The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, MARCH 31, 1919. MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 16798, 31 March 1919, Page 6

The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, MARCH 31, 1919. MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

In ilie excitement caused by the a imminence of another poll, there M :inay<**be'a tendency to forget that "1 Ike' rolls close to-moiTow for the I /municipal elections, to be held at I the, end'of April. It is a long ..1 while-since Timaru borough elec- I tiohs have evoked the interest M which norcnally should be shown M in them. Before the war it too M often happened that a full com- .1 pleinent of ' candidates for the ■ Council was not available till the '■ morning when nominations '■ closed, and in-Avar time it was I inevitable that municipal activi- 'M ties should have less importance. M No Council could do more than H mark time while the fate of tions hung in the balance, men" 1 ™ were being sent away each month to fight, and all money needed for the war. The citizens can thank the retiring Mayor, Mr Maling, not for the' direction of any great constructive policy, 'H made impossible in the circum- ;■ stances of his term of office, but H for wise and tactful work of conserration, and a zeal and pathy in special war work, con-' stant and exacting, which mustbe n matter of very grateful mem-9 "Ilib virtues walked their nan/ round, '^.i^.^^B Nor made a pause nor left.'<9B|[S|^^^| Et was not his nor his fault that the round was mot *■ progress. No Mayor and Council H have ever worked better together, H and we could wish that Mr Mai- H ing could have seen his way clear H to continue in office in conditions H which, while they could not make H more work for him. would afford new scope, for civic enterprke.^B

FKow that the war is over that] f enterprise will be required again, : - and tiie electors must see that a * Council is returned ready and, I' able to provide its portion of it. j r'Big: projects, requiring l the mosti ; practical thought and handling-, 1/ are before this- municipality, r Lake Coleridge power must be [• installed to the best advantage, ' cannot be allowed to palter withi -, that necessity. In a few weeks the Council will be considering • a report on electric trams, and the town wants the best men itj can q-et to instal a tramway sys-l tern. Before the new Mayor and 1 new Councillors are .elected the f citizens -should know their > ideas ■ upon these subjects. So far no" • candidatures have been ' ahr nounced, except that of Mr W. I Raymond for the Mayoralty, and 1 no policies have been proclaimed excerct that of the Labour part} - ,' i at least as remarkable for its I omissions as for anything it contains, since neither Lake Cole-1 Bpidge power nor a tramway ser-l Price finds mention in the pro-1 ' gramme. It should not be too late for those omissions to be made good by the Labour committee. Some duties" of the incoming Mayor will* be more pleasant than those of his predecessor. Instead of addressing departing soldiers, it will be Jiis happy for-1 tune to welcome the last back, j and,to welcome also the .Prince! of Wales and Lord Jellicoe to! Timaru. The two years - for which a Mayor and . Councillors!, will be elected only a month from now will be years of. unusual im portance in the history of South Canterbury and New Zealand, r years in which the future will be moulded to a great extent, and it is time that interest was being shown in these elections. "No citizen should be willing to be off the roll.