The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1912.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, 1 August 1912, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1912.

Although hot]] of the municipal loans

were adopted A Toiling Protest, yesterday the , pol] -was, it is

safe to say, one that will not soon o*. forgotten. It will be seen by reference to our news .columns that some 703 ratepayers recorded their votes, which is a substantial increase on t-ho Go2 electors wlu> attended the poll of a similar kind 1 that took plrno- towards the close of last year. The result of the road loan, as it may be described, was that it was only agreed to on this occasion by a majority of 92 votes, despite the fact that in December last, when a slight irregularity occurred (which necessitated the fresh poll yesterday) it was affirmed by a majority of 340 votes. In the case of the electric light extension loan it was the first occasion oil which it lmd been brought before the ratepayers, so a similar comparison is impossible,, hut it will be noted that although it was also carried it met with an equally substantial amount of opposition. It will, of course, be generally recognised that, whilst a great deal of this antagonism was doubtless duo to antipathy to the proposals themselves, the opposition

Jwa.s in the main by way of a telling protest against the ■wasteful and extravagant manner in which tip© affairs of the borough, and especially the loan moneys, continue to be administered. That the "City Fathers” will look at the matter in this light is certain, for the Mayor, in course of conversation with a “Times” representative after the declaration of the poll last night, stated that the substantial opposition which had been shown in regard to the proposals would indicate to the Council the necessity for very careful consideration of their future operations. Hoar close the proposals were to being defeated may be gauged by the fact that if only fifty of the votes in their favor had gone the other way the result in each instance would have been very different 1 It is impossible then to see how Mr Pcttie and his colleagues can view the situation wnn equanimity, for had the decisions gone ! in the opposite direction they could not, under the circumstances, have, with dignity, remained in office. As tilings stand to-day it would, indeed, be interesting to know if it were possible—which of course is not the cas« —exactly what the majority of th« 1400 who abstained from voting really feicon the subject. Many others, it is certain,-would have voted against the proposals had they voted at all, as l t was no uncommon remark on the streets yesterday that perhaps it might be .better not to vote seeing that the desired result would, in view of the certain heavy adverse vote, be attained all the same. For our own pai't we attribute the carrying of the polls to the personal efferre ,-r the Mayor and at least a cumber of his colleagues on the Council for, :i; addition to the heavy advertising that was indulged in, they worked hard yesterday in the interests of tlio proposals. Under the circumstances, th«->- ti will be agreed that the substantial opposition to which the loans were subjected quite justified this our latest effort — drastic as it may have seemed —to secure, if possible, the much-needed reform, which we still hope will take place, in regal'd to the administration of the affairs of the Borough.