The Daily News THURSDAY, MARCH 12. HARBOR BOARD ELECTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 70, 12 March 1908, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, MARCH 12. HARBOR BOARD ELECTION.

-No link' interest attaches to the declion wliieli takes place next Monday m lliu Hawera Ward of the Harbor liuai-1 District ]'or the appointment of a coasur ti> All", (ieurge McLean, who lias lor some veals very alii) represented his electors. I'm- I lie \acancy there ■ii'i l two enwlidalos forward—,Ui. C. V. Wilkinson, a loading Kltliam merchant, anil Mr. -lacoli Marx, a well-known Mangatoki farmer. hacli of the aspirants to tin l posiiion is well known throughout- the Hawera Ward, and neither is a lyro iti public life. '1 lie special interest'attaching to the election is given lie the attilude of the candidates towards the harbor loan proposals, which liave licen thoroughly promulgated throughout that dislriot during the past few days. .Vlv. Wilkinson is a strong supporter of the loan, with til-' proviso, however, that provision should lH' made fur a sinking fund. While we sec no great advantage in a sinking fund, it certainly could not lie a disadvantage. There is also the circumstance that the country districts have expressed a decided preteronee lor a sinking fund, which also might facilitate the notation of the proposed loan.

| l. ndcr the circumstances it is llloiv t uni | likely that the Hoard win meet Hie wishes of thu cuuulry ratepayers in this respect. ilr. Marx, lis iiis utterances i t Mangatoki. Eltham, and Kaponga indicate. is averse to the extension ol the I harbor out of loan money, ami his vote and inlluence would presumably not #> further than borrowing sufficient to pay oil' the existing loan. The electors have Iherelore a straight-out issue be-fore tlit'in— 1 "for'" and •'against'' the loan, proposals. No doubt the personal eleI meiit will play 110 inconsiderable part in the contest, and in this regard it would not be uuliiccly that Mr. Marx, as a farmer in an almost exclusively country ward, would poll very heavily. 'I here is, however, a big question ol policy at stake, und it is to be hoped that 011 that policy the election will be contested. Knowing Mr. Marx as a keen and fair-minded administrator 011 public bodies with which he has been connected, we have little doubt that, had lie a truer appreciation of the worth of a better harbor at New Plymouth, he would soon b e found amongst the keenest advocates of progression. Ilia opposition at this stage, however, should he be elected, might hamper the policy the Board is endeavoring to push forward, and which Mr. Wilkinson judicious!}' advocates, linder the circumstances, the sympathies of well-wishera of the harbor naturally are extendea towards the liltlnim nominee, whose. I success would further mean the strengthening of the Board in financial acumen. We cannot allow this oppor-

Itunity to pass without mentioning the. ! peculiar attitude taken up by Jlr. D. ). ! Hughes, the junior Government nominee on the Hoard. in connection will) the loan proposals ami also with this election. Hegarding the loan proposals, it is wry difficult to categorise .Mr. Hughes; in vulgar parlance. he "don'tseem to know where lie are." Perhaps it is our density in following the various arguments adduced l>y him at ve.r' ous meetings; but we honestly liml ourI selves unable to follow his lines of lea-, soning. He evidently set out with a lixed intention ol\ willy-nilly, opposing the Hill, although, when cornered ;i.t. Kltham. he admitted the best would be made of a bad job by voting for the Hill were sinking-fund provision made. In the forthcoming election he has thus early shown a decided jnclinnUon (o mi>repre>ent the posilion and stir up a strife thai is inimieal to the be«.t m* imprests of tin' dMnci. We want none of the cry "country ver=us town." or "town veiMis country/' whieli Mr. Hughes unjustly and unfairly is endeavoring to foster.