NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2446, 27 April 1915, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY

' , Chief interest in tomorrow's elections will no doubt centre in the Mayoralty and the municipal contest. Citizens, however, should not overlook the importance of making a careful choice also in the voting for the Harbour Board and the Charitable Aid Board. For the Mayoralty, the candidates are the present Mayor (Me. J. P. Luke), Me. R. Fletcher, and Mr. Chapman, a Labour-Social-ist. It is safe to assume that the real contest will be between Mr. Luke arid Mr. Fletcher. The latter gentleman's long tenure of office as chairman of the Harborr Board does not encourage the idea that he is likely to fill the office of Mayor with any distinction, nor does tlie position of the finances of the board point to any genius on his part'for economic administration Moreover, Mr. Fletcher, is a member of Parliament, and it must be obvious that he cannot satisfactorily attend to both his Parliamentary duties arid the, heavy and increasing obligations which rest on the Mayor of the City. Mr. Luke, on the other hand,* has the ;time, and he ' has the experience and an excellent record of past service to point to. It is doubtful'if any Mayor has given up more time to the duties of the office than Mr. Luke has devoted to them, and in addition both he and Mrs. Luke during a very trying period have been - associated with a- multitude of good' works, whichjnust have been a great tax on their time and energies. Much of the work in which they have taken a leading part is still proceeding, which is a further reason, if such were needed, for securing Mr. Luke's re-election. Indeed, there can be no doubt that in the present condition of things Mr. Luke is the best man available for the office. »

; Wellington has a habit of re-elect-ing its old councillors, and on the present occasion' it may he taken for granted that practically all of those who have again offered their services will be successful at the polls. The retiring councillors are: Messes. A. E. Atkinson, W. H. P. Barber, J. Fuller, G., Frost, J. E. 1 Fitzgerald, J. Godber, M. Luckie, L. M'Kenzie, W. J. Thompson, and E. A. Wright—ten in all. In addition five more are required, and with such 1 names as J. S. Swan, J. Hutcheson, A. Veitch, W. H>. Bennett, E. Hall, T. Bush, and others, citizens should have no difficulty, in selecting a useful body'of councillors. Thev cannot go far wrong in electing the old councillors, the. five other vacancies leaving ample opportunity for new blood. The Labour Party's ticket does not contain any names calculated to command confidence outside of* Labour-Socialist circles, but Mr. D. Moriarty, who is an Independent Labour candidate, will no doubt meet with support' from many who cbnsider that Labour is entitled to direct representation on the City Council. The Harbour Board is badly in want-of some new-blood, and with that end in view electors might well consider the advisableness of voting solidly for the Municipal Electors Association ticketnamely, Messrs. E. A. Wright, W." Cable, H. G. Hill, and A. Leigh' Hunt. In another column Mr, Hill publishes figures relating to the Harbour Board which should arrest the attention of citizens, and set them thinking as to the Mayoral aB well as the Harbour Board candidates.

An issue which may trouble citizens' a good deal to-morrow is the question of the day for the weekly half-holiday. There is a good deal to be said on both sides: that is to say, in favour of Saturday, on the one hand, and in suppoit of an optional day on the other. That- is the real difference between the contesting parties. In the event of Saturday being carried, Saturday must be the day of the holiday, but in the event of the Wednesday advocates carrying the day, individual shopkeepers if they so desire can choose any day they please as their legular closing day. The Wednesday proposal, therefore, is much more liberal and less likely to dislocate existing business arrangements, and will probably meet with substantial support on this ground alone. The reasons advanced by those who favour continuance of existing conditions are set out in some detail' in this issue, and while sonic of them may not appeal to everyone, it will probably strike most people that the change that is being striven for by the advocates of Saturday as the universal weekly half-holiday must for a time at least seriously upset the established habits of a large section of the community unci lompoi'aril.v, dis!«?cpte busine??, . I& the fii'ewut tiiss, uj tije eu'su«s-

stances, opportune for such change'! Citizens we imagine will be chary of making any oxperiment at all likely to disturb business until the clouds which at present hang over the Empire are dispersed.