Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1938. BOROUGH MANAGEMENT.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 May 1938, Page 6

Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1938. BOROUGH MANAGEMENT.

"\7ERY good advice was offered by the Mayor of Masterton (Mr T. jordan) when, in addressing a meeting on Thursday evening, he urged electors to resist the intrusion of party politics into local body affairs. In national polities, parties serve their rough and ready purpose and there is no obvious means of getting rid of them, but anyone who is at all familiar with the normal functioning of Parliament knows that much of its best work, in open sittings and behind the scenes, is done from a non-party standpoint. Introducing party politics into local bodies has the effect merely of setting people by the ears without serving a-.y useful purpose whatever.

Only by taking up an extremely petty standpoint would it be possible to establish any serious division of interest between one body of electors and another in a town like Masterton or in any comparable community. AH electors obviously have a common interest in selecting as their municipal representatives competent and dependable men who can be relied upon to administer and mamage the affairs of the town to the best advantage of the community in general.

While the introduction of artificial party divisions ought to be condemned and avoided, even keen controversies over aspects of borough policy on which more than one opinion is possible might be welcomed unreservedly. One of the most disheartening features of service on local bodies in this country is that a great many of the people whom these bodies exist to serve seem to take hardly any interest in what is going on. ,

At the meeting on Thursday evening, Mr Jordan had several things to say that ought to awaken the practical interest of electors. He stated, for instance, that he thought an increase in rates inevitable. He spoke also, with some indication of approval, of the demand for* the construction of new swimming baths in Masterton, and, dealing with a still more important question, said he was not satisfied with the present water supply in Masterton and that the improvement of the system must be tackled as soon as they were satisfied that nothing could come from boring.

These are matters on which the electors should make their opinions known, not only at the impending election but after it has taken place. Provided a sufficient proportion of the people of a town take an active interest in questions like those touched upon by the Mayor, these will be settled in a way that will leave no room for complaint. Those who are of opinion that the rates should ajt all costs be kept down may very reasonably be asked, in these days, of rising costs, to show just how that feat of financial legerdemain is to be accomplished.

Similarly, if people who think Masterton ought to have an improved water supply, or new baths, or both, and those who think otherwise, would set themselves frankly in opposition, thrashing out the questions involved on their merits, these questions also would be brought speedily to a firm and decisive settlement. Progressive achievement in municipal government is hindered and hampered much less by honest differences of opinion than by dull apathy and a failure on the part of the people who directly and indirectly foot the bill _ to take an adequately active and intelligent interest in their own affairs. The remedy is entirely in their own hands.