The Dominion. TUESDAY, APRIL. 29, 1913. THE DUTY OF THE ELECTORS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1736, 29 April 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. TUESDAY, APRIL. 29, 1913. THE DUTY OF THE ELECTORS.

In view of the fact that to-morrow is iDolling-day for tho municipal elections, this is almost the last opportunity of urging upon every citizen whose name ia on the roil the imperative necessity of making full use of his (or her) right to vote. Never before in the history of Wellington has it been necessar.y for the community to repel such a determined and well-organised effort on tho part of . a class to capture the Mayoral chair, and every seat on the City Council, and thereby gain possession of the entire control of the affairs of the city. The LabourSocialist faction has been working very hard, and may be expected to poll its full strength, so that tho other side cannot afford to be any loss active, or to take any risks. Every elector who is opposed to the domination of the municipality by a secret caucus in the interests of one particular section of the community should regard it as a pressing duty to record his or her vote. There is no need of any clcctor to take tho slightest notice of the hysterical efforts which are being made in certain quarters to gain sympathy votes for Mil. M'Laken in his candidature for tho Mayoralty, on the pretencc that the opposition to him is baged on considerations of social status or on his claim to be a. working man, As a matter of fact, his opponent (Mr. Luke) has just as much reason to call himself a worker. Considerations of this sort are entirely beside the mark. Nor are any great policy questions involved in the present contest. The affairs of the city require steady, progressive administration on sound business lines, and such a policy is certainly more likely to be successfully carried out. by councillors free to excrciso their individual judgment, and working in the interests of the whole community, than by a council composed entirely of Labour-Socialist nominees whose outlook would be limited to tho requirements of a particular section of the people, and who would hold themselves responsible, not to tho citizens of Wellington, but to a secret caucus. To put the whole matter in a nutshell, the electors will have to make the choice at tho ballot-boxes to-morrow between the government of tho city by representatives of all sections of the people or by the nominees of the Labour caucus. No reasonable man has any wish to ercludo genuine Labour from representation on the council in some proportion to its numerical strength in the community. Wc have already made this point quite clear; but when the caucus puts forward a "ticket" which covers every seat in tho council, and also tlio Mayoral chair, and when all its strength is concentrated in securing the return of the whole ticket, the rest of the community is absolutely compelled, in self-defence, to combine in order to defeat such an attack mi their rights and interests. The only effective way to repel aggression of this character is for

every man and woman on the roll who believes in a really representative council, and a Mayor who recognises that he owes allegiance to the whole people anci not to any caucus, to refuse to cast a single vote for any member of the Labour-Socialist ''ticket." Unless this is done, there is grave danger of the splitting of votes amongst the candidates outside the Labour-Socialist "ticket" assisting that "ticket" to secure the domination of the city's affairs on a minority vote. We would again impress on every elector the urgent necessity not only of going to- the poll himself, but of seeing that those with whom he comes into contact also record their . votes.