The Globe. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1876.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 696, 12 September 1876, Page 2

The Globe. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1876.

The people of Lyttelton seem to be more awake to the importance of the Municipal election this year than they have been hitherto ; no less than seven citizens having come forward to contest the three seats left vacant by the retirement by rotation of Messrs Hawkins, Allwright, and W. Graham. We are much pleased to find that it is beginning to be realised by the burgesses that when abolition takes place, Municipal bodies will have much extended powers. We can fairly expect then that the men who would otherwise have wished to represent the Borough in the Provincial Parliament will now be claimants for the position of councillors. At the Mitre luncheon on Saturday, his Worship the Mayor told the guests how, at one period in her history, the Borough Council sunk so low through the incapacity of its members that it sought extinction, and only a great effort saved it from extermination by the appointment of Commissions to conduct tho affairs of the Borough. Luckily, a few public spirited men were found, chief amongst them Cr Allwright, who averted the disgrace. But it should be a great warning for the future not to elect inferior men for such a position. It is true that, once upon a time, geese saved Rome, but they won't save any city now-a-days. There is an idea abroad that practical men as they are called, are wanted for the Council, that is, that a man who has been breaking metal all his life must know more about metal than those who are constantly exercising their faculties of discernment and reflection by the aid of education. Such a notion is absurd in theextreme, and wewonder its upholders do not carry the principle a little farther. The foreman of works for the Council should be, and is, quite capable of deciding on points regarding cost of work, quality of metal, &c, and as all works are thrown open for tender when of any magnitude, wholesome competition must keep contractors within bounds, The burgesses of

Lyttelton want business men for their representatives, men accustomed to think and exercise judgment. It does not matter what position the men hold in life, whether they are rich or poor, but let them be sensible, and with such a degree of education as to fit them for the duties of the office they aspire to. If possible, judge them by the past, of which the future is generally the reflection. Par better to take tried men, if possible, for they know the rules and forms of the office, whereas new comers are months in learning them. Let each burgess, in voting, cast away personal feeling, and vote not for the man he has known longest or likes best, but for the one he thinks most fitted for the post. Above all things avoid putting in anybody for fun, who is notably unsuitable. If such a thing is done now, when the Council is to have such extended powers, a scourge will be made which will not only tickle the backs of the idiots who voted for them, but be a source of trouble and disgrace to the whole town.