THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1925. ST. PATRICK’S DAY.

Wairarapa Age, 17 March 1925, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1925. ST. PATRICK’S DAY.

This is the day of the year, March 17, when in the early daj-s of the colony of New Zealand the Irish section of the population made gala, and a long day of jollity in new settlements usually ended with a night of a'obust mirth, if not of militant politics. There are towns on the West Coast of the South Island which can tell lurid stories of sectional rows on St. Patrick’s Day, while in the North Island Taihape stood out in glowing splendour for the vim and earnestness .with which it used to celebrate the saint’s day. Now-a-days St. Patrick’s Day is a comparatively quiet observance. It is a Bank holiday for some obscure reasMi, and is frequently taken of for the holding of athletic sports gatherings and race meetings. But apart from that it does not “cut much ice” in the secial life of the country. TOO MANY COUNCILLORS. Once more the time conies round when the ratepayers have to think about re-electing their borough councillors and to wrestle with the problem of finding good men and true to take theplaces of those who may be dropping out. We do not know how many retirements there will be from the Masterton Borough Council next month. Probably the large majority of the members will again be available. It is to be hoped so, at any rate, for the present council is as satisfactory and as competent a body as we are likely to find, and there is always difficulty in finding candidates if there are more thau one or two retirements. Two years ago . there was some discussion of the advisability of reducing the number of members. Not '■eniy is it difficult to find a sufficient number of suitable men for the vacancies, but it is recognised that the council is rather more numerous than is consistent with efficient working. If a body has too many members who are not members of the different committees it is likely to waste a lot of its time in debating matters in open council which would be saved if the committee work were better distributed. Another weakness in the case of Masterton is the existence of a separate ward for the suburb of Lansdowne. We do not know whether the council is of opinion that this anachronism should still be continued, or whether it has considered the matter at all; but we are strongly of opinion that there is no longer any reason —if there ever was —for the separate ward. This position is likely as time goes on to be more and more inconvenient, to raise questions which are invidious and which are. apt to militate against the welfare of the borough as a whole and decisively against those of Lansdowne itself. The Pahiatua Borough Council a month or two ago decided to reduce the number of its members from nine to six. With the Mayor, this makes a governing body of seven, which is ample for such a purpose. A strong argument used in favour of the change was the belief that with fewer seats to fill there would naturally be keener competition for them and a healthier tone in municipal politics. We trust that if Masterton is too late to make a change for the forthcoming election it will not lose any time after the new council is elected in considering the matter. NEW ALL BLACKS. It is a matter for congratulation that the latest combination to aspire to wear the honoured All Black uniform has achieved such a distinguished success. The New Zealand oarsmen in Australia have not only won decisively the eight-oared race against the best Australian crews, but they did so in such fashion that an umpire of 30 years' experience declares them fit to beat any crew in Australia to-day. Moreover, St. Clair has proved himself a real sculling champion. This is all very satisfactory. The Rugby team has associated such success with the All Black uniform that it would be a pity to see it dishonoured by poor displays in other sports. It is to be hoped the Tennis Association will see that it has some really good players available before it persists in entering a team for the Davis Cup.