The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1884. Public Duties

Feilding Star, Volume V, Issue 3, 8 January 1884, Page 2

The Feilding Star. TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 1884. Public Duties

One of the main elements of success in business is giving undivided attention to that which has to be done. What applies to individual affairs is equally applicable to the affairs of a borough or district. In the borough of Feilding there is more to be done, and fewer hands to do it, than in any other borough in the Colony. In noticing our past municipal history, we find that from the beginning great difficulty has been experienced in getting the best men to take any leading or active part in its affairs. Or, when such did come forward, they almost invariably retired to private life after a brief term of office, apparently satisfied with the work done, or disgusted with the troubles entailed by the duties of office, leaving it impossible for the public to determine which was the underlying motive, inasmuch as no retired Councillor has yet deigned to give public utterance to his reasons for declining to offer himself for reelection. At first glance one would naturally imagine that a position of honor, involving grave responsibilities and the outlay of large sums of public money, to which each is, of necessity, a large contributor, would be a good and sufficient reason for men who had their own and their fellow-ratepayers' interests at heart, to sacrifice, if it is a sacrifice, a little of their time for the public good, seeing that their private interests are so closely wrapped up with it. We know that borough affairs are so situated, in regard to public works, that there exists little possibility of " log rolling," or enhancing the value of private property at the expense of the ratepayers, and therefore it is not perhaps absolutely necessary that men of more than ordinary integrity and ability should be in the Council, but still we would like to see more of our citizens assuming for a while the role of " leading men." We have, times out of number, exclaimed against the apathy and indifference on all public matters which obtain amongst us. Although the settlement and district generally is flourishing and in a good monetary position, yet we have symptoms of " dry rot," which may ultimately lead to municipal dissolution unless actual cautery is applied and the disease extirpated. The remedy is simple, and it lies, in part, in the hands of every ratepayer. Let each one shake off that feeling of dependance on others to do municipal or other duties. Let each one remember that not only has he a voice in the election of a Councillor, but a right to sit as such himself at the Council table, and last, that he has a bounden duty to perform in seeing that such seat is well and honorably filled. We are led to these remarks by the fact that a vacancy recently occurred in the Borough Council, and there was not a single ratepayer in the borough with ambition or energy enough to offer himself for the position. The picture is not a pleasing one, and is very suggestive of the internal causes which have bo much retarded the advancement of the township. We appear to have become so accustomed to live on the revenue supplied by the sawmillers, and satisfied with their well-directed efforts to keep us alive ; that nothing is needed or expected from us but to live and have our being, taking things as they come, bearing the few ills that are doled out to us with a philosophic mind, and accepting the good ■ things „ of this life," which are plentifully. . bestowed upon us, as tangible rewards >

for very inactive virtues. All history and experience teaches us that when a nation or people arrive at this stage a mighty change is not far off, and the awakening from the dream of a Fool's Paradise is always abominably rough.