CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 107, 14 January 1880, Page 2

CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES.

I notice that a mimber of jouvnals hurl columns of condemnation upon the head of the present Mayor of Dunedin because he ha 9 accepted the. office to. w.hieh the law decided he was entitled. It may berempmbered that his opponent, Mr. Fish polled a majority of votes, but was unseated upon an appeal* by reason of his being a contractor to the Council. A certain section of Press and public is wroth with Mr. Walters because he demanded •■ and Eetained his rights. Jt.is, however, a rather remarkable co-incidence that the very journalists who assert that such a paltry barrier as a. contract should bo allowed to keep their,, pro- \ tege from the Mayoral chair, are the selfsame scribes who endorsed the unseating, of Shi G-eorge Grey for Christchurch. Why is this thus ? Certainly thp. late Premier was ousted upon the most trivial and frivolous grounds, while had tbe.D-une-din Whittington been allowed to take his seat among t the City Fathers, it w^ould be the first step towards opening the door, to that venality and corruption, which . has made the name of the New York Corppration infamous throughout the w.oild. It has. been urged against Mr,. W^ltera that as he knew that Mr. Pish was disqualified during the election campaign, he should have, made it public then, and not wait until his opponent had been victorious to do so. Well, such accusations only prove to me the truth of the fable, of; * The Old Man and the Ass,' ? arid that it is impossible, to please all' parties. \ have a very lively recollection of a recent election contest m whicK tire tery-conrsepro-posed was adopted, and the, supporters of the candidate to be disqualified said any number of unkind thing3'over the. transaction. According to the dictum of the immortal " Cocker " " what is. sauce for. the goose, is sauce for the. gan,der," bujt apparently the ruling does not apply m this case, as Mr. Fish beiug neither flash nor. fowl, goose nor gander, must have a sauce to.suit his own peculiar genus.