MR. FERGUSON'S RETIREMENT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 29, 29 October 1907, Page 4

MR. FERGUSON'S RETIREMENT.

; ;, It.was made perfectly clear at yesterday's meeting , of the Harbour Board that that body .had ;to face the serious joss of its most responsible officer after twenty-three years'of valued service. The bitterness'of the loss probably was. not lessened by the fact that, to , some extent at least, the Board had atself to blame for the position, jbhe indiscreet action of one member, in: piiblishing 111'. Ferguson's letter of r'esig-. nation before members had had time-to consider it,- .rendering it. hopeless to think of inducing Mr. Ferguson to .re.considervhis announced determination'. No; doubt this action on' the rpart dl the member iii question was partly responsible for the acrimonious■, discussion which we publish ( elsewhere, '.but sooner or later the. condition of- things complained of was bound to'be lated. We. have. already expressed our views on the attitude of members of public bodies, who use their positions to advertise themselves for purposes outside of. those for which they have been appointed. Conduct of this kind cannot be too strongly deprecated. ,It not only fails to promote, the interests of the bodies, of which "such; persons are members, but has'a distinctly injurious effect, retarding the progress of business and arousing, a spirit of resentment , amongst other membei's not calculated to secure that harmonious unity of action necessary to win the best. ; results. Should the retirement of Mr. Ferguson bring home to these seekers after public- notice, the unwisdom of their methods, the great loss suffered might prove in the end to have its compensations. But we cannot hope for this. A certain class of public man will always "play to the gallery," and the niost that can be done is to discourage this sort of thing in every possible way. It is satisfactory to find that Mr. Ferguson's services are not .altogether lost to .the Harbour Board and to the City of Wellington. In the position of Consulting Engineer he will be able to continue the admirable work which has done so much to .win for Wellington its deserved position as the ; most up-to-date port of the Dominion; ■ '