COUNCIL CANDIDATES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20242, 30 April 1929, Page 8

COUNCIL CANDIDATES.

'.REFLECTIONS OF BROWN.

PROBLEMS OF PLETHORA. ** TICKETS " AND ALPHABET. ?' A country is supposed to get as good a government as it deserves," said Brown, " and on the same reasoning a city should get it also. "Wrong. Quite ■jvrong. I solemnly declare that in pur crwn city it is impossible for the voters to find out what sort of government they are going to have, no matter how they, study the lists of candidates. Few of ua are even able to memorise the list oE names for the council election, much less arrive at an order of merit. It's very distressing."

Brown usually prides himself upon knowing what's -what and is a member of the intuition, society—the chaps who seize a pencil and strike out names or make crosses as the spirit moves them and, folding up the document, place it in the box with the deep conviction that they at least; have done the right thing. This year he has lost this confidence and, maybe, it will not do any harm to Brown and hi 3 brethren, to face a political situation that destroys their equanimity. But Brown is not considering how ha may profit by the perplexity of the problem or how eventually civic government may profit by it. He is simply upset and inclined to be peevish because the " good old days" have gone when there were no parties in the city and no tendency to suspect leal men of motive other than the motive of doing a bit of public ser« vice. Innocent Pride. "Oh yes! Oh yes!" he said testily in reply to a comment. "Be cynical! B« a doubting Thomas! T know, everyone knows, that the lime-lighter has always b(;en about. But what of it? Why can't ai man enjoy the position, get a lot of satisfaction out of public prominence, revel in pleasure at being in the centre of things, so long as he does the job to the best of the ability with which his Maker has endowed him ? What is a bit of innocent conceit anyway! If you are so certain that some candidates have ulterior motives, stand yourself and then in about five minutes, if you listen, you'll hear that you are being run by such and such a 1 gang for such and such a purpose, that you are badly in need of an advertisement for your own business, that you are a noodle and a know-all and a lightweight who does not know his limitations, that you are a person of doubtful character because once you swore through the night at howling cats. " Try it on. my boy. No. I am persuaded that the reason why most men offer themselves for election is that they have an <• urge to serve. The instinct quite common notwithstanding the great company who decline to try. And when it comes to contests the reason is tha simple one that one man thinks he is a better man than another. That is quite common, too. You see it in the nursery stage when Willie Smith, aged three, hits Tommy .Tones on the solar plexus simply to demonstrate bis superiority. You see it in the school playground, and indeed almost every place where three men or two men and one woman are gathered together. Competition or Chance. " Ana it is all to the good," proceeded Brown in a tone that revealed a little of his habitual superabundant complacency and self-satisfaction. "It is the striving spirit by which we progress. Playing fields of Eton and all that sort of thine." " Then you ought to he pleased with' vour choice of 67 candidates for the '2l seats." said Brown's friend. " That is not ordinary competition." said Brown. " That is merely a game of chance worse than a matriculation examination or a second-hand car sale. With 67 candidates it i? not remotely possible * for the people's will to be more than remoteiv expressed, and I question very much if it is possible for the people to have a will to express with such an entry. "But what makes it worse is this 'ticket' business. First, a self-appointed body called the "progressive citizens,"

butts in with its 'ticket.' If it were not for the fact that some of the men on its lists are on my own, I would not hesitate to vote against the whole lot, simply on principle and a protest against attempts to unduly influence unintelligent voters. "Now there are more 'tickets' —People's Welfare and the Independent Eleven.

The redeeming feature in these cases appeal's to be that the lists are arranged, backed, and circulated by the 18 in the one case and the 11 in the other. And of course there is Labour. More " Tickets."

"There is unlimited opportunity for the multiplication of 'tickets" and quite an incentive seeing that a candidate might get himself on a lot of them. Why not a Fighting Fifteen to oppose or intermingle with the Independent Eleven ? What about the Silent Score, the Fair Dinkum Forty and tho Thrifty Thirty ? There's no particular reason why the 'ticket' should be limited to the number of seats. Better to exceed the necessary number than encourage 'plumping.' "Atid the women," proceeded Brown, who is sufficiently progressive in thought to be pleased that women are coming forward to take some ot" the executive burden from the shoulders of the mab branch. "With a of tla former female activities," he remarked, "it is fitting and necessary that the released energy should be applied in other directions."

Well, as to women candidates, lie considers that there first should be a female ticket, being quite assured that female voters will correct any tendency to plumping, because most female- voters vote against their own sex, and that all other "'tickets" should make it their business to secure a fewi female names.

"Strangely enough," he said, "that would please and help to win for the men the votes of many women who, notwithstanding, would rot vote for a woman even if she were the reincarnation of Boadicea or the girl, who rode through Coventry, or Florence Nightingale, or Mrs, Beaton. Queer folk, the women.

1 asked my Auljt Agatha the other night why she continued to lecture me when she know it did not have a particle of effect, and she replied with a hattleaxo smile, 'Because if I did not continue to express mv individuality as you know it, you would cease to love »u\' And she's right. "Well." concluded Brown, " I don't know who to vote for, but 1 am determined to do one thing. I am going to start at the bottom of the list and workup. Most people start at the top and run out of votes halfway down and so the Walkers and the Vercoes and the Youngs get a badish run—l mean—they unduly suffer from the impatience and mental flurry and general incapacity of the average voter who is so anxious tq remove incapacity from the council.