The Hastings Standard Published Daily. SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1896. A CHANGE NEEDED.

Hastings Standard, Issue 65, 11 July 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1896. A CHANGE NEEDED.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

"We can see that it will be necessary for us to keep pegging away before we can make an impression upon our townspeople. It may be that changes are irksome, but whether they are distasteful or otherwise to those interested we are determined that they shall be made, because we believe certain changes are necessary for the welfare of Hastings and the surrounding district.

Can any one advance a single sound reason why the Hawke's Bay County Council should meet in Napier? Is it because Napier is centrally situated, or that the business of the County Council most affects Napier ? What, then, is the reason for this local body meeting in an outside locality ? In the pioneer times, when Hastings was but a name, and Napier could boast of the furnishings peculiar to a one-horse town, no doubt it was convenient to the members of local bodies

to meet there, but under present conditions, with all the advantages of accessibility and accommodation which this borough can offer, there is not the least need for the County Council to meet in the coast town. Its meeting there is the survival of a custom which should have been long ago discontinued. The supineness of the Councillors themselves is remarkable, and it is a question for the consideration of those who elect the Councillors whether the time has not arrived when men more in sympathy with the progress of the present day and the changed circumstances of Hastings should not be elected to the County Council. The meeting of the County Council in Napier is an insult to Hastings, and those responsible for it should be brought to book. Now let us turn to another local body, the Jockey Club, and here again we are confronted with a reminiscence of early days. Everything of an official nature connected with the .Jockey Club is " made in Napier," yet the majority of the stewards are country residents who would find Hastings more convenient for their meeting. All the racehorses are stabled in and around Hastings, and because of this the owners from necessity are almost continuously in the town. There is no lack of hotel accommodation, which we venture to say is quite as good, if not superior, to that to be found in Napier, yet, notwithstanding all this, the thick-headed officials must have head quarters at Napier. With'respect to the Jockey Club there are positive disadvantages in this arrangement, as take for instance when two days racing are held; the trainers and jockeys are obliged to travel to Napier and cool their lieels there waiting for the weights of the second day's racing. The trainers, we are sure, do not like this, but they are powerless in the matter. The Agricultural and Pastoral Society is another local body that persists in meeting at Napier when Hastings would serve its purpose to a greater degree. We are anxious to know how long the people of Hastings and district will suffer this indignity ? To our view the position is such that no public man worthy cf the name and mindful of the interests and dignity of the borough would tolerate it for a longer period than he could possibly help. I)o we need the leading strings of Napier? Cannot we manage our own domestic affairs satisfactorily, or are we such dunderheads that we must) have the active interference of Napier to keep us on the level ? Are the vested interests of individuals of such magnitude that our public men are afraid of the consequences of any attempt to assert the rights and privileges of Hastings ? We are afraid the whole secret of our undignified position is due to the wirepulling of those fattening at our expense, and who, unfortunately for us, are apparently able to defy those who would seek to make an alteration. We believe Napier is destined to be a great place, and that at the present moment there is to be found there a vast amount of good sound common-sense, and we say with much diffidence that Hastings is destined to be greater than Napier, and the common-sense of its people will compare favorably with that of the coastal town. W T ith all due deference to Napier therefore, we insist that we shall be allowed to manage our local institutions according to our own lights. It is a modest request surely.