The Franklin Times PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY AFTERNOON. MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1925. ELECTORS' TASK.

Franklin Times, Volume 14, Issue 189, 27 April 1925, Page 4

The Franklin Times PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 1925. ELECTORS' TASK.

"We nothing extenuate, nor aught set down in malice."

T'HE Borough elections appear to be exciting more interest than was generally expected, and if the busy whisperings of the mari-in-the-street is a reliable indication of the strength of public interest there should be a heavy polling. Some elections are like some streams, noisy and superficial; others are like streams in which, under unruffled surfaces, currents of feeling run deep and strong. In the present election the campaign was not started early enough to enable ■■ the electors lime in which to formulate calm judgments on the ,claims. of the respective candidates, and to this' extent., an injustice,is done'to both sides. The prevailing idea of strategy in Municipal elections seems to be "get iri : the last shot"—as much, as 'to say that most elections can be' won in a,hall,...and that the silent voter who stays at home, and who has a startling way v of upsetting' the most confident' forecasts, counts for nothing. It may be true that the average speaker can sway, a wavering voter here and there, but it is incontestably true that the magnetic.eloquence of a Lloyd George is needed to carry a meeting, so that friends and opponents alike are brought into accord. The electors of Pukekohe have by no means an enviable, task before them in the election of their Chief Magistrate, for the issue appears to have resolved itself into a personal equation of a particularly perplexing character. Usually the voting runs on clearly tlciined lines, but on this occasion party, and even family, unity, seems to have been somewhat disrupted. However, if the various candidates both for the Mayoralty as well as for the Council, are not wilfully heedless of the lessons of the past, the electors should not be much disturbed by fears for the wise administration of their affairs during the next term of office. They have the human material at their disposal with which to construct a really useful and efficient Council, and the onus is now thrust on them to do it.