The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, SEPT. 12, 1885. The Borough Election

Feilding Star, Volume VII, Issue 40, 12 September 1885, Page 2

The Feilding Star. SATURDAY, SEPT. 12, 1885. The Borough Election

The interest taken in the above election was not so great as we would like to have seen. Only seventy-five burgesses recorded their votes. Out of about two hundred and fifty on the roll, but thirty per cent, appeared to consider they should exercise the most important privilege given by local self government. On all sides, and at all times, we hear complaints of what the Council has or has not done. Yet the very persons who make the most noise are those who do the least, or keep themselves furthest in the back-ground when real work or fighting is to be done. This interesting fact is, however, far from being a new discovery. As Councillors are disqualified and i lose their seats by absence without leave for four consecutive meetings of . the Council, so should electors be dis- j qualified by neglecting to poll their j votes for four consecutive elections, whether for Mayor or individual Councillors. That any three Councillors should only represent seventy-five of , the burgesses is absurd. We are per- j fectly satisfied with the result of the election as it stands. Three good men, who have the advantage of past experience in Borough matters to guide them in the future, have been returned. We congratulate Mr P. Thompson on his position at the head of the poll, and hope that during the ensuing three years he will have many opportunities of exercising his practical common sense for the benefit of his fellow burgesses. We expected *,o see Mr Goodbehebe higher up, but we are aware that many of his friends looked on his return as a foregone conclusion, and foolishly, in pur opinion, did not

register their votes. People should never trust to others at an election. The quiet and unassuming, but diligent attention displayed by Mr Woksfold during his previous term of office, was fully recognised by his friends who placed him in the honorable position of second best man. Mr T. Evans gaiuedja larger proportion of votes, nearly fifty per cent, of the number polled, than he or his friends expected. He had to run against three tried and proved candidates who had already done good work for the Borough, therefore his defeat was not unexpected.