Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1884. THE CENTRAL BOARD.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 14, 18 December 1884, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1884. THE CENTRAL BOARD.

"Their name is Legion, 1 * may well be applied to the candidates for election to the Central Board of i Directors of the Government ' Life Insurance Association. Included m these we have auctioneers, accountants, advertising agents, booksellers^ clerks, commission agents, haberdashers, hosiers and hotel- ! keepers. We have insurance agents artd ironmongers,' lawyers arid legislators, sharebrokers and stationers, theatrical agents and tallow chandlers. We have ex- treasurers and mayors, wharfingers, wine sellers and teetotallers-r-men of all trades, rich men and poor men ; some fit for. the position they seek, and some fit for-- well, not the same position. "With such a l}st before them, policyholders will, we fear, feel something like children m a confectioner's shop. The assortment of sweet things, ap-' pears to; ;be so large that m ; their doubt as to which they will take, they would like to take all ; but as 'they can only take three, they will doubtless select those of whom they have some knowledge, and whose qualifications recommend them as candidates "par excellence. 1 " These three may be found if the list be carefully studied. The electors should bear m mind that the Board •is composed of ten members, seven of whom are either under the; con- ! trol or are nominees of the Government \ and therefore it is absolutely necessary that the three members to be elected by the policy-holders, should be men yho will be able to hold their own, and be really " representatives " upon the Board of Management. We refrain from commenting, upon the merits of each individual candidate, but we may state that we feel certain that Mr G. P. Powles, (formerly Provincial Treasurer), Mr W. H. Warben, (formerly Chief Officer of the Revenue Department), and Mr J. R. Blair, who are all well-known as men of special administrative ability, would, if elected, form a strong representative party. They are men whose relations m public business are sufficiently close to secure all the influence without any of the

trammels of Government control, and we believe they would prove to be the right men m the right places.