The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1907. PUBLIC SPIRIT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2093, 30 May 1907, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1907. PUBLIC SPIRIT.

It is gratifying to notice that of late there has been a marked improvement generally in the calibre of candidates offering themselves for municipal offices. Throughout the colony it seems to have been difficult previously to induce men of good business capacity and unimpeachable honesty to become candidates for seats upon Borough Councils or other local bodies, and consequently the ratepayers can hardly bo blamed for the deplorable selections which have individually would not trust with a £5 note they have entrusted with the public purse and the future prosperity of their town. Alen whoso mouths were full of falsehoods, and whoso private lives among their fellow-citizens were filled with petty . meannesses x and frauds, they entrusted with the honor of their town. Alen whose colossal ignorance had beou displayed in exposures of their private as well as public life were permitted to sit and decide upon public works of vital importance to their district. And ■why?, Because decent and respectable citizens failed in public, spirit and local patriotism, and would not offer their services to the people. On the other hand, this dearth of honorable men willing to serve the community is no doubt largely due to the want of respect, or rather contempt, for their offices felt and expressed by a large section of the public. Even now wo hear such statements as—“ He’s certainly a most unscrupulous man, but lie’ll battle all the harder for us because lie has probably got some axe to grind,” or, “because lie lias some property in our district.” At present the general opinion seems to bo that it is not iie 7 cessary that a public man shall be an honorable and upright one so long as bis particular dishonesty pays us individually for the time. Such a deplorablo codo of ethics must have the effect of lowering generally the standard of public life to tlio serious detriment of a community’s well-being, and consequently it is manifestly the duty of every cleanminded man or woman who takes an .active interest in local elections to support such candidates as will adorn and not sully our local politics, and to exclude all those whose past careers indicate a possibility of disgrace in the future to those who elect them. Let us hope for a more unselfish spirit in these matters and a broader conception of our duty to the district, the colony, and ourselves, so that local bodies may reflect credit upon the electors and be a true indication of the intelligence of the people.