing its work well, experiments should as much as possible bo avoided.