The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1908. GISBORNE'S NEXT MAYOR.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2110, 8 February 1908, Page 2

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1908. GISBORNE'S NEXT MAYOR.

Time moves rapidly in these strenuous days, and it seems only the other day that Mr John Towuley was given fresh evidence of the people’s confidence as Mayor, yet we arc already within six or seven weeks of the date lvlieii the position will again he vacant. Air Towuley has definitely stated that he will not accept nomination for another term, and whilo it may appear difficult to find an entirely suitable successor one must admit that it would be unfair to withhold from this public, spirited citizen tho rest which his long years of service in the interests of the community have earned for him. Not only that, but it is an undisputed fact that it is not for the general good that such office as that as Mayor should for a very lengthy term bo filled by the same individual, no matter how capable he may be. Affairs are liable to get into a rut and with no change ill the personnel of its chief officials, citizens are the more inclined to loso interest in what- is going on. The principle here referred to is well recognised in the United States where it has become an unwritten law that the chief President shall not under any consideration accept a third term of office. There

may bo occasions when the operation of such a principle may bo at limit, but as a general thing it works out (juilo soundly. It is not surprising Unit Jlr. Town ley has hold the position of Mayor since 1000. After full thirty years of connection with the municipal affairs of tho town he has naturally an unequalled experience of tho community and its needs whilst his persistent energy in carrying out tho duties of his oilico shows not tho slightest signs of flagging, "ot only that hut our present Mayor is ono who is by no means a hide-bound conservative in municipal matters. Ho is always prepared to move with tho times and those who arc so ready to growl at the Mayor every time thenboots got dusty or an objoctional odour offends them, should thank their stars that Mr John Townley has had sufficient strength of mind to resist-schemes of reform which at the time they were mooted wore premature and would have simply landed the community in difficulties. Were it not that a change in its civic officers will in itself be a good tiling for tho town, wo should bo tlio first to urge Mr. John Townloy to again stand for tho position ho has so long and so worthily filled. However, that gentleman has spoken so emphatically that his attitude cannot be misunderstood, and it is timo tho citizens wore making preparations to secure tho roturn of their next Mayor. Tho subject is not one for a mero casual consideration. Gisborno is about to enter upon a noiv stage in its march of progress from tho village of twenty years ago to tho city of tho near future. The first stop in tho present forward movement has boon taken by tho inauguration of a first-class waterswpply, and other features that may ho taken up at any moment arc the proper formation and metalling of the streets, a system of drainage, and fho construction of an outer harbor. Should tho harbor scheme be sanctioned, the commencement of tho gigantic work would at once increase tho importance of this town. New population would coino in faster than over, and drainage would have to bo promptly arranged for. In other words, Gisborno would step forward into the ranks of one of the chief towns, and tho long day of its isolation from tho rest of tho Domibion would be ended. In view of such prospective changes, it is of tho utmost importance that there should bo at tho head of our public affairs some gentleman with the character and discernment necessary to guide our municipal affairs as to make tho town worthy of its opportunities. Such a man should have a breadth of view that will enablo him to look beyond tho present limited horizon to tho glorious possibilities of the future. Ho should look for a 10,000 population within the next year or two, and should place himsolf at tho head of all movements that any way assist towards that end. The holding of a big carnival at Napier next month would suggest to such a man that a similar function might with advantage be arranged for Gisborne next year, and in other ways steps should bo taken to let outsiders know what the district is really like. Tho necessity of such action would, to many Gisborncites, appear superfluous, but when one remembers that it was only the other day that a Minister of the Crown, himself a Now Zealander by birth, who has been in practically every other part of the Dominion and has travelled round the world, paid his first visit to tb.is district, he must realise how effectively isolated we really are. Our new Mayor should have the intelligence to grasp this weakness and the energy to grapple with it. It is necessary that lie should ho a gentleman of some leisure and a certain amount of means, for the multifarious calls that are associated with the Mayoral position would bo extremely inconvenient, to say the least of it, to ono whose circumstances compelled the closest attention to his private business. There is no use any aspirant being deluded into the belief that it is merely an ornamental office; it is really one calling for a vast amount of time and a good deal of personal sacrifice, and no one who is unwilling to accept it in that spirit should ccpt nomination. There is another and a still more important point. Our new Mayor must be a gentleman in fact as well as in name; ono whom -tho citizens can have a just pride in referring to as their representative. It is not sufficient that our chief citizen shall be a man of progressive ideas and the energy to carry them out—for these qualifications are sometime. found in self-seeking axe-grind-ers, who desire the position for personal gain or for the sake of notoriety—but he must have a record of integrity in his public and private life that will fit him to represent us at public functions and other civic matters. Our retiring Mayor has set a- standard in this respect that is a very high ono, and it should not bo relaxed ono iota in the future. In the strenuousness of modern business life there is an unfortunate tendency to minimise the gravity of what is sometimes described as sharp practice in business matters, but wc should bo sorry for the people of Gisborne if they permitted themselves to bo represented in tho Mayoralty by ono whoso past record was not clean and above unworthy suspicions. It is to be hoped that the leading citizens will tako this question up in earnest, and recognising tho necessity of having tho chief office in tho town filled by one who is worthy of it, will tako steps to secure his election. On tho part of aspirants there should bo no false modesty or hanging back. Once a man is satisfied that ho can fittingly servo his follows in such a capacity, it is his duty to come forward and offer his services. Obviously there must be some sacrifices, but if there is not ono of tho many capable men in the town who is public spirited enough to sacrifice something for the sake of the community, the high office may. fall to someone who is entirely unworthy of it.