NEW LORD MAYOR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 307, 28 December 1935, Page 10

NEW LORD MAYOR.

SYDNEY ELECTION.

INGENIOUS MANOEUVRING.

CIVIC REFORM ANI> !LABOUR. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, December 19. The regretted death of Sir Alfred Parker made it necessary to choose a successor to the mayoral office following a brief interregnum under Alderman McElhone, and after a good deal of ingenious man6euvring the ■ choice has fallen upon Alderman Howie. In Sydney, the aldermen elect the Lord Mayor and the voting was by the open preferential system, so that when the candidates were once nominated it was possible to predict with a good deal of certainty the way in which the votes would eventually fall. From the flrat {t was °.'' ous that this election, like many of its predecessors, was to be a trial of strength between the Cmc Reform aldermen and their opponents.

\s I have explained on other occasions, the CRA. for some years dominated the City Council, until first Alderman McElhone and then Alderman Parker seceded, to the extent of regaining their independence of action on the council and voting according to their own preferments. But as the two parties, C.K.A. and Labour were of almost equal strength in the council and Alderman Parker who held the chair last secured it against the will of the C.R.A. the power of that organisation was temporarily broken. When Sir Alfred Parker died in harness, he was succeeded by Alderman McElhone who, as the other independent member was equally objectionable to the C.R.A. But as the short term for which Alderman McElhone.held office drew to its close, the UR.A. decided to make another bold bid for ascendancy over the council and, as the sequel showed, it succeeded. At first it seemed likely that the Labour aldermen—there are eight of them as against 10 Civic Reformerswould nominate one of their own number, and Alderman Shannon was supposed to be the man of their choice. But on counting probable preferences they found that they could not elect him against the block vote of the Civic Reformers, and they decided not to put forward one of their own number, but to support either Alderman McElhone, who had succeeded to the Mayoralty on Sir A. Parker's death, or Alderman Tresidder. This last candidate was nominally a member of the Civic Reform organisation; but —as became the son of a Cornish miner, who is himself a "Man from Irohbark," near Bendigo— he is a man of- forceful character and sturdy independence; and events proved that he was quite willing to throw over the Citizens' Reform Association on the chance of gaining this coveted honour. Aldlrman Tresidder Determined. By the time Alderman Tresidder had decided to stand the Citizens' Reform Association, in accordance with _ its regular practice, had agreed on a joint nomination. Alderman Howie •' was selected, but Alderman Tresidder informed his colleagues that he reserved his right to act and vote as be pleased, or even to stand for the chair himself, and so withdrew from the meeting. His determination to stand in any ease still further complicated the situation, and Alderman McElhone took careful stock of this position. He had kept his own counsel, as he usually does, and had ' evidently decided that' he had no chance of election himself. He was, therefore, prepared to stand aside and vote for 'Howie rather than allow the Mayoralty to go to Tresidder, who would depend 'chiefly on the Labour aldermen.

However, a great deal might depend on the splitting of the preferential votes, and at the last moment the Civic Reformers decided on an ingenious device to force Alderman McElhone's hand. They nominated a second Reform candidate, Alderman Parkes, who was certain to split the votes that might otherwise have gone to Alderman Tresidder. The appearance of a third candidate put a new complexion on affairs, and Alderman McElhone, on whose votes a great deal depended, had to readjust himself to the new- situation. He saw that there was a possibility that if there were only two candidates, and he voted for Tresidder, there might be a tie between Tresidder and Howie, and in that case the Government vfould be asked to adjudi--ate. Preservation of Dignity. This had happened in the case of Sir Alfred Parker, and McElhone, with,many other aldermen, felt that this was a method of election humiliating to the Council and derogatory to its dignity. He decided that such a deadlock must at all costs be avoided, and that to prevent it he must give his first preference vote not to Tresidder, but to Howie. He voted accordingly, and his vote gave Howie the majority of one by which he was eventually elected. Of course, with three candidates there might have been a tie for first place, and in that case it was proposed to draw the names from a hat, but this undignified expedient was also avoided by Alderman McElhone's self-sacrificing vote.

I have thought it worth while to detail these circuitous proceedings at some length because they indicate the intense' interest taken by the rival parties in this election. As things have turned out the aldermen seem to have made quite a satisfactory choice. Lord Mayor Howie is a Scot, Glasgow born, 50 years old, but he came to Sydney at the early age of two. He is head of one of the leading building and contracting firms in the city, and is a large employer of labour; he is a member of the Legislative Council and one of the recognised leaders of the U.A.P.; he is a member of the management of the Sydney Cricket Ground, the Royal Agricultural Society, the Chamber of Commerce and the Manly Ferry Company; he owns a large farm, dairy and stud near Richmond, and takes a great interest in the primary industries. He is rather taciturn, but always talks sensibly, and 'though he is an entirely different type from the cultured professional men so well represented by Sir Alfred Parker, he is a man of capacity and integrity, and there is no reason why he should not make a success of his administration of civic affairs. Alderman "Disciplined." Before leaving this subject I must make a few comments on the position in which Alderman Tresidder now finds himself placed. Though a member of the C.E.A., Alderman Tresidder has always maintained that in the election of a Lord Mayor aldermen should have the right to vote according to their own judgment without dictation from anv party. But when the C.R.A. realised not only that Tresidder had "broken the slate" and asserted his complete independence of the they were

furiously indignant. They summoned a meeting, at which Tresidder was asked to be present so that he might have a chance of explaining his defiance of their .authority. Feeling thus, fl ley might have been expected to wash their hands of him completely and expel him from their organisation. But they knew that the Civic Reform Aldermen might need his vote during the coming year and they decided not to go to extremes. However, to mark their resentment at his "disloyalty" they passed this resolution, "That as Alderman Tresidder had broken the pledge required by the C.R.A. to support its candidate at civic elections, in future it will not further support him." This sentence apparently falls a little short of excommunication but it has not greatly perturbed Alderman Tresidder, who says that he is now '•'really independent" for the first time. But the C.R.A. can afford to be generous to him for the election of Alderman Howie to the Mayoral chair means that it has regained its old ascendancy in the City Council. There are ei"ht Labour aldermen and two Independents (Tresidder and McElhone) and there are 10 Civic Reformers. If Labour and the Independents vote together there will be a tie, and the Lord Mayor has his casting vote ready for the C.R.A.