"PUT NOT YOUR TRUST IN PRINCES NOR IN THE SON OP MAN," &c.

Patea Mail, Volume IV, Issue 343, 31 July 1878, Page 2

"PUT NOT YOUR TRUST IN PRINCES NOR IN THE SON OP MAN," &c.

(To the Editor of the Patea Mail.) Sir, —An apt illustration of the above passage of Holy Writ, is furnished by the treatment of Mr Bridge by the Waverley people, at the late School Committee election. I refrained from comment on this matter -while it was judice, but now that it is settled, and, moreover, has been publicly written upon

by Waver ley newspaper correspondents, I will, with your leave, make, a few observations thereon. I do not, by any mehns, deny that Mr Bridge has got faults (by the way, I have never met that rara avis in terns —a perfect man), bat even supposing he has the defects complained of, they would be rendered harmless in a local body where no measure can be carried except on a vote of the majority, Mr Bridge has, for the last throe or four years, conducted all the local public affairs, of this place in a most conscientious, upright, and business manner, and to his own loss and inconvenience. It is within my knowledge that he has often sat up until midnight, making up accounts and realms in connection with the Wairoa Highway Board, of which he is the unpaid secretary ; and I calculate that in this matter alone, the ratepayers have been saved about £SO per annum. His thanks are—“ Bridge is getting too big for Ids boots,” or Oh, Bridge is done for as a public man”—said with a scowl of envy, or a smile of satisfied malice. Truly, I am beginning to agree, with a certain sapient friend of mine, who says—“ The man who goes in for serving the public gratis, is just a fool”; for if you lake notice, you will see that it is not the man who gets paid for his work, but he who does it for nothing, who gets the abuse. There is, moreover, another matter in which Mr Bridge is treated unjustly. It is, that if any unpopular resolution is carried in the Highway Board, those people lay all the b'atnc on his shoulders, entirely ignoring the fact that the other members are equally responsible. So much for the justice and generosity of a certain section of the Waverley people. It is a pity that such influences should prevail, as the inevitable consequence will be that good men will fight shy of public life, and Mr Bridge is one of these. He has intelligence and experience, which enables him at once to grasp the leading features of any measure, and to work out the details; and, in addition, he has the impartiality to steer a straight course, irrespective of the petty and personal influences to be found in every community. In conclusion, Sir, I would say, first, that MiBridge knows nothing of this letter ; and secondly, that I would advise that gentleman to retire altogether from public life, and leave those small minds to manage their affairs as best they can.—l am, &c., SETTLER. Waverley, July 15, 1378,