The Star. SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 1912. THE MAYORALTY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10440, 20 April 1912, Page 6

The Star. SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 1912. THE MAYORALTY.

Tile Mayoral election campaign is producing the old familiar complaints of the apathy of the citizens concernling municipal affairs. The proper and /eonventional course for a newspaper lln Buch circumstances is to endorse the ■complaints, to deplore the tendency of /the public to leave matters municipal to look nftor themselves, and to impress 'upon the electors the necessity of making a wise choice, or, if not a wise ■choice, at any rate a choi-co of some Bort. But we are bound to say that in Ithe present case wo have a good deal of sympathy for the apathetic citizen. /"We cannot imagine any man working 'ifimself into a fever or spending sleepJsos nights attempting to discriminate t'fcetwfle.n the qualifications—or disqualiJcatione, according to tho point, of Mew—of Messrs Dougall, Holland and •JThaclcer for the Mayoralty. So far as (personality goes, the outstanding candidate is plainly Dr Thacker. Here is 'ft man with the leisure and the ambition to serve the public. In intellect, 'in training, in associations, in virtually everything that fits a man for 'public office he appears to be excellently qualified and splendidly equipped. I big, bjuff and jovial, he fills the eyo As a popular politician. If he were Mayor, it would not be his fault if the public did not know all there was to be known, and perhaps a trifle more, about the municipal activities of tho 'city. Wo are strongly tempted to stop. At that, and to urge that, for the sake of tho life that Dr Thacker might be able to infuse into city _ affairs, fee should be given a year's tria}. But beneath our appreciation of Dr Thacker'9 good qualities we have the Uncomfortable feeling that ho lacks '■ballast. He seems to have an extraordinary faculty of breaking out in unI expected places. The oyster is the last 'of living things that we should select ,'for public office, but reticence in moderation is essential to success in any walk fin life, and nowhere more than in local [or national politics. And so far, at any rate, we have not observed Dr to be possessed of any distinguished degree of discretion. Tho pne fact that reconciles ua to his possible election in this connection is the certainty that the City Council as at present constituted may be depended upon " to exercise a restraining influence on*a too-independent Mayor. With Mr Dougall we have no particular quarrel. No onfl will accuse him of lack of discretion or of a failure to appreciate the value of reticence. "3.4 ,has certainly botraySd nothing in the shape of indecent (haste. Ho impresses us as a Mayor who* can be relied on to do nothing and to do it well; and if this should appear to be too harsh a judgment we shall be prepared to modify it to the 'extent of saying that he combines the proverbial caution of the Scotchman witib, the proverbial caution of the bucijeasful solicitor. The more timid among ithe ratepayers ought to find him an (ideal candidate. Of Mr Holland we can epeak with less certainty. He appears to have discharged his duties as a councillor capably and conscientiously. His fervent admiration of the qualities of the late Mayor is entirely to his credit, and in taking Mr Taylor's policy as" his .-model he establishes at once a strong claim to support. But it is quite another question whether Mr Holland is the man to carry through a policy of the kind, and we are just afraid that his candidature will suffer from the fact that he la personally so little known to.the mass of the people. Surveying the position, we 'find it' a good deal easier to make excuses for the indifferent elector than to advise him how to vote. It seems to be peculiarly a case in which personality will be the deciding factor, and we are disposed to ask for the contestants a fair field and'no favour, and to stand aside and watch the fight.