LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 16

LABOUR NOTES.

UNION ACTIVITIES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.)

SETTLING DOWN,

After the welter of local body elections, in which Labour candidates fared very successfully, the unions are settling down to normal activities again. The majority of elections have been conducted on the old style of "first past the post," but in Christchurch the proportional system has obtained for some years past, and it took no less than 720 elimination counts before the final results could be declared. Taken right through the Dominion, the polls have resulted in marked gains for Labour. In Auckland, in the City Council, eight Labourites have been returned, as against three in the old council, while for the Mayoralty the advance was so pronounced that the Labour minority was reduced from 4195 in 1931 to 791 in 1933. To the Hospital Board the party returned two members, an increase of one seat. On'the Harbour Board the only Labour candidate liomi-. liatcd was clectcd.

For Mount Albert four Labour councillors have been added to the council, while at Whangarei Mr. J. G. Barclay (Labour) topped the poll for the borough council with a vote of 1307. Mr. Barclay was also elected to the Hospital Board, his vote being 1000. It was Mr. Barclay who stood as Labour's candidate against 31 r. Coates for Kaipara in 1028, and against Mr. Murdoch for Marsden in 1931.

In tho Wellington contests there has been an all-round gain. The Mayoralty was not contested, the party concentrating on tho three local authorities. In the Harbour Board election Labour gained five out of the six • contested scats. On tho Hospital Board there was a gain of two seats, making a total of five seats for the party. On tho City Council the Labour councillors now number five, or an increase of two. At Petone tho Labour party ran a full ticket of nine for the borough council. It succeeded in electing four, a gain of three, the only Labour representative in the previous council topping the poll. Mr. E. N. Campbell (Labour) was elected unopposed to the Hospital Board.

At. Gisborne the party received a setback for the Mayoralty, owing to two Labour candidates standing, and a consequent split vote, but Mr. J. H. Hall, an old Labour stalwart in Gisborne, was elected to the borough council as a new member. For the first time Labour gained representation on the Harbour Board, Mr. C. Scott being elected by a vote of 3834. Mr. D. W. Coleman, M.P., was clceted to the Hospital Board with 380f> votes, 10 votes behind the leading candidate.

At "YVairoa (H. 8.), three Labour candidates were elected to tho local borough council. Mr. A. F. Moncur, Labour's candidate for tho Rotorua seat in 1931, was. elected to the Wliakatane Borough Council.

In Pal mere ton North for the. Hospital Hoard, Mr. J. Hodgens (Labour) defeated the sitting member, Mr. J. Nash, M.P.

The Christchurch Poll. At Christchurch the Labour party did not lose any ground at all. The Mayoralty was won by Mr. D. G. Sullivan, M.P., who was re-elected to the position with an enormous majority, his poll being the highest ever cast for a Mayoral candidate in New Zealand's history—lß,34s, 7950 above his opponent. There are still sjfeven of the party in the council. Mr. McCombs, M.P., did not seek re-election. Mr. E. Parlane was the last to be eliminated. These two have been replaced by two new members, Miss Mabel Howard, daughter of Mr. E. J. Howard, M.P., and Mr. J. Mathison. Tho following table shows the vote polled by the vario*fcj parties grid their representation on the council: "Votes. ' 1 Seats. Labour 12,300 7 Citizens 10,608 " 6 Independent ... 3,222 2 Socialist 1,762 1 Communist .... 110 —

The Socialist elected was Mr. A. E. Armstrong, who sat in the last council as Independent Labour. With the exception of Mr. Armstrong, all the Socialist and Communist candidates lost their deposits. For the Harbour Board, Messrs. H. T. Armstrong, M.P., and E. J. Howard, M.P., retained their seats. Christchurch has eight members on the North Canterbury Hospital Board and all were re-elected. Pour of them are Labour party representatives.

In Dunedin Labour has made a forward move in gaining two seats on the City Council and one each on the Harbonr and Hospital Boards. No candidate was run for the Mayoralty, but solid hacking ivaa given to the Rev. E. T. Cox, who defeated the sitting Mayor, Mr. Black, on a programme of opposition to the action of the past council in cutting down hy roughly 50 jier cent the sum set aside for financing No. 5 scheme under its jurisdiction. To the council Messrs. F. Jones, M.P., and M. Silverstone were elected, in addition to Mr. J. W. Muifro, M.P., who was the sole representative of the party in the last council. Mr. Jones was also elected to the Hospital Board with a vote of 13,108.

M.P.'s on Local Bodies. One of the arguments plied with -varying success in the Auckland Mayoral election against the candidature of Mr. H. G. R. Mason, M.P., was that a member of Parliament could not attend to other duties such as Mayor or councillor. But a glance through the results as I Jiavo epitomised them above, shows that Mr. D. G. Sullivan, M.P., was elected by iover 18,000 citizens as Mayor of their pity. Dunedin also is quite content to ■thrust work on the willing shoulders of its Labour M.P.'s, for Mr. E. Jones, M.P., is also on the City Council, Harbour Board and Hospital Board. Mr. •Munro, M.P., is on the council and Harbour Board. Messrs. P. Eraser, C. H. (Chapman, R. Semple, Walter Mash (Wellington), H. T. Armstrong, E. J. Howard, M.P.'s (Christchurch), and other Labour M.P.'s are instances of "willing horses being worked," and their labours are evidently appreciated. Why is it that it •js only Labour members of Parliament •that take 011 those multifarious duties? The reason is that when a Reform or United candidate is elected to Parliament, he uses his vacation from Parliament in pursuing bis business or farm ]or profession. He does not feel obliged to give his whole time to the public ■welfare. But a Labour member gives ftis whole time and attention to his ■public duties, and in session and recess lie is at the beck and call of his constituents.