used. It was decided in the first week in October that the clock tower in memory of "Albert the Good" should be commenced at once. The site had been already marked out, and a subcontract by Hastings tradesmen, under Mr. Stirling as the head contractor was said to be the method of operations. The first stone was laid by the Mayor, in November with all due pomp and ceremony, on which occasion the Rev. Dr. Crosse delivered and oration as eloquent as it was appropriate.
Municipal Matters
Under this headline, the St Leonards Gazette of Oct 11th, had the following remarks:-As usual, about the middle of October the first of November begins to be talked of in prospective. That the municipal changes will be greater than usual is believed by many persons, simply from a rumour that is being rather freely circulated that several aldermen and councilmen have determined not to serve again. It is pretty certain that in some quarters there is not the same earnestness as formerly to secure a seat in the Council; and this may have arisen partly from the odium - whether deserved or not - which, for some time past, has attached itself to the municipal body. There is a very prevalent impression that the sayings and doings of that august assembly are of a less respectable character than is consistent with the true dignity of so important a borough; and a knowledge of this has probably induced a contemporary to publish some wholesome remarks, from which we make the following short extract:-
"We assume as a settled fact - and we do not wish to do it offensively that the public reputation of our Council for business competency and general fairness is not so high as it ought to be. The comparative few men of combined intelligence, leisure and independence at present in the Council have not succeeded in redeeming the public chapter of that body from something to contempt in the minds of the more respectable portion of the ratepayers. This allegation may be met - as many others (illegible text) by an attempt to reply where those who bring the charge are not present to answer for themselves. But we make it deliberately, and from a painful conviction of its truth"
It is always necessary in treating of public bodies to make due allowance for the hostility of outsiders, but the fact of many of our councillors having been pushed, as it were into office merely to serve political and party purposes, independently of other qualifications and fitness, shews how possible it is for the Council, as a body, to possess too small an amount of suitable intelligence. With ourselves the plan has always been to consider the fitness of the man more than his political creed, and if the opportunity be afforded us in the coming election of choosing between a good man and merely a good Liberal, we shall not fail to exercise our right in favour of the former.
We are not prepared to state the exact nature and extent of the contemplated changes, but we know that in the West Ward there is at least -
