The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1885. LOCAL WANTS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1341, 16 May 1885, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1885. LOCAL WANTS.

W 5 are v*’rv g - !ad to find that the few hints we threw out a few issues ago have had the effect of causing at least <.ne local body to look a litt'o beyond (he lines laid down f«*r it by Act of Parliament. The Geraldine Town Board at its last meeting passed a resolution urging the necessity of a Courthouse being built in the town. It was time it did so. We have frequently pointed out the absolute necessity of this ; we have urged that the Court accommodation in Geraldine was simply disgraceul, but until now no particular notice was taken of it, with the exception that the Resident Magistrate has made some representations on the subject. The Town Board have now, however,, taken the matter in hand ; they have adopted the proper course by bringing it under the notice of the Member for the District, and we highly approve of their action. By doing this they have set a good example, which we hope other public bodies will follow. When a Town Board was elected in Temuka it was fondly hoped it would not confine itself to the mere letter of the law : that they would look around, and make it their business to attend to the wants of the town generally. We are sorry to say it has not realised our expectations. When the Temuka Town Board was elected, one of the burning questions of the hour was the absolute necessity for the appointment of a Justice of the Peace in the town, and everyone hoped the Board would bring the matter under the notice of the Government or the Member for the District. The Board, however, have not bothered about the matter. Private individvals, the Pol'ce, the Clerk of the Court, the Bailiff of the Court, have all been crying out for something to be done in the way of getting a Justice of the Peace in town, bat the Board remained stolidly indifferent, and the want remains still unsupplied. We have reason to hope that a Justice of the Peace will shortly be Gazetted, but the public need not thank the Town Board for it; nor for anything else beyond the spreading of a few yards of shingle, or the clearing of a drain wherever the Overseer thought it necessary. There ia a story told of two boys whose names were “No-Eyes” and “All-Eyes,” and who went on a journey together. When they returned “ NoEyes ” had nothing to say, while “All-Eyes ” gave a brilliant description of everything he had seen, and wag able to make up a most interesting narrative of all that had occurred on the journey. Now, this illustrates the capacities of people generally. There are some who never can see anything beyond the line prescribed by their duties ; there are others whose mental vision extends beyond the limits of hard and fast rules, ami who see at a glance where the advantage is to be gained. Local bodies generally appear to belong to the “ No-Eyes.” They seldom can see anything beyond the narrow limits of their official duties; they do not seem to realise that it is to them the public look : that by virtue of their office an importance is attached to their opinions and actions, and that they possess opportunities of acquiring information which private individuals have no means of obtaining. In this public bodies make a great mistake ; but we trust that in future they will endeavor to do as we suggest. If we mistake not, there are other things which the Geraldine Town Board might look after also. They, too, want one or two Justices of the Peace living in a more central part of the town, and they might very well lake steps in that direction.