THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1905. AUCKLAND AND ITS MAYOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12856, 3 May 1905, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1905. AUCKLAND AND ITS MAYOR.

After having loyally and energetically served the City for two' memorable terms, the Hon. Mr. Mitchelson retires to-day from the Mayoral chair, to be replaced by Mr. Myers, whose decisive majority shows the confident expectations of his fellow citizens. Mi. Mitchelson woulr'. certainly have been re-elected unopposed had he felt himself at liberty to devote another year to the civic service, to the necessary neglect &f his private affairs, so that we need hardly say that his work has been most heartily appreciated and that he has the very grateful thanks of the public for his able and conscientious administration. Those of ' us who have occasionally differed with him upon incidental points are pos-

sibly the best judges of the general acceptability of his policy and of the pronounced advantage to the City and its environr of his capable and intelligent administration. /, To future Mayors must, oi course, belong the credit of carrying to a successful conclusion the more important of the public works which have been commenced during Mr. Mitchelson's regime. But it will not be forgotten that their responsibility has been lightened and their course made smoother by the businesslike character of his initial ordering. Even the important works still in abeyance have generally benefited by his preparatory management, particularly by the shrewdness of his financial policy. To some, successful finance means the making of a surplus, no matter though the surplus be gained at the cost of efficiency. We have had this sort of " surplus" in Auckland, money laid by because streets went unrepaired, houses unprotected against fire, and families in danger of watei famine. Mr. Mitchelson lias earned oiu gratitude in another way. Our money has been spent, but spent intelligently, and while many things remain wanting to make Auckland what it ougnt to be, we can say without qualification that the city has progressed and been improved during the past two years. '< The Waitakerei water scheme is well in hand, and though we doubt its sufficiency for our future Auckland, any difference of opinion as to the number of years it will meet our requirements is far removed from the realm of captious criticism. As it stands, it is an able and commendable scheme, capably planned and satisfactorily financed, for which we have to thank Mr. Mitchelson. The refuse destructor will soon remove many grievances created by the absence of such a modern convenience in our city. Oiu streets are being gradually improved. A comprehensive drainage scheme awaits final consideration. And municipal organisation has been improved and the impulse given to further needed improvement. More might have been done, of course, but who ever heard of public business being as swiftly carried on as private business ? When wc consider the passive resistance presented by political bodies to active movement and the difficulty of amalgamating diverse interests in civic enterprise, we may well wonder how Mr. Mitchelson has done so much. Nor has he, •in his attention to our public business, neglected the social functions that properly belong to the chief magistracy of a great city ; without stint and without prodigality Mr. Mitchelson has steered the happy middle course which pleases all and gives offence to none, and maintained at its best the ancient reputation of Auckland for civic hospitality. The hearty appreciation of the City for all his services and the standing he has won among our worthy citizens will, we hope and trust, enable him to feel that his tingrudged work is not altogether unrewarded or in vain.

While Mr. Mitchelson retires to well-earned relief from civic cares and public worries. Mr. Myers enters upon his official servitude. He is happy in, succeeding an able and j cautious administrator, who leaves the work in good shape and thorough order, for he has not only to con- j Untie what Mr. Mitchelson began, but to persist in the Herculean task , of making Auckland s. modern city. Not only must the drainage scheme be decided upon, but the lighting question is forcing itself to the front. There is a drainage scheme before the Council well deserving of acceptance, but for a lighting scheme which will be at once equal to our newly-awakened ambitions and within our present means, those who elected him to the municipal chair look to Mr. Myers. Water, drainage, lighting, fire protection, with the score of other municipal functions and duties—what do they all mean but the pressing necessity for a greater Auckland ? The increased efficiency of our .city government under Mr. Mitchelson's fostering care has helped to remove many ungrounded fears as to the results of a union of the metropolitan bodies, and we may rely upon Mr. Myers to seize the present opportune time to bring the matter into the domain of practical politics. That it will be hard and possibly ungrateful work may be anticipated, but it is in the doing of the hard work and not in the doing of the easy work that exceptional organising ability displays itself. The more arduous the task the greater the credit that attaches, not only to its successful performance, but to the preliminary work which makes ultimate success possible, provided the task, is one upon which humane interests depend. Nor is there, at the present juncture, : any movement which promises such beneficent results to our entire metropolitan population as that for a Greater Auckland. Without such a l amalgamation we can at best only grapple ineffectively with problems upon which the health and happiness, the comfort and prosperity, of many thousands largely hinge. With it we may hope to make the veal city, which is far greater and wider than our so-called "City" of Auckland, a healthy, beautiful, and completely equipped centre, which need not fear comparison with any city in the world. So important is this that, if for no other reason, the city is to be congratulated that, though losing Mr. Mitchelson, it has been able to secure a successor whose qualifications encourage the anticipation that he will be 'able to exert no less an influence in the making of a Greater Auckland. ,-,,.,.. ~■. ■. ■~