MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2647, 16 May 1923, Page 9

MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —Now that the elections are over wo can pile arms and calmly re. view the situation, with, the result that almost in every case throughout the Dominion a vote of confidence was reposed in the retiring- Councillors who sought re-election. This surely is a complete refutation of all the wild charges made against those who had given honestly of their very best to the general public, without receiving any monetary benefit whatsoever. It is indeed gratifying to find that the bulk of the electors are possessed of good powers of perception and sound judgment and can rightly discern the true position. Legitimate criticism is absolutely essential, but to insinuate that a body o.f men have sacrificed all their scruples and openly sanctioned a corrupt and rotten administration is over the odds. And yet we have to hear it delivered with all the torrential force from many of thos e who desire to obtain office at each election. Only those who have served a term have any conception of the demand upon one's time. In addition to ordi. nary meetings at night, from three to four half-days per week are spent on the varous committees, preparing the material to be dealt with at the ordinary meetings; also from 7.30 to near midnight is devoted to the work ere the end is reached. Often during the -winter months, as the Councillors pass out into the, night with wind and rain descending, with an inky darkness en shrouding all around, th 0 question each asks the other is, "And what is it all for?' Whilst all our fellow, beings have spent the evening around their fireside or enjoyed an entertainment, and then retired to their virtuous couches, we are floundering home at an unearthly hour as a com. pensatioji for services rendered gratis. —I am etc , ONE WHO KNOWS. Palmerston North, May 14, 1923.