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Otago Daily Times, Issue 11993, 16 March 1901, Page 6

The refusal,. of Councillor Pawson to offer himself as a candidate for the., mayoralty of the city for the ensuing term leaves Councillor Dennisfcon in sole possossion of the field. The friends pf ' th,Q latter gentleman have, however, wisely declined to take jt for granted that there will be no contest for the office, but have organised themselves into (v committee with the object of securing his return; In the short address which lie • delivered on Thnrsday evening, Councillor Denniston based bis claims to the- support ,of the burgesses on tho circnmstanoe that he is the member of the Council with the longest record of service who has not filled the position .of mayor. Tin's fact alone furnishes a substantial ground in favour of his candidature. With perfect cogency he pointed,out that it is useless for the citizens to expect that they can command the services of trusted and respected members of the oommunity— those to whom they would unhesitatingly confide the management of their own affairs—as city councillors unless they are prepared also to hold out to them the prospect of the only reward which they can offer for the bestowal of those services. That ren\wl»is the mayoralty. The citizens have fully recognised the soundness of this argument in the past. Excepting on rare occasions, when exceptional circumstances have warranted a departure from tho principle that aspirants to the position of mayor must first prove their worth in the subordinate position of councillor, they have invariably chosen their chief magistrate from the members of the City Council; and it does not involve the pushiug of this argument to miy extreme to suggest that the councillor who hns served the ratepayers for the longest period without haying been honoured by election to tho mayoralty, and who is otnenvi.se fitted for that office, is best entitled to the reward which is annually in tho gift of the city. Of tlie present members of the Council there is none who, by virtue of servicos rondered, is ablo to advance a stronger claim to the mayoralty than Councillor Denniston can. Cr Dawson would, we make no doubt, have received a considerable amount of support if he had acceded to the requisition in which he was invited to offer himself as a candidate, but we are unable to see how ho could have persuaded the electors that his servicos were more worthy of recognition than those of Cr Benniston; and, under all the circumstances, we are satisfied that he has shown a wise discretion in declining to contest the election. If there is no present member of the council who can show a more rali'l title to the binyoralty. for tho coming term than that possessed by Cr Denniston, it soems to us to be equally clear that there would be no justification for the electors looking beyond tho ranks of the City Council for one upon whom to confer the office. Certainly the accident, that Pnnedin niay be visited by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York for two days in the course of the

year would not afford any justification for such a step. distinction of receiving, as mayor of the city, a Boyal Priuce and Princess, who may be expected, in the ordinary course of events, to be' our King and Queen within a few years from, the present time, will be no small one. Cr Denniston's candidature for the mayoralty is, however, untinged by any motives of self-aggrandisement. The taunt cannot be directed against him that the prospect of a Hoyal visit to New Zealand and of the distribution by the Duke of Cornwall of honours iu the colony has induced him to submit himself to the citizens for election; for, as he has said, his candidature was announced long before it was known that the King's son was to come to the colonies. The fact that the next mayoral term is to havo an "added interest" given to it by this visit is no reason why a candidate, who had no anticipation of such as event when he offered his services to the electors, should not ha returned. On the co"trnrv, it {should be a source of satisfaction to the public to ,know that the only aspirant to the mayoralty now before them is a gentleman ill whose hands they may with confidence leave the reception .of the Royal visitors, for there can be no question that the dienity of the office of mayor will be suitably maintained if Cr niston he selected for that position next' month.