THE CITIZEN'S DUTY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16842, 28 April 1915, Page 8

THE CITIZEN'S DUTY.

There was a time when we heard a good deal of the right to vote, in municipal as well as general politics, but the broader question of the moral obligation imposed on the citizen by the •possession of the right to vote is too often lightly ignored. We do not propose to enter here on a politico-philo-sophical discussion of the rights anu duties of citizenship, but on the morning of the municipal elections a word of earnest exhortation will not be out of place. It is the duty of every citizen to-day to record his vote, and to record it with the same deliberation as ho would exercise at the general election. As a matter of fact, the work of the municipal council affects tbe people much more immediately than does the work of the Dominion Parliament. The quality of the roads provided, the cleanliness of the city, the efficiency of all the works that render residence in a city bearable,' depend on the thoroughness of the mUnioip-.l administration. " The ratepayer naturally thinks first of the direct taxa.tion which the city authorities impose, but the law that gives every adult resident a vote is a recognition that tbe work of the City Council is the concern of the whole population, and not merely of those individuals whose names figure on the rate roll. There has been an extraordinary increase in the levy imposed by the municipality in recent years, and the. question that the citizen should ask himself in this connection is whether the policy pursued has been sound, whether tho supervision of the crty administration has been as intelligent as it ought to have been, and whether the candidate seeking bis vote is likely to bring brains and courage to bear on the financial side of the council's work. To our mind, the party issue may very well be ignored on this occasion. The voter will serve the city better by weighing the qualifications of tho individual candidates than by voting one "ticket" or the other. But it is the importance of recording the vote that we wish rather to emphasise. The elector who neglects his duty in this respect .really deprives himself of tho right to criticise, and, what is of greater moment, he may be saddling his city with an inefficient administration for a period of two years.