The Daily News. MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1923. BOROUGH AFFAIRS.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 April 1923, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, APRIL 30, 1923. BOROUGH AFFAIRS.

In a leading article appearing in Friday’s issue of our loeal contemporary the following para graph appears:—“'lf, as one result of the election, the borough loses the services of Mr. Bellringer at a critical period the loss—far it will be a serious loss—may be laid at the door of those who tried to make the borough managership the outstanding issue by asking the council to defer the termination of that appointment until the electors had an opportunity of expressing an opinion on the question.” The statement is so misleading that we cannot allow it to pass unnoticed. Its obvious purpose is to place the responsibility for the possibility of losing the services of the borough manager upon other than the right shoulders. For the past two years the members of the council seldom, if ever, co-op-erated with the town manager, making it perfectly clear that they had no confidence in the system, and consequently did nothing to make it successful. The town manager was supposed to control the administration, but as time went on, the council interfered with this work, instead of confining themselves to questions of policy and control of finance. The manager’s advice and recommendations were consistently disregarded, with results that have proved, and must prove, detrimental to the town’s interests, and thus, before coming to a decision to end the general managership, they rendered the system ineffective and the position untenable. There is x plenty of evidence of this fact, and it cannot be disputed. Realising the danger to the borough of losing Mr. Bellringer’s services at a critical period in the town’s history, the executives of the Chamber of Commerce, Employers Association and the Ratepayers’ Association, after fully considering the situation, decided unanimously to make the request to the council above referred to, and which the council—very fairly, be it said — agreed to. It was hoped that as a result of the election a council would be returned that was prepared to treat the general managership system on its merits, and, at any rate, display a little more consideration towards the manager. What happened? As soon as the candidature of Mr. Burgess was announced, the Mayor and his supporters proceeded to make the issue entirely one of the abolition of the general managership, thus diverting attention from the serious administrative faults which marked their term of office. Unquestionably they succeeded in creating a good deal of prejudice against the office. It is so easy to gain popularity by undertaking to cut down salaries and to raise feelings against a system that can be construed as being undemocratic, though, in point of fact, the system, rightly carried out, of - fends in no wise against democratic instincts. The old council were out to kill the general managership, and succeeded, and this being so, they must accept the consequences, whatever they may be. We feel that they will be serious, and have never dis-

guised our misgivings. Our contemporary now awakens to the fact that Mr. Bellringer’s going would prove a serious loss to the town. It would have been more to the point if it had made the discovery before, and not after, the election, instead of attempt. 1 ing to fasten on other people the responsibility for what may oe. cur. As a matter of fact, we believe Mr. Bellringer’s services, have never been properly appreciated, for various reasons, the, chief, perhaps, being that he was born and received his training’ in the town, but we make bold to say that at twice the salary he has been receiving he is the best investment the town could possibly make. The amount of salary paid to a tried and competent man, after all, is really of less consequence than the value of the service he renders. A cheap man generally gives cheap results; a good man always earns what he receives, and more. To our own knowledge Mr. Bellringer saved and made for New Plymouth

thrice the amount of his salary during the first year of two he assumed his new responsibilities. It will probably not be forgotten that the services of a highly-ef-fleent manager of a loeal company were lost because it was thought by the directors that the concern could not pay the extra two or three hundred required to retain them. He left, new management came in, and the company, striking a very bad year, lost its entire capital. The borough of New Plymouth is even a larger business —indeed, it is in many respects the largest business in Taranaki—and to do its important interests and activities justice, to make the most of the commercial opportunities, there must be at its head a business man of outstanding ability. That ability is rare and can command its price, which is a great deal more than the council has been paying its general manager.