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Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9067, 16 April 1908, Page 4

Mayor J. Vigor Brown, of Napier, stands out conspicuous among Mayors of the dominion in the treatment of his yearly honorarium. Last night the local Borough Council voted him > the sum of £2OO for his past year's services, but ho declined to accept it for himself, on the ground that neither his income nor his business had suffered through attending to /his official duties. He, therefore proposed to'devote the arrount allocated to him to purposes which would benefit the citizens over whom he has presided as Mayor. Thi3 is good, and if it helps to establish a precedent it will be better. Many Mayors in the dominion are fairly well-to-do, and can wall aPord to serve their fel-low-citizens without payment; but there are few who show a disposition to reject the yearly money vote, or, accepting it, prefer t3 use it for public purposes rather than take it as payment for personal services to the community. It is true that the office of Mayor involves many sacrifices of time and money, which a man of modest means may not be able to afford without some pecuniary compensation, and in such a ca3e there can be nothing to say against his acceptance of an honorarium; but where the Mayor of a town or city is in a position t j fill the office without fee he adds a dignity to the office in declining to receive payment of services over and above the honour the post confers up >n him.