THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 778, 12 January 1871, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 1871.

The election of the County Chairman has again resulted in a most unseemly squabble — indeed, our worst fears as to the result of the event have been realised, and a scramble for the office and its emoluments, similar to that which tooK place two years ago has been repeated. The occurrence of these scenes upon every occasion when a Chairman is to be elected is sufficient to bring the County into contempt with the whole Colony, and is sure to cause ridicule t« be cast upon our community at large, our representatives., and onr system of Government. Why our County Council should be an exception to the general rule of arranging these matters in private, and then, in a dignified manner announcing them in public, we are unable to say ; — it may be the excitable temperament of the people, the heat of the weather, the close proximity of the election to the Christmas holidays, or the desirability of the office, its salary, its honor, its dismity, and the occupancy of Government House ; but the repetition of these scenes in public on every possible occasion is unprecedented in the Colony, and is sure to bring the County into an unenviable notoriety, and cause the question to be raised whether the Governor should not exercise the power granted to him by the Amended County of WestAct, and on an early day dissolve the Council, and take over the entire charge of the affairs of the County. We must do the recently-elected members of the Council the justice of saying that they did try in private to arrange the matter of the Chairmanship, before entering the Council Chamber ; but ifc appears that after only half-an-hour's debate they could arrive at no satisfactory conclusion, and resolved to fight it out in public. What was to hinder them to fight it out in private, though it should have taken days of debate, arrangement, and scheming, rather than have all their petty squabbles, jealousies, and littlenesses paraded before the public, in the way they have been 1 It was surely as easy to arrive at a conclusion in private as iv public— easier, we should say — but then they would be deprived of the honor and glory of displaying their disinterestedness before the public, and probably lose an opportunity of creating a sensation among their constituents. Consequently, they adjourned into the Council Chamber, when Mr Button proposed Mr Bonar aa a candidate for the chair. This was seconded by Mr Robinson, and Mr Bonar obtained four votes, the four we said, he would get, viz., those of Messrs Bonar, Button, Reid and Robinson, who recently entered into an arrangement to re turn either Mr Bonar or Mr Button. Four votes not being sufficient to carry the election ; another effort • was made by this clique, and Mr Bonar proposed his friend Mr Button for the chair. Curiously enough, this motion was not seconded, and this would lead to the conclusion that the Hokitika arrangement was to return Mr Bonar, and that they had made sure of-, as the saying is, "sending him in flying." Defeated in this, a motion for adjournment was moved, in order to organise the forces of the country party, who had -thus far silently tried their strength with the Bonar clique, showing clearly that if they could possibly come to an arrangement among themselves, they had the power of placing one of their number in the County Chair. The adjournment was opposed by Messrs Robinson, Bonar, and Button, and the latter gentleman, in a speech which must have been in remarkable good taste, informed the Council that there were only two members of the Council capable of filling the chair— himself and Mr Bonar ; but that, in order to bring the scene to a close, he would propose the next bestMr Lahman. Our telegram does not say whether this nomination was seconded or not ; but, on the question baing put, the adjournment was carried until to-day. It is certain that the interval, will be spent in scheming to obtain the necessary five votes, for the Chairman must be elected by an absolute majority of the membera present ; and it is quite probable that one of the Greymouth members may be elected, unless the antipathy of the Hokitika clique to Greymouth should be too strong, and they should turn round and vote for Mr Barff. It is very much to be regretted that our two members are both aspirants to the chair, and that they cannot agree who should have it. In the exercise of their personal ambition they ought not to lose sight of the fact that by their line of policy they are injuring the best interests of the constituency they were sent there to protect, and that they are sure to be called to account for their conduct. What the night may bring

forth it is impossible to say, and almost needless to speculate, but the probabilities are that Mr Bonar will succeed in securing an additional vote from soma disappointed one in the other camp. Of course we wish, with every man in town, that one of our own members may be elected, but of this we have very little hope, for the reasons already stated. The repetition of these scenes upon every possible occasion give rise to a feeling of regret that the proposal to appoint a nominated Chairman by the General Government was not given effect to during last session of the Assembly. Whatever the disadvantages of such a system may be, it would have the good effect putting an end.to these unseemly scrambles for office ; and enable us to secure members, who, when returned, would be satisfied to watch over the interests of their constituents, without being tempted to make their election a mere stepping-stool to the occupancy of the County Chair, with its high honors and emoluments.