The Star. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1889. The City Mayoralty.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6703, 16 November 1889, Page 2

The Star. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1889. The City Mayoralty.

Mb William Prtjdhoe this morning an nounoes that he respectfully declines the honour of being a candidate for election to the mayoral chair of Christchurch. The manner in which he declines the honour does him infinite credit. The temptation to accept the offer of so large a number of influential citizens must have been very great, but Mr Prudhoe's sense of what was due to himself enabled him to resist the temptation. He tells the gentlemen who signed the requisition, and through them the citizens generally, that he it was who requested Councillor Manning to allow himself to be nominated. It would indeed have been strange if, under these circumstances, Councillor Prudhoe had consented to oppose his own candidate. It is to be hoped that the requisitionists who asked him to come forward were ignorant of the position he occupied, otherwise what is a high and well-deßerved compliment would have been an insult. We quite agree with the xequiaitionista as to his well-known probity and devotion to his duties as a City Councillor, and have no doubt that Mb candidature would have been a popular one; but the candidate already in the field (Councillor Manning) liaa an equally good record. What would make any opposition to Mr Manning's election more than usually hard is the fact that this gentleman was most reluctant to come forward. The greatest pressure was brought to bear upon him before he would consent, and the mos powerful argument used to persuade him to offer himself wag that he was sure to be elected without opposition, ntll "wno know Mr Manning know that he is a man who is of a most retiring disposition, and that only a sense of the duty he owes to his fellow oitizens has induced him to enter public life at all. Such men are easily driven back into privacy, and their being so driven back causes a great loss to the community. * We congratulate the citizens on their being saved from the risk of losing the services of Mr Manning as Mayor; and we compliment Mr Prudhoe on the honesty of his utterance, and the good eenße he has displayed.