THE COMING CONTEST.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 346, 3 September 1889, Page 2

THE COMING CONTEST.

The nominations received for the vacancies in the Borough Council show that there is a healthy interest taken in all that concerns our municipality. As was anticipated, the three retiring Councillors again seek the honor of representing the burgesses, and two new candidates have also been proposed, so that there will be a good selection for the ratepayers to choose from. Of course in making that choice we know that the ratepayers may be trusted to make good use of their privileges—and to return the three whom they deem most fitted to occupy the position—it is a part of our duties to fairly deal with the qualifications of the candidates proposed. Mr D. M. Orr has retired from the contest, so that he must be left out of consideration, though it may not be out of place to express regret that Mr Orr did not go to the poll. Probably his knowledge that Mr Heppurn was in the field as a representative of the upper portion of the district, induced Mr Orr to withdraw, so as not to imperil the election of at least one Councillor to represent that district, and if that assumption be correct Mr Orr is to be commended for his graceful action. At present there is not a single member of the Council residing in any part of the Borough above Carnarvon street, and it is not fair that the upper portion of the district should be practically unrepresented. We do not say that this being so has or would lead to any injustice being done by the Council, but it follows as a matter of course that when there is not some person whose special duty it is to bring under the notice of the Council the wants of particular localities, those localities are not likely to get proper attention. A better representative than Mr Hepburn could perhaps not have been proposed. He has previously been a member of the Council, and opponent? can look in vain for weak points in his record. He is a man highly respected, and one of that class whose absence from the public service is always to be regretted. We hope that Mr Hepburn’s many friends will do their best to ensure his return as the representative of the upper district, and that their knowledge of the respect in which he is held will not causs them to be careless as to the result. In regard to Messrs Dunlop and Whinray very little need be said. Mr Dunlop has proved a most useful Councillor, and his absence from the Council would be a public loss. He is always prepared to give a good sound reason for any action he may take, and jt has been proved that neither blaster nor declamation pan succeed in turning him from that course which hfi believes to be the right one. Mr Whinray has long been a member of the Council, and his actions in the past fully warrant the continuance of the faith which we feel ''shro is still reposed in him. He, too, is" not afraid tb apeak his mind when the occasion arises, and When he recognises that the good name of the Council is at stake.

As to Mr Joyce we should have preferred to remain silent, but a journalist must take public men ip |he character • in which their own works j„'sye them, and ! a sense of our duty to the publjg compels us to say, in as charitable a ihatiner its

we can, at least a portion of that which we cannot well leave unsaid. We are astonished that Mr Joyce has the selfassurance to again offer himself for election. It is not so long since the Standard referred in very mild terms to scenes in the Council room that, were the circumstances not known, would have earned for the Council a most unenviable reputation. Our readers will remember that on one occasion Councillor Joyce’s manner was such that the other Councillors felt it their duty to ask for an apology. That apology has not yet been given, and it now'remains for the ratepayers to decide whether such scenes are to be tolerated in Gisborne, and not only tolerated, but that the cause of them is to be allowed to treat his fellowCouncillors with contumely when he is asked to do what might be expected of a gentleman. The more we examine Mr Joyce’s record in the Council, the stronger is our opinion that his best course is to retire. It may be said that bygones should be bygones, but that maxim will not hold good in a matter of this sort, for the best means we can have of judging our public men is by their actions concerning the public interest. The ratepayers have not previously had an opportunity of expressing their opinion on the matter, except in a way that would be distasteful to the majority of them, that is by asking Mr Joyce to resign. Now it remains to be seen whether the ratepayers will demonstrate their disapproval of incidents that every right-minded person must deprecate. It should be understood that we make reference to Mr Joyce only in regard to his public capacity ; of Mr Joyce as a private individual we say nothing.