ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette, Volume I, Issue 43, 15 January 1842, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the New Zealand Herald and Auckland Gazette. Mr. Editor,—l am sorry to observe from your report of the Minutes of the Legislative Council on the Corporation Bill, that the clause is retained, which disallows (for the first year, at least,) the right of the Aldermen to elect their own Mayor. Besides, being in accordance with universal practice for every Corporation or Company of any kind, to elect their own Mayor or Chairman, the propriety, if not obvious necessity, of such a course is so apparent, that it is utterly inconceivable how a different practice should be sought to be adopted into this premature Municipal Corporation. In the discussion on this clause, I look, in vain, for some good argument or reason for adopting this new and ridiculous method of chosing a Chairman. The Printing Company here, is referred to for an illustration of the new system, and of its successful adaptation to practice ; but it unfortunately happens, that there is not the most distant similarity between the two cases. The question is, How ought the Mayor of a Corporation, or the Chairman of a Company to be chosen ? In the Printing Company, the election was for Trustees ; and it is, paying the mechanics and other members of the Company, no great compliment to say, that they possessed sufficient knowledge of their own interests to chuse those members having the best knowledge of business for Trustees. But it does not from this follow, that in choosing Trustees, they also by the same vote chose the Chairman to preside over the meetings of those Trustees ; nor does it even follow that the person best qualified for a Trustee, is also best qualified for Chairman of those Trustees. The Trustees alone were elected by the general body of Subscribers, but the Trustees, as a matter of course, elect their own Chairman, and are the best judges who amongst them is best qualified for the office. However, if the question were fairly put to the Subscribers, generally, as to who should be elected as a Chairman of the Company, there is little question but they would elect the person best qualified, but it would be quite unfair to put the question, " Who should be Trustees ?" and the person having most votes as Trustee, to make him therefore Chairman of these Trustees; because the qualification for the one, may be possessed without the qualification for the other. It seems of little consequence to what part, or to the whole, of the electors the question is put, so that it is fairly and distinctly understood whom they are voting for—whether it is for Chairman or Mayor; but it is not right—it is positively unfair—to ask them to vote for Alderman or Trustees, and from that voting conclude that they have also voted for Mayor or Chairman. In short, we come to the question, whether Trustees of Companies, or Aldermen of Boroughs, are all equally qualified for mayor or chairman of such Companies. Such Trustees or Aldermen ought to possess knowledge of business, generally, and of their own affairs in particular, besides having the confidence of their constituents for sufficient integrity of purpose ; but a Chairman or Mayor, in addition to these requisites, must possess a degree of personal influence—not that influence given by plenty of money in the pocket, but the mote durable influence of a well-stored, powerful mind, the preeise effect of which, it is difficult perhaps to define, but which every one feels when in contact with such individuals. A Chairman of any Meeting is an individual voluntarily put by the voice of the people, into a situation for the time being, to direct the attention of the meeting, and to preserve order in it with a tacit promise on their part, to submit to his authority, fand his decisions; but all councillors and trustess have not minds of this energetic character, and while they remain in their plaee as trustess or councillors, are acknowledged as very excellent, useful individuals, well qualified for their situation, but if called upon to officiate as Chairman or Mayor, would be found altogether inefficient and incapable of performing with any propriety the duties of the office. This is a matter of every day observation, and acknowledged I should have thought, by every one. Is every member fitted to be Chairman or Speaker of the House of Commons—every Alderman capable of discharging the duties of Lord Mayor of London ? Or, to descend to our favourite illustration, of the Printing Company, is every one of the members fitted to discharge the duties of Chairman at their Meetings? No one will pretend so—and no good can arise from departing, as in the present case, from human nature, and from the established practice of allowing the various individuals interested to choose, from among themselves, the person who is to have a temporary authority over them, and who therefore ought to possess such qualities of mind as to command obedience, and ensure respect. Such individuals can only be found by positively seeking for them, and have no chance of being discovered by the haphazard system of the proposed " Corporation Bill.

The proposed system, besides being altogether absurd, as a general principle is calculated to have an injurious tendency in this particular case. Every one here, as yet, is completely occupied with his own private affairs, and has not time to spend upon public matters, and the Mayor in addition to the great loss of time, which he, as well as the Aldermen, must suffer, will also, from the status of the office, be called upon to incur various expenses to an extent which very few here can be willing or able to sustain ; perhaps it is foolish or uncalled for in one sense, to incur such expenses but the usages of society have established them, and they cannot be done away with without a degree of moral courage and indifference to public opinion which very few are possessed of, and certainly, I should think, possessed by no Mayor, for the very inducemeut to undertake the office proceeds from love of applause, from a laudable desire to stand prominently forward in the eyes of the public, and from a gratification to self in being raised above onr fellows—and this very principle of Gur nature will completely prevent such an individual from throwing aside any of the showy expenses connected with the coveted honors —a considerable expense will thus be thrown upon him. In Adelaide the Mayor receives £3OO a year to support the dignity of the office ; but as not one sixpence is likely to be given here, the Mayor will require to pay all out of his own pocket. Many individuals, for this reason alone, as well as from a genuine feeling of incapacity for discharging the duties of Mayor, will not qualify themselves even as Aldermen, fearing the chance of being entrapped into the office of Mayor, with the terror of a £SO penalty for refusing to act in the event of the toss up proving to be in their favour—the services of many of the best qualified individuals for Aldermen will thus be altogether lost to the Corporation and to the public. Besides—the office of Mayor is really a very honorable one—has every where been deemed so every reason exists for keeping it as tin object worthy of i ur ambition; but the plan of election now proposed, whereby individuals may be thrust into the office without their consent —without, perhaps, being in any degree qualified for it; and bound tb fulfil the duties, under a high penalty, has the tendency to convert the highest civic honor into an object of aversion and disgust* If this clause is not therefore finally fixed by the Bill, I hope the matter will be again taken up at the next meeting of Council, and the Bill altered so as to allow either the Burgesses generally, "or the Alderme alone, to elect the Mayor con forrnable to common sense, and to the established practice in similar cases. To the Corporation Bill, generally, it is useless to offer any objections, since it has been determined to carrv it through the Council; but I think, Mr. Editor, that I express the general opinion enterlained on the subject, when I say, that it has been introduced at least one year before its time—that instead of a boon, as it is pretended to be, it is deemed as a mere engine for extracting taxes from a community whose every sixpense has been most cruelly and unjustly extorted from them by Government for Town allotments; and that, as not one inch of ground is to be given for raising a revenue for the various purposes of the Bill: 1 that the Bill itself is a perfect farce, a shadow without a substance—until a sufficient number of people shall arrive here who may be more able and willing to pay taxes than we are —until that event take place the Bill will be a complete dead letter, incapable of being acted upon for want ot the requisite funds. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, SCRUTATOR.