The Press Friday, April, 27, 1923. The Municipal Elections

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17748, 27 April 1923, Page 8

The Press Friday, April, 27, 1923. The Municipal Elections

'I ho results ni" the voting in the City (x>uncii and Mayoral elections yesterday are oil tlie whole very satisfactory. That mor'.i in forest iva; taken in the contest jor the Mayoralty than in the elecuoii <>r councillors appears to be shown by i'ho tact that, while i 9.700 oloutors recorded valid votes on the .Mayoral issue, the valid votes recorded for wr« :>OOO fewer. Wo congratulate M.r Fieshtr upon his decisive victory oier Ids Lubuur opponent, and we are sure that tho city will he- glad that the Mayoral chair is not to be occupied by a Labour politician. Mr J.'lesber's success is a fittiuy reward lor years of useful service to the city, arid v.-o are confident that, with the support of the Council, ho will justify the decision of the citizens. That the city is sound at heart, and awaro of the danger that w.'is threatened by the vigorous drive of the Labour Party at the control of the city government, is mad 9 clear not less by the voting for councillors than by Mr Fiesher',s victory. One of tho beauties of the system of preferential voting is that it is impossible to know for some days who have been elected, d'tve of the candidates—three of them nominees of the Citizens' Association and two of them Labour representatives—have obtained tho necessary -'quota," but one can only guess at the prospects of tho remaining candidates. It is possible, however, to calculate the number of candidates of eacli party who will bo elected. The parties ought to obtain representation in proportion to the " first preference" votes given to tlleir candidates. The ''first preference" votes were divided amongst the parties as follows:

Citizens' Association ... 9951 Labour ... ... 6273 Independents ... 1487 On the basis of these figures the Citizens' Association candidates are entitled to 8.99 seats, Labour to 5.6G, and the Independents to 1.35. That is to say, if the various operations which are to be performed lead to the result expected from the P.ti. system, tho sixteen seats on the Council will he occupied thUs: Citizens' Association 9, Labour 6, Independent 1. We may take it as certain, therefore, or as practically certain, that the representatives of the citizens as a whole will have a safe majority over the Labour representatives, and that the city is safe, for two years at least, from the consequences of government bv a party which does not disguise its desire to manage the city in the interests of the labour unions. We should point out, however, how clearly the polling illustrates the need for nej tivity and vigilance on the part of the friends of sound and orderly progress. In 1921; when the names on the roll numbered 26,950, Labour polled 4966 votes, and the votes lor other candidates numbered 9075. Yesterday, although the roll contained fewer votes (26,860) than in 1921—a, curious fact which is not easy to account for—tho Labour vote increased to 6273. If the moderate section of the community bad been as apathetic as it was two yea»i ago, we should not be able to recQAt the fact that while the Labour vote increased by 13C0, the moderate vote (and we include in it the support given to the independent candidates) increased by 2400. While it is matter for gratification that the city has emphatically declared against Labour rule', yet the need for vigilance remains, because organised Labour is unresting in its propaganda and will lose no opportunity to strengthen its position.