THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION.

West Coast Times, Issue 637, 9 October 1867, Page 3

THE MUNICIPAL ELECTION.

T8 THE EDITOR OF THE WEST COAST TIMES. Sir — At the election which comes'off on Thursday next, I think the electors ought to make it a principle to give tho preference to [men who have already rendered practical service to the town. In a certain sense Mr Bartlett ' has done this. He has expended money here, and by employing a staff of artists has occasioned considerable sums of money to be put in circulation. He is the proprietor and manager of a theatre, and in his public appearance on the stage has played many parts. It may be a question whether 'a man holding a position which rightiully exposes him to cor stant criticism, is the best fitted for a station in which his powers of practical service maybe compromised by the strictures passed upon him in another capacity. But this is one of those questions on which I hold that the citizens themselves should be the sole judges. For my own part, I consider that Mr Bartlett stands, as a candidate, on equal terms with his competitors If they consider that he is a good man of business ; a man of sound judgment ; and one possessing leisure and inclination to devote a large portion of his time to duties apart from his own profession ; there is no special reason why the citizens should black-ball him. Out of the eighteen candidates it would not be difficult to pick out many who should stand lower than he. Mr Browne is a man who would stand better if it were not for his unhappy tendency to run everybody else down. What he has done for Hokitika it is very hard to say. He is in the habit of talking of his experience in municipal matters at Ballarat, in a style which greatly reminds me of another Victorian New Zealander who told the people of Dunedin that he was the only man in the Colony who understood the true philosophy of local government because he had. served some office on Emerald Hill. Ido not compare Mr Browne with Mr Crate. Perhaps he is abelter minj and perhaps he is a worse, But I confess that I look with 1 very great suspicion upon the role he has assumed in connection with this present contest. He has tried to make it appear that lie is the only honest man in the community, and that because he could not standatthe last election of councillors, the people's money has been played " ducks and drakes" with. When it comes to a matter of common-sense enquiry, I find that My Browne's charges of extrava* gant and reckless expenditure against the Town Council amount to this : — So much has been spent in keeping the Mun|cipal offices clean by being daily swopr; so much in buying chairs and tables for the Councillors to sit down upon and write at ; so much in a messenger's wages ; so much in pan and ink and blotting paper, and so much in postage stamps. I would like this gentleman to point out distinctly one single item in which a pound has been spent that could have been well saved; and having said so, I will take my leave of him, and let tho electors deal with him. I suppose if 1 were to discuss the merits of Mr Shaw, I should be suspected of currying favor with you if I praised him, or of intriguing with you for some sinister policy if I censured or criticised him. I will only ask youv permission, therefore, to say thatl hold him tobcauseful man — as one who never spares his time in the public service, nor ever shields himself under the plea of private engagements, from the duty of taking part in movements aiming at the benefit of the town. He is not an idle man, and ho is nob a self-seeking man, except possibly in one sense. He may have ambition ; the dosire of enjoying the confidence of his fellow townsmen ; the desire of serving them ; the desire of being honored by them. That is my reading of him. And if I am correct, here are th' 3 surest guarantees of public usefulness. If you spare me room for these brief notes as a supplement to my former letter, I will not intrude at any greater length upon your columns. The remainder of the list of candidates I have no desire whatever to deal with. They are for the most part men of business, who have never actively interfered in polities, who havfi never come into actual collision with each other. They belong to a class from which the ratepayers liny take their choice, from a knowledge of them much more accurate than I e%m pretend to — a knowledge derived from business rolationa with them. If I may make one exception, it will be in the case, of Mr John Cross, whose candidature is based upon a distinct, intelligible, and, as it ■appears to me, valuable principle. He lias been asked to come forward by those who believe that the interests of public economy would be well served by the prorence in tho Town Council and on the Public Works Committee, of a man of practical knowledge and exprriencc in matters of this kind. I think, sir, if is well that the Town Council should be representative of all classes, not ignoring Ihe class of the practical artizan. If we are to have lawyers, by all means let us have builders and engineers — men capable of understanding " plans and specifications," as well as of comparing tenders. Nay, let us have the latter, even if we do not have the lawyers. We can very well dispense with barristers, attorneys, and special pleaders. I mean sir, in the Town Council — not intending to insinuate that society could do without them, or that they are out of place in tho Court. There lawyers have their proper footing., In the Town Council a good knowledge of practical mechanics, is of infinitely greater value than a wig and gown. I think the men who brought forward Mr Cross, knew what they were about, and I consider the ratepayers could not do better than elect one man of his class. I will pursue my personal notes no further. All the other candidates are men of. business, with no special ties attaching to them, and I trust the best of them will be the ones returned. I am, &c, Civis. Hokitika, Oct. 7, 1867.

The Melbourne " Herald " says : — " Wo regret lo announce the death of Mr William Montgomery Bell, which took placo at an early hour yesterday (Sept. 16.) morning, from dropsy, at his late residence in South YniTa. Mi- W. M. Bell was one of the oldest and most respected merchants in the city, and one of the first to occupy the mayoral chair, tie was strongly opposed to transportation ; and, in 1353, when the question excited public attention, travelled with (ho Rev. Mr West to the diflbrent colonies and lectured r.pon the gubjeot, Mr Sell occupied & »out in