SECOND EDITION Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1894.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4886, 26 November 1894, Page 2

SECOND EDITION Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1894.

The Masterton Municipal election is on Wednesday next, and we confess that we have experienced some difficulty in arriving at a conchsioi as to which candidate,wo,ought ti support. With regard, to one' o them, Mr Hornblow, wo have ne'vei hod a moment's hesitation, bufrfron the first havo regarded himas'iiiidesirahle for the Mayoral position. The choice between Mr Heron and Mr Pownall has not been unattended by doubt, and it is only after some deliberation that wo have decided that it is onr duty, in the best interests of the town to vote for Mr Heron.

; Ouk first impression was in favor I of MrPownall's cWldidature, because wo regarded hinia's the champion of water and drainage, and also becausewo believed'that his well-known ability might' at the present time' 1 havo been of service to the town. But his address iu tho Temperance Hall disillusioned' us on tho first point, and caused.us to re-consideri the position we intended to take. We would like him .to come to,somo more definite corielufion on : tho water and drainage proposals before taking office. Wo hope to see him come forward again for tho Mayoral 'position noxfc yoar with anioro hopeful programme than tho ono. which he has submitted to. us on the present occasion. . ■;■.; :.:■;';/,'■•

1 )k Hornblow k,s.}i l ■ness which'enables him tpijinafee foohvof his fellow .•men."'' He; : may mako fools' of (lib certainly seems to hare'''succeeded |'•willi Mr RenalL ; A few. .month I'backMrHornblow' was heart and "soul for Mr King's Bcherae, : .now>for the sako.o^tliQ' 1 twenty :ty; ■ thirty

votes which Mr Rennllcan influence he has pledged himself to Mr Kenall's scheme If ho gets in he will not hesitate for one moment to drop Mr Renall's scheme as leadily as he turned round on Mr King's ; plans, He'is simply a municipal 'contortionist without, an ounce of backbone or a shred of consistency. The highest bidder, amongst the voters, takes him, .without the slightest reserve. -Still in- his -way ho is clovorer than MrHenall or Mr Heron, but the cleverness is of a sort that sometimes over-reaches itself. ■.. ■ :

Tin; Gas question is a'"factor'in tho present election,-and- here it is that we'eonsider it necessary .to. retain Mr'"Helen's ; : services. ■ There uas'been:trouble : ;o'yer tlie'.'business and ; wecafl : trust Mr Heron to put.a stop to it. He recently insisted upoti a change, of ;iiiaiiagement wlieu such a stop was. indispensable and we happon to know that he isto investigate other matters that require, at terifcion. Mr Heron is. decidedly the most trustworthy man to' clean ..out tlie" Augean Stable" and' now ho has put his hand to the work he will cany it through. Anew Gas Committee will shortly bo appointed aud we hope to see Mr Heron take his proper position as Chairman of that Committee. There will then be an end to gas scandals. We feel suro that Mr E. Feist the present Chair-

nan of tho Gas Committee will only >e too glad of Mr Heron's assistance".

We do not endorso Mr Pownall's proposal to sell the tho Gas Works, but would like to see. him. bring itforward a year hence if necessary. They aro now at a discount, then they may bo at a premium. They want mending and patching up before tboy can be put in the market without a considerable sacrifice, At the samo time we do not altogether wish, to lose sight of Mr Pownall's proposition. A year hence it will not, we trust, be a necessary step, bntif it be, we will support it, and the works certainly, ought to be more saleablo then than they aro now.

Mb Hornblow has paraded his services to the Gas Works, and has exaggerated their ill condition for electioneering purposes, They are very sick but Doctor Hornblow can cure them! Bnthad Mr Hornblowhad his own way with them they would have been in a worse state now than they actually are'. It- was wo who urged upon tho Council the necessity of .an export's report, and at tho time we were pleased to got a personal nssuranco from Mr Feist, the chairman of the Gas Committee, that an expert should be employed. Wo know, we may say, that Mr Heron aud Mr Feist have been in earnest in trying to put matters right and that Mr Hornblow' has been in earnest in trying to put matters wrong, Yet Mr Hornblow, the mischief maker of the works, claims publicly credit for which be has not a tittle of right, wbilo Messrs Heron and Feist, who really deserve some praise, are modestly silent.

Tin: expert's report was fatal to the management. Some people in this town for private but very palpable reasons of their own resisted the change of mimngemont, and Mr Hornblow fought for them tooth and nail. Had not Mr Heron and Mr Feist stood firm and discharged a painful bu tueceasaiy duty the change would not have been brought about, and wc unhesitatingly affirm that tho works would nowhavo been in a worse condition than tbey aro. But to crown all during the present election Mr Hornblow while praising the late manager to his faco has circulated reports about him behind his back which paint liira in worse colours than tho expert's report, aud this statement can be very readily proved.

Wb think people will feel more comfortable if Mr Heron remains in office for another term, It is true that wo differ from liiin on certain points, but we feel that we are safe with. him. We don't want to see a Municipal Conjuror in the Mayoral chair, and as far as we can judge, if Mr Heron bp not elected, the Municipal Conjuror will be returned, This is a very cogentreasou why we should support Mr Heron, We expect that Mr Hornblow will make fools of a considerable number of tlio burgesses, and that the election will lie between him and Mr Heron, We wish such wero not the case,but this is the conclusion have como to. A;-fkibn». ; ; writing to us" from Devgnpprfcsayi) "wo. wore thinking of leaving here but now wo have got water we have: decided to Btay." jDevonjwivt has recently gone in for a, high pressure water supply with the most,gratifying results.' The 'official return of the population of Uevonporfc is 2,454; of Masterton 8,114, Wo wish wo could infuse a little of the intelligence .'andC'cutcrprise of littlo Devonport into bigger Mastertbii, Onro'wn town for its 'size is behind all other centres of popular, tioh as : regards' public works indispensable to health icomfprt and prosperity.' [■■'''' '' '