The Evening Star FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1941. TO-MORROW’S POLL.

Evening Star, Issue 23886, 16 May 1941, Page 6

The Evening Star FRIDAY, MAY 16, 1941. TO-MORROW’S POLL.

To-morrow the polling; for the Jocal body elections will command attention. There were advantages in fixing the day of voting on a Saturday, for it means a minimum of inconvenience in the working week, in any case, the election is a nuisance at a time when the Empire is living under such a condition of stress. Since it has been decreed, what it is necessary to impress on the voters is that they ought not to neglect their duties. The war is in the minds of all, but it should not be allowed to interfere with the fulfilling of a very obvious respousi- ■ bility. It is no time for apathy or indifference, for that may mean the success of organised forces that would not be in the best interests of the city'. The intrusion of party politics into local body elections is something to be deplored, for there is no parallel with the issues that are fought out at a General Election. The City Council, for instance, may be compared with a largo company whose operations are conducted by a board of directors chosen because of their fitness for this work. It is well that the ratepayers should bear this in mind. The affairs of the city ought to remain in the hands of men experienced in business and finance, who have the time necessary for the successful prosecution of their duties. The ratepayers arc in their hands. Inefficiency, inexperience, and the initiation of impracticable schemes mean that further inroads must be made on more than the ratepayers’ pockets. Fortunately, there is placed before the voters, the olrrr of the services of men who have served the city well, having the experience and ability necessary for the work, and the time at their disposal to attend to it, free from the distractions of the parliamentary arena. The mayor is a case in point. Here is a man who before assuming the mayoral office had seven years of first-class council service to his credit. Mr Allen has business experience in full measure. He has lived in Dunedin all his life, displaying his interest in sport, muncipal, and business affairs alike. No one will dispute the encomium on him that “ a more straightforward, honest, and highminded citizen it would be hard to find.” As a northerner interested in municipal politics, remarked: “He seems to me a very typical product of your burg,” meaning that he had the qualities of the long line of men who have built the city up to its present prosperous condition. The work of the City Council and other local bodies means much more than attendance at the regular meetings. It is the committees who do most ’of the business, and this shows the inadvisability of having men on the council who arc also members of Parliament. No matter how good--their' intentions are, their obligations in Wellington necessarily mean that their local body duties must suffer. 'Mr Allen, it will be noted,' promises that the whole of his time, if he is re-elected, will be devoted to the mayoral functions, ratepayers should consider this point. The city business is now highly complicated, requiring, with the war-time responsibilities that have been added to it, more time than it has ever done before. It is sincerely to be hoped that the electors will realise their responsibility by recording their votes to-morrow. That should be made the first duty.