The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 1923. A WELCOME MAYORAL CONTEST

Gisborne Times, Volume LVIII, Issue 9670, 17 April 1923, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 1923. A WELCOME MAYORAL CONTEST

The Borough electors will he pleased that no walk-over has been allowed to occur in connection with the municipal elections. It would have amounted to a denlorable state of affairs, for instance, if. on this occasion. no contest were required to be held for the high office of Mayor of this important centre. Cr. Ball, we consider, is to be commended on his public-spiritedness in deciding to contest the Mayoralty with Mr. Wildish, who has been in office for the past four years. What greatly favors his chances is that he has already proved a “live wire” on the Borough Council and a very large section of the ratepayers must have admired him for the vigorous manner—oftentimes single-handed—in which he lias battled away for what he has regarded as the very best interests of the town. In his recent references to Borough matters, Cr. Ball has put his finger on the right- spot in the matter of the failure of Mr. Wildish’s administration. Far too little thought lias been given by the present occupant of the office to the question of a policy for this town. In other words, the “City Fathers” have lacked that strong leadership which is essential to the successful conduct of municipal affairs. The retiring council has done some extraordinary things under the presidency of Mr. Wildish, but the most remarkable was when the members invited him to take away and elaborate a report which he had presented with reference to Borough administration during his two terms of Mayoral office. We cannot recall a similar lefthanded compliment paid to tlie.“Chief Magistrate” of any other town. Mr. Wildish’s initial big fall from favor may be set back to his glaring omission to see to the keeping of. the pledge that was given that the plans for the whole of the works authorised under the latest loan poll would be subject to review by an engineer outside the service of the municipality. Pledge-breaking always leaves dissatisfaction in its train. What lias also done him a very great amount 6f harm is the fact that, during his terms of office, the rates have continued to- mount up and there are widespread fears that, if Mr. Wildish be again returned as Mayor, higher rates will rule. The burden of excessive municipal taxation, unhappily, falls heaviest on the workers and the leaders of Labor cannot honestly regard over-costly municipal. government otherwise than as something which must be attacked. High rates always mean high house rents. But that is not all. Where businesses are extravagantly rated, purchasers pay the piper in the shape of excessive prices for commodities. The workers, too, have been hard hit also on account of the failure of Mr. Wildish to have the electric light charges reduced, seeing that it now turns out that that department made a very unjustifiable profit last year. If the Borough had reduced the charges for current, it is almost certain that a reduction in the price of gas would have at once followed. Thus-it- will be seen that, in this regard, the people «f. Gisborne have, in recent months, been doubly penalised. Cr. Ball, too, proposes to show that tlie management of the borough generally and, particularly in regard To road works, lias not been anything like as economical as might have obtained. 'On a subsequent occasion we shall deal with other matters which have had the result of discounting Mr. Wildish’s claims to he re-installed for a further period of office as Mayor of Gisborne.