THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam aul faciam." DUNEDIN, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 616, 8 December 1863, Page 4

THE Otago Daily Times. " Inveniam viam aul faciam." DUNEDIN, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8.

The Municipal Elections are now over, and we regret that we cannot congratulate any of the parties who have been concerned in them upon the result. Of the gentlemen who have befeti returned we have nothing to say, except to express our sympathy with them for the almost worthless character of the. credentials in "virtue of whicii -they take their -seats at the Town Board. There are few positions which it would be more pleasant- for a man to occupy, than a.place of trust to which he was raised by the general voice of his fellow citizens, or by the voice of any considerable portion of them. To hold such a position may indeed be regarded as the highest reward of a public career: to aspire to it, is to cultivate and prosecute a noble ambition. But what is there to be proud of; what is there for ambition to aim; at in being the chosen of a score or two of electors—the* neglected of the great bulk of the constituency ? When hundreds are entitled to vote, and when the successful candidate only polls thirty or forty suffrages, can the position struggled for be deemed one of honor or dignity? We have indulged in regrets at the manifest indisposition of our leading citizens to take the share' in municipal affairs naturally due to their social status and their property-interest in the city. The failure of local institutions of government is attributable to this cause. Merchants, and men of wealth and leisure, are censured for their apathy, for their self-seek-ing, for their disposition to attend more to their own business than to public affairs. But let it be seriously considered—what is the inducement offered to men of business to withdraw themselves from their countinghouses and offices, and dedicate their time to the service of their fellow citizens? Of course alj considerations of profit and interest must be laid aside. Responsibilities have to be undertaken, work to be done, trouble to be encountered ; and very few men of the stamp -we require would be willing to accept the task, without the assurance that they enjoyed in a high degree the honor and respect of their fellow townsmen. The ambition must, to say the least, be an ignoble one, which would be gratified by the possession of a seat at the Council Board, without the sanction of; an actual constituency respectably large.

No period in the history of the Town Board has been more critical or more full of interest; than the present. It has to vindicate

its reputation, and to die decently. Condemned by a vote of the Provincial Council, it awaits only the enactment of the necessary formal measure by tfie General Assembly to have to give way to a representative body more per fectly constituted. By the delay which has taken place at Auckland in «riviiiw effect to the wishes of the Otago legislature, it appears likely- that a - longer day of grace than it had any right to1 expect will be awarded to theZlowh Board. It may yet make much amends for an ill I used pa9t, before it is called upon to render up its final account. During the interval of life allowedit, it has very important interests to; protect. .How does it propose to deal with the work of city improvements ? with the expenditure of i the large sums of money which -are available j for public purposes ? It: has no very large funds of its own to deal with. But nothing more is needed than a feeling of confidence in its wisdom and integrity, to se-

cufe the payment into the hands of it's treararer___ of the moneys the appropriation Z. of which to this purpose was sanctioned by. the LegislatureSo long as the "only local administrative body the city possesses, is as imperfectly constituted as the Town Board is, everything depends upon the maintenance of the most cordial relations between-it and the Executive Go-; vernment. And how can these relations be of| a satisfactory nature, so long as the Board; fails to -possess a bona fide representative: character ? Has it .any right to speak to the: Executive, with authority, as in the name ofthe citizens? Of what party or what proportion of the citizens are its members "representative'?"; Are we to judge by the results of yesterday's polling—where we find that the largest number of votes recorded in any district for a single candidate barely exceeded fifty, and that in one " closely contested 1;' ward, the numbers polled by the competing candidates were respectively 18 and 13? No doubt the Board is theoretically "representative," But those who have to deal with it; in any sense or capacity except the, most technical, are justified in asking, how is it .substantially representative ? Will not the Executive entertain that view ?

A verjr grave mistake has unquestionably been committed by the citizens,' at the' elections just over. We do not presume to say that they have chosen improper men. Their fault has been their neglect to give the men they have chosen anything like a representative character and dignity. The great body of .the ratepayers have held back—manifesting an utter carelessness as to who Were returned or not. They have in some instances joked upon the result of. the elections. But they have taken small practical interest in them, as a really serious episode in the history of the city. And it is surely not under such circumstances that men holding leading positions, and with large business affairs of their own. in hand, can be expectedto accept—much less to seek—the barren honors of a seat at the Municipal Council Board. The institutions of local self government—to the inauguration of which, in a perfect form,, we are looking forward here, and for which the Town Board is a present and temporary substitute—are amongst the most cherished of our national, institutions.' Under their reformed constitution, they are the depositaries of vast powers, and the agents in effecting vast good. They are the trustees of great local interests, and have been the means of introducing to the highest walks of public life many men who have deservedly won renown. But wherever they have been most.successful, they have been accepted by the people as a great reality. Earnest men have been candidates, and earnest men have come-to. the poll to vote. WJhy, in this-city of Dunedin, at this impor-' tant point in its history, men of all grades should not be equally in. earnest, is one of the mysteries of colonial history.