The Feilding Star. THURSDAY, DEO. 13, 1888. Borough Elections

Feilding Star, Volume X, Issue 71, 13 December 1888, Page 2

The Feilding Star. THURSDAY, DEO. 13, 1888. Borough Elections

As Monday next is the day appointed by the Returning Officer for the nomination of candidates for the vacancy made in the Borough Council by the election of Or Dr Monckton to the Mayoralty, we think tbe time has now arrived when we should direct the attention of the ratepayers to the importance of the coming contest ; for that there will be a contest — and a keen one — there is not the slightest doubt. We have heard all kinds of rumours as to the intentions of one of the candates, should he be elected, of doing all sorts of things in revenge for the defeat of one of the candidates at the last Mayoral election. Now, we can assure the ratepayers that all that sort of talk is neither more nor less than mere rubbish. One Councillor can do very little harm, however hard he may work to that end, as the spirit of fair play, of which we as Englishmenareall so proud, is certain to be '. excited the moment any attempt at an injustice is made. Besides it would be very hard on any man if every word he uttered in the heat of a keenly contested election were brought up in judgment against him when ho changed the position and became a candidate himself. Although we may not believe them, still a great many people do, aud we think that in order to give each candidate a fair chance of election they should— either mdi vidually or collectively — invite the ratepayers to hear an expression of their views. It has been too much the custom in the past for seats in the Council to be won without the candi dates — whether there was a contest or not — letting the electors kno.v what their reasons were for seeking election, or in any way showing they were elegible for the coveted honor. It 1 may have been from modesty, or from the fact of the burgesses being willing to accept a candidate at his own valuation, that no one has ever sought the suffrages of the electors from a public platform. Be chat as it may, the electors are beginning to think that the plan of button-holing and personal solicitation will have to be supplemented in the future with something better and more open. There are numbers of questions affecting the future welfare of the Borough, which ' we would like to hear discussed outside the Council Chamber. For instance, the question of a bridge over the Kiwitea ; the present unsatisfactory arrangements in connection with.,, [ the Borough Ranger and Pound- . keeper ; the erection of Municipal Chambers; the Public Library; and other matters which are continually cropping up, and as continually being thrustaside. Thera'euayershaveaii^ht to be taken more into the confidence ' of Councillors, whether in esse or in posse, than they have been. They pay the piper, and should be allowed to choose the music.