MANY NEW MAYORS.

m. G. W. HUTCHISON FOR CITYCAREERS OF NEW MEN. PREPONDERANCE OF YOUTH.

Mr. George W. Hutchison, Auckland's pew Mayor, although he is only 48 years of age, has had an unusually wide experience in what is called, colloquially, "running things," and he has travelled and knows Avhat the big cities of the Old World are like, so that he firings to his important duties a very wide knowledge of affairs. He entered the City Council at the previous election, and the measure of the man may be gauged from the fact that at that lime he was asked to contest the Mayoralty, but declined, as he felt "that before accepting such an important »ffice a man should first have experience nf City Council work. In 1929 he was ilected to the council and topped the poll. Before he entered the council, Hutchison was not prominent in tity affairs, but, nevertheless, had had experience of local body work, as he was formerly a member of the One Tree Hill Road Board. It was as head of that very live organisation, the Auckland Automobile Association, that Mr. Hutchison was prominent in the public eye, and his ability in that post him the esteem of a very wide circle of people, very well able to judge of a man's ability. Under his regime the association's membership grew from 74 to its present remarkable total of 1500. His civic spirit was indicated when he started the Great South Road Beautifying Association, a body comprising delegates from local bodies through whose districts that important highway runs.

* Born in Mangonui in 1883, Mr. Hutchison was educated in Auckland, and joined a commercial firm after leaving the Auckland Grammar School. Aftertaking his accountancy degrees he went into business on his own. account, -and to-day is senior member of the firm of Hutchison, Elliffe and Cameron, accountants and auditors. He has held all the principal offices in the Dominion accountancy bodies, and is at present president of the New Zealand Division of the Australian Institute of Secretaries, of which he is a foundation member. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, England. So.me time ago he. was lecturer on accountancy and auditing at the Auckland University College, and he has also acted as examiner in those subjects for the New Zealand -University. Town planning is a subject he has studied extensively, and he is a fellow of the Now Zealand Institute of Town Planning. He is also a keen Rotarian.

MR. T. McNAB FOR MOUNT EDEN. The new Mayor of Mount Eden, Mr. T., McNab, is a native of the district, having been born there 47 years ago. When he was 19 years of age he went to the war in South Africa, and liked the country so much that when hostilities were over he remained in Johannesburg, where for several years he was N engaged in the building and contracting trade. New Zealand, however, called him, and 1907 saw him back in the Dominion again. He entered the business, of his father, . Messrs. McNab and Mason, Btonemasons, in Symonds Street, and he has been in the firm ever since. For a number of years he has taken a keen interest in municipal affairs and his work on the Mount Eden Borough Council marked him as a man who was bound to come to the front. He is a teen bowler and footballer. When in South Africa he took part in representative football' matches, and his fondness for the code led him to accompany the All Blacks when they toured the Union in 1928.

MOUNT ALBERT'S NEW HEAD. Like the choice of Auckland and Mount Eden, Mr. W. F. Stilwell is still In hiß forties; in fact, he is just in his '40th year. By profession he is a barrister and solicitor, and has lived practically all his life in Mount Albert. He went to the Great War, where he had a great record. When he left New Zealand with the main body he Avas a sergeant, and on Gallipoli lie was given a commission. He went to France when the troops left Egypt, and at Messines he won. the Military Cross. Returning to New; Zealand with the.rank of captain, he was appointed to the command of the First Field Artillery Brigade, with the rank of major. When he returned to civil life he resumed his practice at the Bar and turned to munijipal affairs with an enthusiasm that augurs

well for Mount Albert's future under lis Mayoralty.

MR. LAWSON AT NEW LYNN. Still another member of the "fortyyear -brigade," which seems to be the popular age for Ma3'ors this year, is Mr. George Law-son. He was born in Bedfordshire 46 years ago, and came to New Zealand 23 years afterwards. He went, out to Lynn when he first landed, and has seen the district grow to its present importance from a population of .under 400. He has been in the newspaper 'business ever since he was a 'boy, and to-day is one of the departmental managers'in the "Auckland Star." Ever since he went to New Lynn, Mr. Lawson has been closely identified with the publie life of the place, and has served an apprenticeship in every local organisation, including the Ratepayers' Association, the School Committee, and especially the Town Board and its successor, the present council. During the ten years he sat on the Town Board he never missed a meeting. He has been acting Mayor during the past twelve months owing to the absence in England of Mr. tj. F. Gardner, and now the residents Have shown their appreciation of his notable services to the district by electing him to the chair. Another incident that gives an idea of the good work he has done for New Lynn was the naming of a five-acre park after him. The area was set aside by the Government, and it was the Government that named it in honour of Mr. Lawson. Apart from public life, the new Mayor has been prominent in other activities. For instance, he is president of the local Horticultural Society.

ONE TREE HILL. Born in Queensland 32 yf irs ago, Mr. I. J. Goldstinc came to Auckland as a toy and here he was educated at the Auckland Grammar School and Auckland University College. He took up the law and has been practising in Auckland since 1021, as a member of the firm of Messrs. Goldstine and O'Donnell. A member of the last One Tree Hill Road Board, he was elected deputyMayor when the district became a horough. His standing in local body affairs is attested by the fact that he is president of the Suburban Local Bodies' Association. He is an authority on financial questions and lately gained touch praise by his analysis of the finances of the Hospital Board—a subject on which all local bodies are so Vitally interested.

CHANGES ACROSS THE HARBOUR. For 31 yeans Mr. H. F. W. Meikle, (who has been elected to the Mayoral i chair at Devonport, was in the Defence Force, and he retired with the rank of captain. During the past ten years he has been living at the Shore, and he has closely identified himself with local affairs. He has been one of the prominent members of the Devonport Property Holders' Association, a body which has been keeping a very close watch on the borough administration. Seven of the association's nominees were elected to the new council. Mr. R. Martin, Northcote's new Mayor, is a native of Ireland, where he was born 62 years ago, but he is practically a "good ISTew Zealander," as he came out when about four years old. For 40 years Mr. Martin was in the Post and Telegraph service, from which he retired in 1925. 'Keenly interested in the progress of the borough, he has been an active member of the local Borough Council for the past four years, and during that time he has been chairman of the reserves committee.

MR. J. GUINIVEN AT TAKAPUNA,

The newly-elected Mayor of Takapuna, Mr. J. Guiniven, has travelled widely and followed more than one occupation. His parents came from South Africa in the late 'sixties. After trying his luck at gold mining, his father took up farming in the Ramarama district. His son studied law for some time and then decided to so to the United States, where he took up engineering work, specialising in road, bridge and railway construction. Aftespeeding 24 years in the United States he returned to New Zealand, where he received an appointment with a ferroconcrete company —the first to undertake the construction of wharves of that type in Auckland. On that work he was appointed foreman of the reinforcing section. In late years he has been employed principally in water supply and bridge construction contracts in the Auckland province. Perhaps the largest of these was that of erecting the "bridge across the Waihou River at Te Aroha. Mr. Guiniven has been a member of the .Takapuha Borough Council for four years.