The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1915. THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2441, 21 April 1915, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1915. THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

_ It is time that the citizens of Wellington gave their attention to the local bodies' elections which arc to be held on April 28. Wednesday, next will bo a. busy day for the voter, who wiU bo callcd upon to make his selection from among those offering their services for the Mayoralty, the City Council, the Harbour Board, and the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. Ho will have a wide field of choice, for the number of candidates who have come forward greatly exoeeds the number of seats to be filled. This is a wholesome sign. It shows that these public offices are held in esteem in the community, and that men are prepared to compete vigorously for tho honour of representing their fellowtownsmen in them. It is an unmistakable indication of healthy municipal life. The knowledge that plenty of others are willing and eager to place their talents at the disposal of the community acts as a spur on those already in office, and tends to keep public bodies up to a useful standard of efficiency. On the present occasion there are three candidates for the Mayoralty, while no fewer than twenty-nine citizens are competing for the fifteen scats on the City Council. For the four Harbour Board scats ten candidates have been nominated, and for the Hospital and Charitanle Aid Board, which has a membership of fourteen, there aro twenty-eight candidates. As only a week now separates us from election day, it is the duty of the electors to give close scrutiny to the claims of those offering their services. Each elector should set up for himself some ideal of municipal administration and arrive at a judgment regarding the different policies which have been placed before him. He will then have some clear ideas to guide him when the time comes for marking his ballot, papers. The Labour Party deserves credit for the energetic manner in which it is endeavouring to educate public opinion and to secure the election of its candidates. However aiuch the majority of the electors may differ from the policy set out in the Labour programme the zeal and persistence with which it is advocated might be imitated with advantage by the community as a whole. It is gratifying to find that the Wellington Town-planning and Municipal Electors' Association is also taking an active part in the contest. It has, its guiding principles and convictions, and welcomes open discussion and the freest criticism. These organisations, with definite aims i and objects, give the general public something to think about, and the government of a progressive city like Wellington is well worthy of all the thought the citizens can bestow upon it. Mr. J. P. Luke is again offering to servo the city as its Mayor. Ho has proved himself a competent administrator, and has acquitted himself well during a memorable period in the history of the city, the Dominion, and the Empire, It has been a period of hard work, and Mr. Luke has responded in thu most ungrudging manner to the many and continuous demands upon his time and thought. One of his opponents, Mr. Fletcher, is a member of Parliament, and it is quite plain that with the growth of the city's municipaMinsiness and the increased obligations on the Mayor, a, member of Parliament cannot hope to attend satisfactorily to both his Parliamentary and his municipal duties. The third candidate is the Labour-Socialist nominee. The interests of citizens point plainly enough in the circumstances to the clcjsi i'P lqlen«?S'< of MUittinj Lust's fccrvlws for another tovuii

As regards (he City Council the doctors should aim at getting a businesslike body of men—meu with clear and practical ideas, aud with sufficient enterprise to-see that they are carried out. This is not the time ior reckless experiments or trifling with the fads and fancies of irresponsible dreamers. But a policy of stagnation should also be avoided. There is ample room for steady progress between the. two extremes of timidity and recklessness. An interesting feature iu connection with the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board election is the candidature of no fewer than six ladies. This body is brought into such close and constant touch with many of the women of the community in various ways that it is altogether fitting that a fair proportion of its members should belong to that sex. Only a woman can fully understand a woman, and it is highly dbsirable that at least two ot three members of the Board should hf) in a position to discuss the questions that come up for consideration from the feminine point of view. As rc< .sards the Harbour Board, some very important- questions of policy will probably have to be decided in the near future, and it is much to bo desired that the nmv Board will bo composed of lovel-headod business men who have a thorough knowledge of the needs of a port like Wellington, and an adequate appreciation of the great responsibility which will be cast upon their shoulders, Unless the citkcns themselves lake a keen interest in civic affairs they have no right to expect that the administration of the local bodieß will be maintained at the highest degree of efficiency