Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1923. MAYOR AND FIRE BOARD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2599, 28 June 1923, Page 2

Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1923. MAYOR AND FIRE BOARD.

THE Borough Council did (lie right and proper tiling in refusing' lo' pass a motion al Tuesday night's" meeting endorsing (he Mayor’s action in connection with Ids withdrawal from tin* annual meeting of the Fire Board. The Council's special meeting was of a decidedly unique character in the annals of local government and exposed a

foolish piece of strategy on the part, of the Mayor to tight his Fire Board battle at si. distance and behind tho entrenchment of the Borough Council. The Mayor’s action at the Fire Board meeting was a grave derelection of duty and a personal affront to members of (lie Board and an indignity to the office he holds as Mayor of the bofftugh. Whatever his personal feelings or animus these should have been subordinated to the faithful d ischarge of his duty at the Board’s most important meeting, to say nothing of arrangements left in his hands in eonnerlion with an important subsequent social function. Fortunately, others tilled the breach in connection with the latter and carried on. He subsequently waited on the secretary lo the Board with a request for a copy of (lie estimates for the Town Clerk which, by the way, had no right to be supplied to the Council until they had been sanctioned by the Minister and then only through the courtesy of the Board. Fortified with this incomplete document, he framed objections to it and called a special meeting of the Council to lire them off. In this lie was again at fault for, surely, he is not ignorant of' the fact that (lie Board is a statutory body independent of the Council, vested with powers and authority over which the Council lias absolutely no jurisdiction and which does not look to the Council to dictate its administration or formulate its policy. If the Mayor was not aware of this, the Council sensed it, otherwise it would not have left the Mayor and his “outraged feelings” suspended, like Mahomet’s coffin, in mid-air. Foiled at this point, the Mayor made a personal attack upon tlie chairman of the Board which was unfair, as tile latter was not present lo defend himself, and it was also in bad taste. That is a matter, however, which can be dealt with at the proper time and place. The Mayor has yet to learn, as a public man, that lie must be tolerant of the views of others and that abuse is not argument. Such foolishness on the part of the Mayor compromises the reputation of the town and it should be mended or ended.