WASTED TIME AND ENERGIES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3528, 30 May 1905, Page 2

WASTED TIME AND ENERGIES.

$ Thk business df the Boro'iigh Co'unctf last evening was sdmtiw'llat gd-as-ydu-please in character. Ostensibly Ihd niain dbject fdr which the meeting was Cdiivened wan Id cdniider c'eriairi p'rdposals tonnulated by Cr Maker, Ihit ifl reality the discussion developed into a general hotch-potch in which one or {wd iridid Voluble members occupied the major portion di tne flnfe to the detriment of business and the disgusl of more earnest men whose desire is to try and discover some means of liftirig FdJitdn from the slough of indifference! ill which it lids remained for many years. It is UnfbrtUriate! that mdnlbers eld not possess a be'ttef understandiilg df thdir ddtie's as the' representatives dfthd bdfgesses. Apparently they have no conceptidrt df the responsibilities cast upon their shoulders. The council table is not a place to bandy personal remarks and innuendo; and in this respect the authority of the chair should receive mme consideration. We sympathise with the Mav*r in the difficulties of his position; doubtless he feels Unwilling to exert his authority to the extreme measure in which he might have been quite justified last evening, but nevertheless he should inquire at least that the ordinary rules of debate and some measure of courtesy 111 the exciiange of remarks are observed. Had strangers been present last evening they would have received very poor impressions of our City Fathers, and it is a strong sense of duty only that impels us to refer thus to such regrettable incidents. At the recent election the cry was “ Progress.” All those elected were running on professedly progressive lines; and now what do we find ? Simply that when a proposal is brought forward it is talked out of time. Cr Baker’s proposals, whether finally approved of or not, at least deserved sober consideration, and this they did not receive. In intervals between a jangling mixture of miscellaneous matters, many of which could easily have stood over till the ordinary meeting of the council, parts of his tabled motion were dealt with in a desultory manner, and the position now is practically the same as before the meeting—nothing has been dene. Until the Mayor promptly puts his foot down on obstructionist tactics it appears to us councillors may as well stay at home and avoid such a lamentable waste of time. Some of the members attend to municipal business at considerable personal inconvenience, and these—whose services the ratepayers can ill afford to lose—will not, we are sure, care to continue in office under circumstances so unsatisfactory. We trust | that further discussions will not be distinguished by such lapses from a I true sense of public duty.