The N.Z. Times "WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1909. THE MAYORALTY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 6787, 7 April 1909, Page 4

The N.Z. Times

"WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7,1909. THE MAYORALTY

WITH WHICH IB (HCORPOBITKD IHB "WILLmOTOH mDXFIHBIMT." ESTiBLHHID IMi.

The Hon Mr Rigg comes forward as a j candidate for the Mayoralty as nominee of the Labour Representation Committee. He ' stands fairly and frankiy as a Labour candidate. That designation has ceased to have any special terrors when applied 1 to one who seeks the public suffrage. The community long since learned to realise that " Labour " does not necessarily imply incompetence or lack of appreciation of the responsibilities that are imposed by holding an office of trust. Unfortunately, many of the men who have offered themselves for election en various occasions as Labour candidates have disclosed a narrowness of vision and an adheronce to rigid formula that clearly unfitted them to be other than the delegates of a caucus. The. general disposition of the public, however, is to judge men on their merits irrespective of the particular tag they choose to decorate their candidature with. Mr R%g> wo have not the slightest doubt, desires that thk test should be applied to him in this case. He would, wo suppose, wish that he should bo supported because of his fitness to disi charge the duties of Mayor, not simply 1 because he happens to be nominated by Labour. Now, if the test of fitness bo applied to him on the opening speech of his campaign last night, it may be said at once that ho revealed himself anxious to see tho city develop en lines that seemed to him to be prudent, that he as desirious of conducting on sound lines tho enterprises en which, the municipality has embarked, and that he would not depart from a policy of advancement. There is nothing to distinguish him in this respect from one or two of the other candidates, nor do his general theories on municipal government compare anything but well with most of those we havo been listen-

jng to for the past few days. Mauy of the things Mr Rigg said are such as would inspire trust in him as a man of clear vision and sound judgment. His protest against " standing still,'-' lis insistence upon the great future of the city, and his pungent criticism of those who advocate stagnation were timely reminders that the way to meet local or natural depression is to fight it. It is, however, when he descends from the general to the particular that Mr Rigg turns the scale against himself, for his tactics are inconceivably bad. It may possibly be true, though we don't believe it is, that prosperity may be stimulated by increased rating; that there is some connection between rates and the demand for labour and a keen demand for houses to live in. It is inconceivable, however, that people can prosper by merely taxing one another. Yet Mr Rigg puts himself in th'o impossible position of arguing in this way (we quote his own words): " Increased rates are not a burden to anyone who is in a position to pay. If the increased benefit is more in proportion to the increased rate, the individual benefits by that amount. Increased rates mean increased prosperity—increased demand for labour, and houses, increased spending power." This sort of thing is fatal, and it is a lino of argument that Mr Rigg could very well have dispensed with, and left unimpaired his contention that if the city is to <*o ahead tliero must in time bo increased rates. Ho really does himself an injustice by the argument, because ho looks forward to the time when revenue-producing enterprises will yield enough money to permit i.f rates being abolished; ho favours profits from tramways, etc., being devoted to mitigation of rates; he admits that rates are in the last resort extracted from tenants, and prooably does not requiro to be told that rents are now a crushing burden on the wage-earning classes. If the public are to accept Mr Rigg's views about rates and prosperity as the opinion he holds after mature consideration, it would be surprising to find them receiving much support, for they aro fundamentally •wrong. The community will agree now and again to rate itself for a particular service, but it is for the object of getting the benefits that service will confer that it does so, not for any prosperity that is going to be created by the expenditure of the rates. Mr Rigg suggests that 150 acres of the Town Belt eastward of Mount Victoria should bo appropriated for the purposes of erecting workers' homes. We are not among those who believe that the dreary wastes known as " the belt" aro to be for ever sacred to noxious weeds and browsing cattle, but Mr Rigg will do well to remember that before the ratepayers ever consent to any scheme of this sort it will have to bo put before them with great attention to detail. A proposal to borrow £27,000 on some vague project for establishing workers' homes was rejected a few weeks ago. Mr Rigg regrets this adverse vote, but it was inevitable owing to the crude, unbusinesslike way in which it was put forward. There was a charming frankness about the way in which Mr Rigg disposed of tho allegations of undue "patronage" being exercised in regard to municipal employment. His simple comment was that if ho was Mayor he would be prepared to exercise all tho patronage there was; the matter could bo more safely left to the Council than to outsiders. To say the least of it, this is a decidedly bold way of dealing with the matter. In any case it shows Mr Rigg to be more conscientious than some people who come forward for public, office and who, while prating with great industry about "billets," spend much of their leisure time wirepulling in that direction.