The Dunstan Times FRIDAY, 6th JULY, 1866

Dunstan Times, Issue 219, 6 July 1866, Page 2

The Dunstan Times

FRIDAY, 6th JULY, 1866

Beneath the rule of men entirely jvst, thi pen is mightier than the swokd!"

' The citizens in the newly formed ' municipalities of Clyde and Cromwell will very soon be called upon to perform their first public act in the choice of a suitable person tc fulfil the office of Mayor. The election of a mayor in itself, demands grave consideration, but its attending concommitants demand • something still further, for it must e > be distinctly understood that that is functionary will, by virtue of his L office, not only be the Chief1S magistrate of the place, but the B acknowledged representative oi public opinion, and one whom, in his own person, by parties at a n distance, will be supposed to be the 7 beau ideal of the intelligence ol n those that elected him. The suca. cess of the municipalities will jj doubtless hinge considerably upon the ability with which the chief- ' officers of those institutions deport themselves and carry out the ir duties of their office ; much ol ?- coursedependsuponthetown-elerk, y but no citizen would enjoy the , e humiliating position of knowing that the individual upon whom he conferred the greatest possible honor was a mere child in c> leading strings. We are not going to comment upon any of those gentlemen who have publicly signified their intentions of becoming . candidates for office of Mayor—we think the good sense of either the people of Clyde or Cromwell will , be all sufficient on the day of election to choose wisely and well, and not deliberate 1 } 7 commit them- , selves to any act which, in after • sanes, they are likely to repent; - for x it must be remembered, that • however. hx public opinion may have been in selecting members for the legislature, more caution must be displayed in the selection , of a mayor, in the one case the person so elected may pass muster 1 with others, he being merely a part and parcel of a system; but, in the other case, he is virtually the system itself, and he solely will be held responsible to the citizens for the acts of the body of which he is the head. It is the Mayor who will be called upon to receive and probably entertain (the municipalities will doubtless be hospitable bodies) any visitor of distinction, who may pay us a visit, and as both Clyde and Cromwell are situate on the great highway through the gold producing districts of this Province travellers I of distinction will often honor us I with their presence, and no citizen would like to be put to the blush through any want of courtesy on the part of their chief representative. Municipal institutions in Otago can only be considered yet as an experiment, and without doubt, the eyes of the greater portion of the people of New Zealand, as well as other places, will be directed towards them and any little departure ' from established rules will be se- ' verely animadverted upon, while castigation for offences will surely come from a distance. We have often times discussed the advantages of a municipality . over the old system of Improvement Committees and the desira- ( bility of possessing properly con- < stituted local bodies, in lieu of a , compact of men or rather busy- , bodies, who may be said to be ; almost self-elected and without the , power of compelling the obser- , vance of any of their mandates, , and who, as far back as our gold- , field experiences carry us, have al- , ways preserved so precarious an ex- t istance that it was hard to say ] whether there was any vital spark 1 left in them or not, and eventually, i

concluding a most peaceful career, for it was nevei in the power o! any one lo define the exact date of their dissolution. Now there is a new erea of events—our local representative bodies will be legally constituted and vested with authority, and who will have power to levy taxes, make laws, and enforce their obtervnce, and whose successful existence w llbe either for good or for evil. The Government endowment to municipalities is on a most liberal scale, and many local improvements will be made which otherwise could not be effected. The presence of the taxgatherer may with some be an objection, but in reality we shall not be so heavily taxed as heretofore—the continual levies to effect this or that urgently required improvement, or subscriptions to some so-called desirable object, of which the nature is but imperfectly known, far exceed what we shall have in future to contribute, while at the same time, we shall enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that any sums we disburse towards the Municipality will be supplemented by the Government, and that any liberality on our part will meet with a corresponding one on theirs. In time to come the Municipalities will doubtless hi endowed with grants of lands from which a source of permanent revenue will be derived, and as population and the value of property increases, so will in a corresponding ratio, the means of the municipalities; and from a humble beginning an institution, tfhose first existance may have been preserved with difficulty, will ultimately find itself with a plithom of funds at its disposal, and in a position to confer honor upon those over whom it may spread its benificent influence. With so many advantages in prospective, we arc sure that the citizens of Clyde and Cromwell will bo chary upon whom they will bestow their favors, and that no private or personal motives will sway one single vote in the selection of their chief-magistrate and representative; and when the time comes, using the words of* aIS historian "the right man" will be found "lii the rigfit place."