"A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME..."

Taupo Times, Volume IV, Issue 196, 28 October 1955, Page 4

"A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME..."

At the recent Borougn Council meeting the Town Clerk, Mr S. Torepe, stated that it would be necessary for the Council to alter the vvording on the Borough Seal. This had to be done by special order, and the Council acordingly, as notified by advertisement in this issue, passed a resolution to the elfect that the seal should in future be in the name of "The Mayor, Councillors and Citizens" of the Borough of Taupo. The Clerk explained that this wording was prescribed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1954. Prior to the passing of this Act the seal was in the name of "The Mayor, Councillors and Burgesses" of the Borough. It would appear that the law draftsman or other authority responsible for the alteration was one who favoured change for its own sake. At any rate, the change was not made to secure greater accuracy, as reference to standard dictionaries makes clear. "Burgess," the word formerly used, is defined as "an inhabitant of a borough; a citizen or freeman of a borough." "Citizen" is "an inhabitant of a city; one who enjoys the freedom or privileges of a city." That "burgess" is the more exact word, to describe the inhabitant of a borough which is not a city, is thus clear. The point is emphasised in a standard dictionary by the statement that "a burgess of a borough corresponds with a citizen of a city." The authority responsible for the change no doubt thought with Shakespeare — or was it Bacon ?- that a rose by any other name would srnell as sweet. Or perhaps he didn't think at all.