Evening Post. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1896. THE MAYORAL ELECTION.

Evening Post, Volume LII, Issue 156, 23 November 1896, Page 4

Evening Post. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1896. THE MAYORAL ELECTION.

The addresses of the opposing candidates for the office of Chief Magistrate of the City for the coming year are now before the ratepaj-ers, and they should have no difficulty in making their election. So long as Mr. George Fisher was known to be in favour of the municipalisation of the tramwaj's of the city, and the views of the other aspirant for office were undeclared, Mr. Fisher had a distinct advantage. But now Mr. Bell has publioly given in his adhesion to not only the municipalisation of the tramways, but all the sources of revenue at present derived primarily from concessions obtained from

the Corporation. This being so, there being no longer any question as to one being the representative of a more progressive policy than the other, the citizens may be expected to be guided by considerations of past service, and present ability to serve their interests. Taking, then, the candidature of the present Mayor, what are his claims to preference over Mr. H. D. Bell? If we put Mr. Fisher in evidence, as recorded in the report of his speech at Newtown on Friday evening — and he is certainly not an adverse witness— what do we find ? The reprehensible condition into which the tramway tracks have been permitted to fall was in no wise excused by Mr. Fisher ; but instead there was a charge that this journal had written " either" vindictively, or without knowledge "on the subject. We shall show later that we have done neither. The state of the tramway tracks is a scandal to the City, and it was the clear duty of the Mayor to do his utmost to determine and enforce the conditions of the lease. Can he claim that he has done so ? He is entitled to the great credit of having, by his casting vote, prevented a concession to a private company for 21 years of the right of the city streets for an electric tramway. That was a great service to the City, and we said so at the time; but beyond this we cannot discern any special benefit he has conferred upon the ratepayers. It is admitted that the finances of the City are involved, and more than unsatisfactory, yet after a year of office Mr. Fisher does not present any statement or suggest any disentanglement; he can only say that it has taken him a 3'earto "pull the threads together." Did he not know the situation when he assisted to donate £1000 to the Kelburne Park relief works ? and if not, why not ? That was the first distinguishing act of his Mayoralty, and we now know that the money should have been expended on the streets of the city. As Chairman of the Council his best friends must admit that he has been needlessly combative and consistently tactless. He has said that the head of a city like "Wellington required, to be a man with a firm grasp of its affairs, and that there had been a reign of ornamental Mayors. Mr. Fisher has failed to show that he has a firm grasp of the City's affairs, though it may be admitted that he has not been an " ornamental Mayor.' 1 It does not follow, however, that he has been a useful one. Turning to the address of Mr. Bell of the same evening, we find him using the strongest language permissible from a public platform in denial of Mr. Fisher's charge against him in the matter of the drainage connections. The denial is clear, explicit, and exact, and it is difficult to perceive how it can be gainsaid. As to the tramway question Mr. Bell is plain and convincing. He is for municipalisation in the future, and for the present he would insist upon both City and lessee fulfilling the terms of the existing lease. This is a first consideration, and one that this journal lias urged for months past. He reminded his hearers that in 1892-3, when he was Mayor, the Council had cleared the city of the terrible scourges of typhoid and diphtheria ;' and he admitted the natural desire to be in office to control the completion of the great drainage scheme he had inaugurated. The financial position he declared to be grave, and made clear his views regarding it, ai also his opinion that the repair of the main streets should be the first, duty of the Corporation. He had come forward at the solicitation of friends, who had urged it upon him as a public duty. He would aim at unison in the Council, and, if elected, would endeavour to serve the ratepayers in the future as he believed he had served them in the past. Without making any further comparisons, we think that all unprejudiced citizens must admit that Mr. Bell has done such good service to the City in the past that its best interests will be served by again placing him in the position that he filled so worthily and so well.