The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1892. CURRENT TOPICS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIII, Issue 2765, 5 September 1892, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1892. CURRENT TOPICS.

We are pleased to note that an increased interest is being taken in municipal matters. At some recent Borough Council elections the vacancies have been filled with difficulty, but this time there are no less than five candidates for the three seats. There were some who did not anticipate this state of affairs, for it is a " current topic " that a previously defeated candidate was seen last Thursday, at noon, in the precincts of the Municipal buildings, armed with a duly filled-up nomination form ready to be put in if the candidates had been fewer than the vacancies to be filled. Time was when a bloodless victory could have been scored in this way, buc on this occasion the Fates were against this discreet burgess. Councillor Cuthbertson retires with an excellent record. Both in Council and in committee he has been a good worker, and in the absenco of the Mayor he has shown capacity to fulfil the duties of the chair. Councillor Orr has also discharged his duties faithfully and well : while of Councillor Anderson it can be said that during his very brief tenure of office he has expressed himself shrewdly, clearly and briefly on subjects under discussion. Mr Rudolph Friedlander, as a former councillor of long experience and an ex-mayor, has great claims upon the suffrages of the burgesses; and the novice, Mr J. C. Duncan, has business abilities which would ensure his making a thoroughly good member of the Council. An absurd rumour that Mr Duncan seeks election in the interests of the Trotting Club can be flatly contradicted, though it is scarcely necessary to d© so. It is devoutly to be hoped that the Works Committee will soon be able to hold a meeting, otherwise many of the streets will be impassable. During last week's wet weather the condition of some of the streets would have been a disgrace to a bush township. In the business streets the mud at the sides has been almost bottomless, and passengers have been unable to proceed from their vehicles to the side paths without getting ankle-deep in mud, it being impossible except in very tew places to drive close up to the channel or kerb. Cass street between Burnett and Havelock streets has been a veritable slough of Despond, and the only practicable way from, say, the Salvation Army Barracks to the Ashburton Club has been by way of East Street; the footpaths have been as bad as the roadway, or worse. This u not as it. should be in a prosperous town. It may be said that a few dry days would make everything right, but what is now mud would then be dust, and one of these evils is as bad as the other,

The stoppage o! the flow of water in the Wakanui Creek is a serious matter, and the County Council are to becommeindedfortheproraptactiontbey are taking in the matter. We are expressing no opinion on the merits of the case, but the business must have been gone about in a very loose way in the first instance t/Q leave it in the power qf any one man to stop the water supply of an extensive district, and deprive two important mills of their motive power. It is a warning to all interested to settle the matter now, once and for all, so that no such unfortunate complication may arise in in future. If the landowners down the creek are in any danger of flooding or encroachment, their rights, of course, will have to be considered as well as the other residents and the mill-owners, and we trust that amicable steps will b,e tfilven to this end. ;

There are very few small matters that have disturbed the peace of a district so much as the dispute about the Pendarves Organ. Most of our readersmusbbeheartily tired of the everrecurring correspondence on the subject, and we trust that the last has now been heapd of iti The partjes to the dispute have now done what should have been done at the first raising of the question of the ownership of the organ, that is—submitted the documents in connection with the matter to public inspection. From the subscription lists, thpre is no difficulty in concluding that the fund paigcd' was for tho purpose of buing an organ for the Presbyterian Church, then tho only services held at Pendarves. Other impressions may have prevailed—in fact, in one case did prevail—but the bullr of the money was contributed by persons whe were tbpn and with few if any exceptions are no w Presbyterians, We trust that discord will now cease anc! Jjrotherly love be restored and continue.