LORD MAYOR AT 77.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 302, 21 December 1932, Page 3

LORD MAYOR AT 77.

SYDNEY'S NEW HEAD.

ALDERMAN FOR 20 YEARS. "KEEP YOUNG" HIS MOTTO. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, December IC. On December 14 the candidates for the City Mayoralty submitted their names to the Kefovm pre-selection ballot. Before the last City Council was elected the aldermen who solicited the support of the Citizens' Reform Association pledged themselves, in return for its endorsement ,to select the next Lord Mayor "at a regularly convened meeting of the Reform aldermen, and by a majority of those present and voting." If all the Reform aldermen supported any given candidate he was certain of election. But the Labour aldermen, though not strong enough to control the situation, made some attempt a few weeks ago to secure a "balance of power," virtually offering their support to any Reform candidate who might need it to outvote one of his colleagues. By Secret Caucus. This intrigue seems to have been rcsultless, but the competition for this eminent post between the Reform aldermen themselves was particularly keen. Alderman Walder, the sitting Lord Mayor, had some claim on a further term of ollice, but he was supposed to be expecting a knighthood and he did not press his candidature. Alderman Jackson, in regard to service and ability, was a formidable competitor, but it became clear that he could not hope to be Lord Mayor and continue to hold office as Minister of Local Government, so he, too, was practically eliminated. Apart from these, there were live Reform candidates —in fact all the Reform members of the City Council, except Alderman Tresidder, who preferred, as he put it, to "sit pretty." Failing Lord Mayor Walder and Alderman Jackson, the chances seemed to favour Alderman Hagon, and after a eecret meeting extending over two days, and lasting ■for nine hours, he was duly declared the nominee of the Reformers.

When the formal nomination was made to the council, the Labour aldermen seized the opportunity to inveigh against the whole system of a secret caucus and a preferential ballot, which for rather obscure reasons they described as a "pernicious" method of election. But Alderman Hagon received the assurance of Alderman Garden and the Labour sec-

tion that they would give him their hearty support in all matters calculated to promote the general welfare —saving always their own conscientious convictions." In Business as Tailor. Alderman Hagon is an interesting, and in some ways, a remarkable figure ill Sydney's public life. He was born in Hobart, and came hero .">7 years ago to start in business as a tailor. He is still in business on the same spot in King Street, bait the little one-room rented shop has grown to a large freehold, with 1.30 employees, and the new Lord Mayor controls one of the most eflieient and successful commercial enterprises in the city. Ho has been a member of the City Council for. nearly 20 years, and twice he narrowly escaped the honour and responsibility of the Mayoral oflico. The only obvious objection to Lord Mayor Hagon is his age —he is 77 years old. But as one of his friends has said, he has only one hobby—"keeping youilg" —and he certainly «eems endowed "with an amount of vigor and enthusiasm that would be creditable in a man many years his junior. "Keep young" is his motto. Hβ believes in Sydney; he has no political prejudices and few enemies; and even Alderman Garden has paid him public compliments for his generous treatment of his employees. Now, though 77 years old, he has resigned control of his business interests to his son, and proposes to devote himself with all his strength to the improvement of this great city and the promotion of the people's welfare.