Page 16 Advertisements Column 4

Free Lance, Volume V, Issue 251, 22 April 1905, Page 16

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS.

EXPRESSIONS OF VIEWS OF THE

CANDIDATES, By a well-known City man.

THE MAYORALTY.

/i OUNCILLOR BARBER'S record V_^ demonstrates ham to be a worker from the crown ot his head right down to the. ground. He i*>, ot course, the Senioi Councillor, having longer continuous service than any other member — pa&t or piesent. His modesty has, on occasion, allowed him to waive Ins claim toi the title, although) not withdrawn, in favour of Mr. J. Smith, whose longebt unbroken period of service does not exceed ten years. Mr. Barber has always been a great worker, and in thoiough {sympathy with the people — not only publicly, but in a private sense also, as many persons can testify. Whenever any measure of public utility haft, been decided on by the Council, he haw been conspicuous 1 in pressing for actao'iii — not wordu. Street-widening (that has given Wellington the finest thoroughfare of any town in the colony), and the train-line m Aro-street, and that in Upper Cuba-street and along Wallace-stieet, by way of Webb, Hopper, and Hankey streetb, stand as some of the more prominent enduring monuments of his perseverance and great usefulness to the city. His past efforts, too', in the matter of correcting the private streets iniquity and in attacking the smoke nuisance will no doubt be recognised a® important additional reasons why his services, should be retained in the cavie arena. He is undoubtedly the mosit promisang Mayorelect of all the candidates on parade. Councillor DEVINE is a well-known lawyer, and ha© a creditable record as a Councillor, and if has damns to the position were, paramount he might be tipped to win, but his pei f ormances are overshadowed by those of the Senior Councillor. The year of grace, 1906, may see Mr. Devnie in the Mayoral chair, but not this tame. Supporteirs of the first under review on the present occasion should carry this in them* hats to refer to next year. The Hon. T. W. HISLOP, the next candidate in order, is distinguished in politics by having belonged to a party which justly faded into nothingness by pursuing a policy opposed to and destructive of the obvious interests of the people. Perhaps his best claim to the office of Mayor is that his name spelled backwards, with a transposition of letter reads Polish. That, however, is a quality which, unsupported by civic administrative experience, will not be sufficient to ensure satisfactory control of the City's business with the large "new-blood" element m the next Council — more especially as it has to undertake extensive new works in the near future. Mr. Hislop is not at all likely to seouie his heart's desire on this occasion. Councillor LUKE has< the training which ought to make him a useful Mayor, but it is discounted by a peculiarity (excusable in youth, but troublesome at the "constant" of kfe), which has operated to make him obstrup + and thereby dedav realisation of many useful proposals for the sole reason, apparently, that he had not initiated them. Like new wine, 'he would, doubtless, benefit by going 'into store for a few years, where the mellowing influence of time might develop desirable qualities (including that of greater sympathy with the people) which he now conspicuously lacks. Councillor SMITH is a very estimable gentleman, but he does not possess the suaviter in modo et fortiter in re in the proportions essential in the man who has to occupy the Mayoral chair. Mr. Smith does not hold the qualifications necessary to make him a successful manager of men, and he must be permanently passed over for the position h© now aspires to. Mr. WARDELL, who, like Mr. Hislop, is an outsider candidate as distaneTiished from those from the Council, is a prominent business man, but he has vet to establish claims to the confidence of the people sufficient to justify his election to the Chief Magistracy of the City. He ought to try the Council for a time, where he could obtain qualifying experience. Somebody has evidently "pulled his leg," and beguiled him into reaching for that which he cannot grasp. It is impossible to regard his candidature seriously. Summing up the claims of all the candidates, it is probable they will poll in alphabetical order — the order in which they have been discussed herein.

TO THE RATEPAYERS OF WELLINGTON.

I HAVE to announce that, at the request of a large number of Citizens, I will be a Candidate for the City Council at the Election on the 26th inst. I will take the earliest opportunity of placing mv views before the Ratepayers. A. S. BISS.