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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4204, 10 September 1874, Page 2

The Municipal elections that will take place in the City this clay will, we presume, excite the usual amount of interest; and, for many reasons, it is very desirable that this should be the case. Never hitherto has the Wellington Council had a prospect before it of doing so much good, and of engaging in works of such an extensive character, as at tho present time. The income it may have to administer will most likely be as large as that of a German principality ; for, as soon as tho plan being provided at the joint expense of the Provincial Government and the Council is completed, the £50,000 authorised to be borrowed for the purpose of forming the streets and draining the City can bo made available for this purpose. As we stated on a previous occasion, it is not altogether improbable that a way may bo found of getting over the difficulty caused by tho Legislative Council throwing out the Bill for reclaiming tho Te Aro foreshore, and if so, this great work may be undertaken in conjunction with the other. At any rate the first will be commenced with a view to the second, which almost certainly will be proceeded with before the term of office of the councillors elected this day shall expire. Also, tho ratepayers should bear in mind that there is the question of drawing up new wharf regulations, and providing extra accommodation, to be settled in a- very few months. From theso considerations, we argue that the Council, will have a great power for either good or evil, in its hands ; and to-day the ratepayers will assist in deciding which. For them to elect men only for the purpose of afterwards recounting their shortcomings, and the talc of their incapacity and unsuitability, is idle. It is too often the case that persons are electod only to be scolded afterwards. In such a case, it is the electors who ought to be scolded, if not disfranchised. To-day, it is highly desirable that only men of largo business experience and qualifications should be returned. Also, it will be for the benefit of the town if Councillors are elected who will be likely to work harmonious]}'. Wo have seen how one mistaken election has recently caused much obstruction of public business and scandal in the Council* Without being at all opposed to reform, we may point out that any new member entering a Council with an idea that he is "going to turn it topsy-turvy, sweep it out, and revolutionise it, will only encounter the dislike and disgust of his fellow Councillors, who will send him to Coventry as much as possible. Reform must be reasonable, not revolutionary. Notwithstanding the form of an election that may go on elsewhere, we presume interest will centre in that for Te Aro Ward. Respecting tin's there is one thing to be said. The choice of the ratepayers is restricted to two gentlemen, upon one of whom it must fall. To say that this or that or tho other person would make a good Councillor is not to the point: the tiling is to choose the better of the two candidates. One of these the ratepayers have had amongst them for many years, and on this ground he has a claim .on their confidence. They know, too, that he has professional knowledge that would prove of great advantage if devoted to the service of the City and tho Ward in respect to the important works that aro to be commenced. He would speak in the Council on such subjects with a weight that no other Councillor could. The idea that he is not eligible because manager of the Gasworks is untenable from the very nature of the Council, even if it were not too absurd to consider the servant of a company the contractor that company is. Of the other candidate neither we nor the ratepayers know much. If the electors prefer him they must take him- on trust, and on his own recommendation. One of tho sentences in his printed address supplies quite sufficient evidence of what his qualifications amount to. He says lie considers that "the present system of collecting the City rates is entirely wrong, and the information given to you of the amounts to be paid vague and unsatisfactory." We take leave to "say that whatever may be the faults of the system, to say it is entirely wrong is a libel °n the good sense of the community, and upon tlio Councillors who have so long enjoyed the confidence of the ratepayers. What is meant by " the information given to you of the amounts-to bo paid being vague and unsatisfactory" is a riddle that we give up. If it. means anything, which we very much question, this must bo that the rates are a matter of haggle and arrangement between the collector and tho ratepayers, the former having only aj vague idea of how much ho wants and what ho will get. Some persons seem to have an idea that because most of the main streets in the Te Aro Ward are in a bad and neglected state, the Council has necessarily been remise in duty. Until the plan we alluded to previously has been prepareil, by means of which uniformity in construction and drainago only can be obtained, money expendedin doing more, than tho necessary repairs would; be_ simply wasted. ' That the neglect appears greater than it did, may' bo admitted ; but this arises from-causes'quite outside tho rule of the Council;,;:,As well might it be said that the Council is responsible

for Willis Street being too small for the traffic that is now in it, or for tho wharf, which not long ago was abundantly, large enough, being now too small. As Mr. George said on Tuesday night, Willis Street is too small, and although the Legislative Council threw out the Bill for reclaiming the foreshore, this will have to be done in order to provide for the increasing traffic. The principal portion of this passes through the streets in the Te Aro Ward, and these are becoming worse every day. But the Council, which has obtained leave to borrow money to construct all the streets and drain the town properly, and is having a plan prepared, has been doing all that it could in the matter. The retiring members may ask for a renewal of the confidence reposed in them without feeling any reproach on this •account;. And the ratepayers will do well to recollect that long familiarity with public business is a great advantage to a Councillor in the active and proper discharge of his duties. A new Councillor has so much to learn of the form in which business has to be done, and its relation to that which has been transacted or that may be, that he is at first merely as if he were serving an apprenticeship to his office. The very fact that a man has been in office is therefore a strong reason why he should be returned to it, unless there be stronger ones why he should not be. In the case of the two retiring Councillors we cannot suppose that there is any doubt about their reelection, but it will be well for all their friends to record their votes. The issue of but too many elections has been decided by the too great confidence of the candidates and the apathy of their friends.