The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPTEMBER 29, 1903.

Gisborne Times, Volume X, Issue 1008, 29 September 1903, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPTEMBER 29, 1903.

AMALGAMATION.

It is to be hoped that the bodies interested in the subject of amalgamation will seek to arrive at some understanding in regard to details, so that there may be no subsequent heartburnings in regard to the decision of the Commissioner. A more satisfactory selection of a gentleman to undertake the task could hardly have been made than in the appointment of Mr Gold-Smith, and the object now should rather be to guide the Commissioner as to the desire ot the people than to await'a decision and possibly cavil st it afterwards. The Chairman of the Whataupoko Road Board, who has fairly taken .a neutral position in the matter, contends that a poll should be taken on the subject. If thar can be arranged, it will be a reasonable course to take, although when the subject was previously prominent the declaration in the affirmative was \ ery stron °\ and ths tiino that has sinco elapsed must have convinced some who two years ago considered that the period was not ripe for a change. We hope to see all parties arrive at a sa-

tisfactory understanding in tlio interests of the general welfare. We note with regret that a journal which threw at the majority of the ratepayers tlio jibe that they would have voted differently had the weather been dr}' — this in the drvest season known for many years—is now seeking to hustle opponents of "Waihirere into hastily formulating another scheme. It is time there was a truce to this nonsense. viliat is required is not a scheme hurriedly conceived by critics of one that has been rejected, but a scheme based on mature judgment; not merely a scheme set up for contentious purposes, but one calculated to meet the needs of the people as a whole ; and before anything is attempted in that direction a declaration should be obtained on the jooint as to whether the over-river suburbs are to join with the borough, or are to stand aloof.