THE "CALLED" AND THE CHOSEN

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 92, 19 April 1921, Page 6

THE "CALLED" AND THE CHOSEN

Tho fact thstt 42 candidates cpntept the 15 seats'"on the C/ity Council, 83 fight for the 14 seats on the Hospital andi Charitable A^d Board, and 9 seek the 4 seats on the Harbour Board,, constitutes a sufficient reason why every elector should determine, before he enters the polling booth, what fifteen, what, fourteen, and wh^t f°UT b© will vote for. To. have a definite idea of ten city councillors, and to caet the other five votes at random* and to gamble similarly with the H. and O.A and the :SJ.B. voting papers, would be to unxt&rmine the whole, process of election. A little calculation will show that seats can be won and lost on random votes, and, the only safeguard is to cast no. random votes, bsut to make a precise use of the elector's voting power. True, the multiplicity of candidates is j little bewildering, but even a> slight study of campaign events will make the issues clear enough for any voter's decision. After all, the multiplicity pf candidates, is not as great as the multiplicity of racehorses, and if equal skill and indjustry are used in picking the right candidates as in picking the right horses, far better r«sult» will oasily be obtained. lii electing the city councillors, we hope that the ideal of Greater Wellington will be uppermost, and-that electors will not be diverted from it by ticket-worship, or by partisanship, or by purely local needs, or by 9-vs f°im °f '«swi*3>lism.. ty tb^ Hospital aipj Obwtabie Aid j?O,ard ©lection, only ten nan-Labour canctidatea seek thfl fourteen seats, vvhile there apa 13 Labour cancftdatea. The electors should give Labour proportionate repTesentation, but will make a great mistake if they allow Labour to rule this important board!, which is a great spender, witH great temptations towards patronage. Tho same remark applies to the IJarbour Board. ' ,