THE MAYORAL ELECTION. (To the Editor.)

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 369, 1 July 1874, Page 5

THE MAYORAL ELECTION. (To the Editor.)

Sib, — Our municipal elections are drawing near. A Mayor is the first on the list. I i*ve heard the names of several persons mentioned who are likely to contest the election, if asked ; but I scarcely think we have a gentleman in the town who will suit all the electors, .bo I expect to see several requisitions out ■within a few days. I hopa the practice hitherto followed by a few will be discontinued, viz., that of signing any number of requisitions. It looks very odd to see one gentleman asking, two or three different candidates to come forward and contesWan election, while .he is only able to vote for one of them. If I ask a-candidate to stand, he must think I am inclined to support him ; but when he finds that I have also asked others, his impression must doubtless be that I am lacking in consistency — in fact, void of courage or mind of my own, but swayed by any wind that blows, and. very shallow. We have several citizens quite fit to occupy the honorable position of Mayor ; and, to be plain, let us ask none but those we intend to stick to, and for whose return we intend to work. If my man comes ©ut, I am prepared to wager a leg of mutton against two potatoes that he goes in a winner. Howeverfl intend having him out very soon, taking his gallops, and I am .quite certain, unless the old horse from Dunedin steps in at the last minute, he will win in a canter. If the old horse steps in, then I fear my favorite will bolt off the course. If every ratepayer -mil bring out his favorite, and only his favorite, I »m sure we shall have a good run for it and a genuine race. I hope our present Mayor or the councillors ■will do tlieir duty and write to the Government and get a list of the names of those citisens who might be entitled to have the full honors conferred upon them if elected. It is rumored that the Government only confer the honors on the Hau-Hau class. " I think any gentleman with an ordinary amount of common Bense coidd discriminate for himself whether "he would disgrace himself or the Bench if made a J.P- If a man is considered competent by a majority of the citizens to be placed as their representative of the town, the (fovernment have no business to fancy any

such gentleman a disgrace to them. When theße honors are withheld, it is an insult to thVpeople ; and if any one would be disgraced it would be the people themselves, and not the Government. If we are to be outdone in this way, I thiuk at the next meeting of the Provincial Council we should ask our members to go in for offering a bonus for the best design for a few cast-iron Mayors suitable for upcountry Municipalities. By this means the Government could model the men to their own will and satisfaction, and keep them up to the general average of Justices of the Peace, things so necessary in a sarage country like this. — I am, &c, A Citizen.