The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, April 18, 1916. BOROUGH SALARIES AND FINANCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1540, 18 April 1916, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, April 18, 1916. BOROUGH SALARIES AND FINANCE.

The Borough Council is about to appoint a new Town Clerk. It has fixed the salary for the new officer at ,£220 as against paid at present. We are of opinion—and are not alone in the opinion that Foxton, taking everything into consideration, has been paying too dearly for its clerical work. We do not advocate a parsimonious policy and have never done so in the past. On the other hand, we have advocated an amendment to the Municipal Corportions Act fixing a minimum salary of for Town Clerks, That is, however, by the way. Foxton’s office salaries should not exceed per annum and it is hoped that the Council, now that it has the opportunity, will look into the subject. Another point that should be mentioned and for which we make no excuse is that the Council has allowed the Town Clerk far too much latitude in administrative affairs. This implies that individual councillors have not realised a full sense of their responsibilities. The Town Clerk is the servant of the Council and cannot act upon his own initiative in any matter. The Mayor is the only person possessed of such prerogative. If councillors are Indifferent, the tail soon wags the dog. It is the bounden duty of each councillor to carefully scrutinise on behalf of the ratepayers every item of receipts and expenditure. They may relegate certain powers to a financial committee, but such committee’s recommendations are not final and are open to individual councillors for fuller information. The ratepayers of this borough are taxed very heavily in proportion to the benefits received, and it Is time the Council took a closer look into matters of finance and what better time than the present ?