The Feilding Star. Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 1909.

Feilding Star, Volume III, Issue 839, 27 March 1909, Page 2

The Feilding Star. Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 1909.

The Feilding Mayoralty. The announcement that Or. H. Tolley will contest the Mayoralty next month ensures a contest, Cr. S. "W. Fitzherbert being the other candidate. It is satisfactory to know that there will be an election, as it is not a good sign Avhen an important position like the chief magistracy of the borough is allowed to go by default. The question of the fitness of the two candidates for the position they are contesting is, of course, one for the- electors, and we have never recognised it to. be one of the functions of a newspaper to dictate to them as to the person they should choose for a responsible office. At the same time it is as well to point out that it is necessary that the choice should fall on the one moat capable for the work and possessing the experience enabling him to arrive at the conclusions most likely to make for the well-being of this most important community. We know that there are many people who regard a Mayor as merely the chairman of the Borough Council, but there is a considerable amount of power vested in the executive head of the borough which, wisely exercised, wields a very great influence on the well-being and prosperity of the community. To be a successful I Mayor, a man should be able to arrive at a prompt decision, to be able to make up his mind on a certain line of action and stick to it, to have the faculty of presiding over the Council with tact and discretion without sacrificing his own principles to the rule of the majority, and to prevent any friction or mitundwatanding , disturbing

the smoothness of the relations existing between the Council and the office Btaff. It is not an easy matter to secure the services of a man who will give such whole-souled attention to the position as to secure these objects, and we trust that the result of the election will be to ensure the return of the candidate approximating nearest to a perfect Mayor.