NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2141, 6 May 1914, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

•'ln choosing a chairman to-day the members of the Wellington Barbour Board will be afforded an opportunity of making a change which for several reason's seems very desirable. The present holder of the office, Hit. R. PtETCHBH, has now occupied the position for four years in succession with the- inevitable result that there has been a tendency its recent- times to permit too large a share of the Board's business to-be in the hands of one man.. A public office of this kind should not be monopolised by .anyone. For one thing-it usually ' leads to the management of the affairs of the institution eoncofned getting into a groove. If also tends to discourage others who have rendered useful public service and who through this clinging to office by one of their number are deprived of the opportunity of serving in the higher capacity. There is almost always a reluctance on the part of the hotter qualified members pf such a public body as the Harbour Board to press their claims against those of a chairman anxious to cling to the position; and indeed/ it not infrequently bappeas that a chairman, by virtue of the advantages which his position has afforded him, is able; to sway his , weaker colleagues to serve his own : ambitions and so renders open cornpetition futile. In the case of the election here to-day it may be that ; Mr. Fletcher, . recognising* that ho • has already occupied the chairman- ' ship of the Board for an unusually , long term, will not seek re-election, It would, in the circumstances, be a reasonable and proper course for : him''to. take ,and would remove the growing impression that he regards the office as hiss own special perquis- ' ite and himself as-this onlv member : ' of the Board qualified to fill it. ■ ' The proposal to increase tin* size 1 of the present recreation ground at 1 Lower Hutt by the purchase of five 1 acres of adjoining land seems to be '. a very reasonable one, and ..it is to i be hoped_ that the result of the loan poll, which is to be taken to-day, ' will enable the borough authorities f to give effect to the proposition. Mr. { Bi'SNV explained the position very clearly last night, and mncl« out a > s: strong case for acquiring the addi- ' tioual area, At present the borough ' has only six acres of recreation a grounds, and eleven acres are certainly not too much for a progressive dis- ■ trict with a growing population; nor can the expenditure of £8700 to se- a pure the land be regarded as an ex- J. truyagant proposal. It k a wise -j policy, generally speaking, to secure '| the necessary open spaces for tlv ). recreation of *hfi people while a fown or borough is still young, and t before the jrmwth of papulation in- ii creases the price of land to such aa h

oxtent that the cost becomes a very serious matter. The needs of tho future as well as the present have to be considered. There are no doubt ■ many other things which a district like Lower Hutt requires, but the present favourable opportunity of increasing the recreation area at a moderate outlay ought not to bo lost. Many a community lias, had good cause to regret neglected opv portunitics of this kind. Another amusing exposure has been made of the misleading nature of the special reports published by tho local Opposition journal concerning the peregrinations throughout the country of the Wardist "Forlorn Hopfsrs," as they have been dascribed, .There are always "crowded meetings" and "enthusiastic, receptions" and all the rest? of it, according to their reports, and perhaps these veracious chronicles'' of tho back-blocks electioneering efforts of the Wardists help in a measure to cheer the drooping Spirits of the! rank and file m other parts. But j unhappily at times the real facts leak oiit, as witness the following extract • from a protesting "Liberal''' publish* cd in the local organ of Wardism: ' In your short report of Mr. Jsiti's speech at Bulls it was stated the hsdl' Wis crowded. This is net correct; the attendance was ii&fsrtunntfcly • small, ! but quits with Mr. Isitt irt his indict- j inent of the dubious ways of "R clonal," j 'ami a vote of'thanks and -wishing the | Liberals and progressive farces every success was carried without a dissMit It was obvious "Reformers" had been at eonio pains to make the meeting a fi'flSt (perhaps llusy were "circii'sHs-d" to keep away), as I foiled to sfe osie present, and oil tiro occasion when Mr ; Isitt asked; "Aro there any 'Reformers' here to-night?" there. wasis t a iminiuv, From n party point tho move wets no doubt a correct one, for the lion, gentleMan would have been in better Co; in f«r a little opposition—in fact, he said that if some Reformer" would chip in ho could suy: "I thank thee, Roderick, Cor the word. It nerves my heart, it steels my sword"; 'but tho Tories know the weakness «f their- defence and wisely kept away. Ifere we have the latest crime of the villainous Eeformc-rs. They are assailed by this ■indignant resident of Bulls because they dared to absent themselves from Mit. IsiTT's meeting, preferring no doubt the comfort of their own firesides to the shallow skimmings of politics with which they were likely to be' regaled by thepolitical jokist from Chvistchurch, It does not seem to have occurred to the devoted adherent of "Liberalism" who gives vent to his feelings through the- the Wardist journal in the manner-quoted, that bo has (1) added another to tho exposures of the inaccuracy and misrepresentation of his own political journal, (2) shown that tho public are growing w&«y of the stock invective and well-worn jpkelets which pass muster for political speeches amongst the tour-ins; Wardists,. -and (;!) made it very clc-ar that without the aid of supporters of tho Reform Party tho "Liberals" in the Bulls district are so few. in numbers that they cannot muster anything but an "unfortunately* small" meeting. AH of which exposures aro ..rather cah I dilated to further disturb the peace o£ mind of our "Liberal" friends.