The Evening Star.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 202, 1 September 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star.

THURSDA V, SEPTEMBER 1,1870.

As a general rule, it is not right to speak evil of dignities. We should like to respect the City Board, and to teach all men to do likewise. But it really is a bard; trial.;] As< our constituted civic authorities the Commissioners are in a position to win regard; but if p«ople will

make fools of themselves, it is not in human nature to reverence foolery. Correspondence has been passing between the <Tty Board and the Committee of the Mechanics' Insticute. Objection was taken by the committee, in the interests of their trust, to a nuisance intended to be erected by order of the Board under the porch of the hall of the Insticute, and encroaching, as is believed, on the grounds of the trustees. A protest was sent to the Board, and a reply received to the effect that the Board had ordered the discontinuance of the erection, and as the excavation had been made, the Board gave the option to the committee of having the excavation filled, or a flight of steps erected at the expense of the Board. The committee, after deliberation, accepted the proposal; and with the feelings that usually actuate persons other than the canaille, coached their acceptance in terms of courtesy, thanking the Board for having conceded to the wishes of the committee in suppressing a nuisance which iv reality the Board dared not continue. In this the committee made a great mistake. The membeTS of the Board do not, seemingly, understand courtesy, and, having been severally accustomed to the ruder forms and usages of society, accepted the polite- j ness of the committee as timidity and awe at the civic dignity ; and inconti- j nently resolved " that the urinal should be erected in Chancery-street forthwith." At the same time, with regard to the flight of step 3 offered previously by the Board—the erection of which is absolutely incompatible with the existence of the other structure —a member carried the resolution, " That if it cost more than a guinea, it be not done.. " the elegant diction of which is worthy of the Commissioners, and reminds us of the man who believed he " never would be able to put his boots on until he had worn them for two or three days." As to tho prevention of the nuisance, that is a simple matter; and we trust the committee will have spirit enough to resent the stupid impertinence of the Commissioners, and oblige them to carry their nuisance elsewhere by the simple machinery of the Police Court. In this city, which rivals Cologne in the number of its stenches, the olfactory nerves of our civic authorities may he iv such a morbid stite as to be really unable to discriminate between a nuisance and a pleasant odour; but whether the site of the proposed structure is on the grounds of the Institute or on the footpath directly in front of the Hall, there is not a .magistrate in Auckland that would hesitate to order its removal, as being positively detrimental to a public institution. It is really lamentable to think, that with two or three exceptions, who are impotent to prevent civic honors from being bedraggled in the dirt, all the respectable people of the city, who would lend dignity to public proceedings, stand aloof from the Board, and the affairs of this fine city are left in the hands of persons, most of whom Providence never intended to leave their own small sphere, and if ever a Corporation is obtained, we trust the citizens will see to it, that our merchants and principal men will be asked to accept of seats at the civic Board, gentlemen to whom honor will not be as incongruous " as a jewel of gold in a swine's snout"—who, if requisite, will assert their power and dignity in something more elevated than a victory regarding a miserable urinal.