MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 13860, 21 April 1917, Page 7

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

v•; NOTES 'AND COMMENTS,

/'(By "2.")

The municipal elections; kj\\ Wednesday next Oamaruvians will have the. opportunity of the day. They are charged with the momentous task of

• selecting'a chief citizen and twelve men, brave and true, to look after the /■Jaffjtirs of the town, The selection of ,-.councillors is a simple, task. Just ' place the "eighteen names in a hat and ..tevirout twelve, and there you'll have ■,■*».. good a council ns the body chosen by -the man who sits np all night and ,-•• Weighs' the follies and virtues of respective candidates. Ten members of tlj-e ,qld council have not had enough of;the enshionedchnirs and the rfiinciimportance of a life in Hie limelight of local' politics, and are in the field : again. One qualification should be insisted upon for every councillor—he should reside within the borough. Xo - resident of an outside district, who has shifted out because the life in the . r/prpugh wasn't congenial enough, should bo accepted as.-, a councillor. If Mr'-.Mitchell and his -fellow-resident'; '\ Ot iNewborough desire representation oto the..council the remedy is simple, let'them promote a Greater Oamaru scheme aiul persuade their fellow BU.oivrbanites to,join the borough.' Is itVnpt presumptuous of people liviuy ojifside the borough to seek to run the aja'irs of the town? Under the pre s?.nt>lawa resident of Dunedin, paying tp our town clerk, say, ten shillings per annum in rates, is eligible for ■ a seat

on 'the Oamaru Borough Council, This provision is too ridiculous. But Mi Mitchell i 9 asking the townspeople to give hirn possession of one of the twelve cushioned seats, and pass over a' bona fide resident of the town, No, Mr"'/Mitchell, form a 'borough out at .Newborough, and you may be lucky enough .to win even the mayoralty of that'.vigorous off-shoot of Oamaru. The alternative is: amalgamate with the borough. ■

•/.If/the retiring, or expiring council, . or/whatever is its proper designation, had'pushed on with the electricity ■ 6che'm.e and not dilly-dallied about for sc\many months the uncertainty associated with the present coal crisis would have been eased very considerably. The scheme may be a'' particularly rotten one," and all that, according to Mr Milligan, but it will give the town that measure of' security which it has not now. Even if it will not pay, ■ according to Mr Milligan, the people of the town would not be^rudg- 1 paying, say, an extra £2O per week—a thousand a year—to be saved the darkness and eheerlessness of tireless grates which threaten us unless the coalminers come to their senses. Push on with the scheme by all means, and let the croakers and reactionaries whine to their heart's content.

It' is said that Mr James Mitchell, who is again offering hi 3 services to the. burgesses of Oamaru, prides himself upon his faculty to prophesy. This gentleman participated in the wordy warfare associated with those dredging proposals which some years ago came to be known as the Milligan scheme Li- the course of one of his many letters to the editor of a local journal, Mr Mitchell, discussing the charges levelled against Mr Milligan of having altered the scheme drawn up by Mr Blair Mason, voiced this unmistakable opinion: "It should be admitted at once," wrote Mr Mitchell, ''that any change from the adopted scheme that might have been found desirable should i have been brought before the board for consideration and ratification prior to being carried into effect. In not taking that.course, the chairman.ac-

cepted the whole weight of responsibility for ultimate success or failure. instead of having, the load 'distributed over the whole br.-ird, . , . There is little or no-doubt that the plant provided will do the work!" Hard'.oh Mr Milligan; harder oh Mr Mitchell's reputation as r. prophet! Behold Sir Oracle! When he speaks no dog dares to bark. . ,

Mr Searle returned to Oamaru yesterday, and is quite pleased with the progress made in the interests of his candidature during, the last few days, notwithstanding the attempts of his opponents to create an impression that lie would not be nominated.

/ One of the strangest features of the municipal election-in Oamaru is the silence of the candidates. Norte of the aspirants for civic honours have thought il necessary to expound their views on municipal affairs. ' The retiring Mayoi and Councillors do not seem lo ihink it worth while to give an account of tlr.-ir .stewardship, The burgesses are expected to take them on trust again,

.')i:« municipal reform should be put iiito operation by the incoming council. The ordinaiy meetings of the council should -be open to the general public," and ample seating accommodation should, be provided for those towns--people who feel interested enough to at.lead and. listen, ( The attendance of the public would certainly tend to enliven the proceedings, and put our civic fathers on their metal,