MAYORAL ELECTION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 487, 21 April 1909, Page 9

MAYORAL ELECTION.

bir, —In connection with the above thcrfi is a feature of moment to the' whole of the Dominion—-viz., .the number of candidates who are already members of Parliament. The question .at once arises,' have these gentlemen the time, the; year round, to discharge the ofiice they seek to till, aiid should they not give their' first attention to their Parliamentary duties ? When it is remembered that .some ,of these men have professional duties in addition, these questions' becomo the moro imperative Plurality of offico is fast becoming a disease, in our . land. Take an illustration: M.l'.'s are often found on Education JJoards. • -What does this mean ? i'hat for months in the. year, .i.e., ; wheii Parliament,.is in session,.,those of them ;whoso boards are beyond Wellington have either to absent themselves, or bo delinquent in their Parliamentary duties."ls this morally defensible, and ought not our M.P.'s or M.L.C.'s to bo content with the highest olhcc-. the people can > bestow ? Surely the £300, plus, the 'income derived from their vocation should suffice. ;I submit, then. that it is an immoral thing for'mon whose, hands are, or should be, already full, to presume to further official position,. immoral because, after all, one, man 1 can do no more than one .man's work'; and; to pretend to' do two or threo men's work is, to pretend to that which, from tho naturo of things, l is an impossibility... 1 h'avo no interest 'as a burgess in. the Mayoral contest, ..but tho'fact to which, I have called attention . supplies •the opportunity for a timelv protest'again&t which must be pernicious to the [state.—! am, .;tc., •' v ' ■ IJ+ i " T. ,A. WILLIAMS. . Petono, April 17. • "

COMPULSORY TRAINING. Sir,—l should lileo to .say a few words, .if you will kindlyl grftiit me space, about tho subject iof conipuisory military training.. All able-bodied moniarpjipble to bo.called on for active ijiilitary aorvice in case of emergency. Mow to fit then- for this. Service seems to be a .very debatable question at this time. I''do not think , tho young .men of the present day are . averse: to a training which • wilL enable them, to defend their homes in timo of dautho. word "compulsion" seems to stick-in tho British throat, and also to al!_ that obstinacy with which tho free-born iiritisher is .nationallyimbued:-' A man usually, learns_his trade or profession between, tho ages of fifteen and twenty.-"Wo could not .take our boys ..awaf at that time, or wo should buffer 'for'it commercially. .••.•So wo cannot ''catch 'em young." And if a man. leaves Ins. trade or. profession for three years, ev®! 1 after he has -thoroughly learned it. ho is quite .doublo that number of years behind when ho turns to it again. I. tlunki that two clrills a >voek and a full parad© and march, say, once a month, would soon make us efficient for., the duty that, would fall on us ill < ? as( ?.' )f , n^d - w< >, do not /want to be fully qualified automatons; for show, purposos. I have often pondered how many bullets talso effect of/ all, the shots fired: in a battle—a very small percentage by tho returns of the" casualties, lam thoroughly in .concurrence with who would, make us:-good rifle-, men, and if the Government would give us facilities for rifle practice, I am sure tho young men of this Dominion would only bo too ;glad to, register themselves for tho defenco of. their homes . and 1 country.—l am, * 'ion CHARLES E. PARSONS. April 20. y•;■..