The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1884. The New County Council.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1378, 12 November 1884, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prevalebit. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1884. The New County Council.

From an economical point of view, it is perhaps not to be regretted that the election of the Ashburton County Council did not involve a contest. In only one riding were more candidates nominated than were required to fill the vacancies, and in this solitary instance the difficulty was, if report speaks truly, solved by the rough and ready method of twirling a coin. Those who have of late been persistently clamoring for a change in the personnel of the principal local governing body in the County have in a measure attained their end, as only three of the old members of the Council now occupy their former seats, namely, Messrs Walker, Jackson and Taylor, Whether the new blood which has been infused into the Council will result in our affairs being belter administered remains to be seen, but we must confess to feeling serious doubts on the subject. If the speeches of people who have lately been gathering together in sundry places for the purpose of airing their views, with more or less eloquence, on local government can be accepted as a criterion of popular opinion on this important matter, the days of County Councils are numbered, and Road Boards are in future to reign in their stead. It is strange 1 that such ai agitation should have been got up in Ashburton, which has always been quoted as a model of good admin- , islration, and we have certainly cause ► to feel proud of the many useful works carried out in the County in the past. Even those who quarrel with the existing system recognise this fact, but they 1 contend that in the present state of our finances economy is imperative. With this contention [nobody will feel disposed to quarrel, and the late Council showed every disposition ! to give the subject careful conj sideration, which would no doubt > have resulted in salutary reform being carried out. The question is whether the new members are better fitted? to grapple successfully with the difficulty than were the old ones. Among the ! the latter who have not sought re-elec-tion w r e may refer to Messrs E. G. Wright and Hugo Friedlander, both shrewd, clear-headed business men, with a special aptitude for public work. .The absence of these gentlemen from the County Council is to be deplored, nor can it be said that the i return of Mr Megson and Mr McLean has supplied the loss. Without in any way prejudging these new members, who may develope capacities in the future the presence which they have, up to now given no indication of, we do not think they would themselves attempt to in-' stitute a comparison with their predecessors. Mr Megson has been a leading spirit in the agitation in favor of the Road Boards, and his attitude in the recent conference with the Council showed that he regarded himself as a missionary for the extinction of the latter body. Your Little Pedlington reformer is nothing if not thorough. His one idea of improvement is to remove what he considers an obnoxious thing from the face of the earth, and this is the feeling with which Mr Megson has approached the subject of local government. We do not think that his views will meet with general favor in the Council, and we can only hope that he will recognise this and, not waste time in useless discussion. What Mr Maclean’s ideas on this burning 'question of County Councils versus Road Boards are we do not know, nor is it of very great consequence. His long connection with the district lor which he sits in the Council will make him an admirable local representative, but the kind of knowledge he possesses will scarcely compensate for the absence of the general financial ability of Mr Friedlander. On the other hand, we are glad to see Mr Harper and Mr Coster have been returned, as they are both capable men, possessing a heavy stake , in the County, and therefore alive to i our best interests. Taken as a whole, / however, the new Council is scarcely i an improvement on the ®ld one, and \ we should be sorry to think that the ' absence of any contest was due to a distaste on the part of the gentlemen most fitted for the position to undertake < the responsibilities of public life. i