Evening Post TUESDAY, JULY 5, 1910. MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 4, 5 July 1910, Page 4

Evening Post TUESDAY, JULY 5, 1910. MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS.

One of the first and most imDortant

ilems on the order-paper of the Municipal Conference which opened yesterday resulted in a remarkable surprise. The municipal franchise has often been discussed at previous conferences, and the conclusion has always been adverse to any drastic change. On the present occasion the only motion tabled was for the restriction of the power of multiplying votes in respect of the same house. As the law now stands, and has stood since 1896, any tenant or sub-tenant who pays a rental of not less than £10 a year is entitled to a vote at municipal elections. The unsatisfactory feature of this arrangement is the indefiniteness of the test and the easy Openings which it offers for abuse. In moving the remit from Grey Lynn, which proposed that the only residential votes in respect of any dwelling should be those of tho original tenant and such tenant's wife or husband, Mr. W. J. Holdßworth uientibned that some families were able, under the present law, to secure as many as nine votes — the children being classed as lodgers, and nominally charged a rental of at least £10 a year each. Alleged arrangements of this kind, however suspicious they may appear, are extremely hard to check, and tho difficulty is such as to handicap the conscientious man as compared with one who has no scruples. This objection has been realised from tho first, but opinion has been much divided as to the remedy. Either a ratepayers' or a residential franchise would have had a much more logical basis; but to select the former would have meant retrogression, and the latter has hitherto been condemned by the Municipal Conference as going too far along the line of irresponsibility. It was, however, suggested by Mr. Holdsworth in moving his resolution that eithei the limitation proposed by it or the Parliamentary franchise was the proper solution, and with very little ado the conference declared, on tho motion of the Mayor of Wanganui, for the second alternative. | By 33 votes to 30— a narrow but sufficient margin — the conference now stands committed to the identification of the municipal with the Parliamentary franchise. As the opinion of the conference has previously been one of the principal obstacles to the proposal, the change will now receive a considerable impetus. We appreciate the objections to it, but for the reasons already given we regard the present franchise as illogical and unsatisfactory, and no other middle course that would be free from these defects has been pointed out. It must also be remembered that the reform, if carried out, will apply only to the election of Mayor and Council, leaving to the ratepayers their present monopoly of power over loan proposals. With regard to the election of the Mayor and his term of office, the conference showed itself much more conservative. The Taihape proposal to extend the Mayor's term of office to three years lapsed for want o^f a seconder, and we are not surprised at the result. But the argument for giving the .chief executive office of the corporation the same term as the council seems so overwhelming that it is difficult to see why the conference should hesitate to accept it. Yet, by a majority of 30 votes to 24, the conference decided that the anomaly which compels the Mayor to retire or seek re-election after one year's service while the councillors remain in office for two years should continue. As to the mode of electing the Mayor, the conference showed itself equally opposed to change, but with more reason. The election of the Mayor by the council from its own number would unduly limit the area of choice and would lead to wire-pulling and log-rolling, which might often result in a failure to make tho best selection within that area. Tho chief .rbjec-

tion to the present system is tliat it gives no guarantee that tho candidate approved by the electors has any knowledge of municipal business. To meet this objection Mr. J. Vigor Brown suggested that prior service on the council should be a necessary qualification of a candidate for the Mayoralty, and the suggestion is well deserving of consideration. Not only would it give us more competent Mayors, but it woald improve the status of the council as the trainingground of all aspirants for the higher office.