PROGRESSIVE GAINS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 760, 8 March 1910, Page 5

PROGRESSIVE GAINS.

• r —" ■■ ■ LONDON COUNTY POLLS, THE MODERATES' LOST MAJORITY. NUMBERS NEARLY EVEN. . By Telegraph—Press Association— Gonyrteht. London, March 6. Tnn election of the ofglith London County Council—Councillors on which sit for three years—was held on Saturday. The. result was that the contending parties polled almost oven, as follows: ..Moderates >.'. 59 Progressives and Socialists ...... 58 There is another seat, in connection with which a recount has been ordered. In tho 'old Council there were 79 Moderates (Municipal Reformers) and 37 Progressives, giving a Moderate majority of 42... SMALL POLLS. ' (Rec. March 7, 7.45 p.m.) London, March 7. The polls at County Council elections were small, and there was a general apathy. , TIE FOR REMAINING SEAT. A .■ ' MODERATE MAJORITY BY AID .OP , ALDERMEN. • (Eec. March 8, 0.50 am.) London, March 7. The recount for the' remaining seat, Central' Finsbury, shows a "tie, Mr. Hemphill (Progressive) and Mr. Rostron (Moderate) having each polled 3460 votes. Of the. Aldermen continuing in office (Aldermen, are elected for sis years, twice as long , as Councillors), nine are Moderates,, and. two are Progressives. Therefore,, a Moderate majority in. tho new Council is assured. • Two ladies have been elected, including the' daughter! of the Chief Eabbi. Despite a possible tie in the number of Councillors, - the Moderates secured a plurality • of 39,063 : in the votes polled. ■Only 48 per' cent, of the. voters -went to the poll.

VERDICT OF THE METROPOLIS. , 1 MODERATES'' REVERSE. While, Liberals and Unionists poll prac. tically. even numbers in tho, National electorate,' the battle of Progressives and Moderates in the Metropolis (which is generally; regarded as Liberal V. Union, .ist over again),has produced almost even figures (59-58) with one to come. A Ray of Liberal Hope. There is no blinking the fact.that- the .Moderates- (Municipal - Reformers), despite the support of the London Unionist 'press; have lost heavily; their majority of 42 has vanished—in which fact may perhaps be found'a ray of Liberal hope. The'positions -of parties in the London County Council since its inception, along with some-..leading- points in the rival programmes, were recently published in The Dominion. The leader of "the Pro-gressives-is Sir' John Benn, the Liberal M.P. for Devonport ivho lost his seat to a Unionist at the general election in January. He is the father of Mr. W. W. Benn, the young Liberal who : not only retained his seat (St.George's-in-the-East) in January, but-who only the other day, when seeking re-election on being appointed a Junior. Lord. of the. Treasury, increased his'.majority from. 484 to 589., St. .GeorgeVin-th'e-EaSt is a London seat formerly ! held., by. Sir John Benn ' himself. The following are some of the points 1 ofr.the -election manifesto issued by Sir J6hii Benn as Lender of the Progressives: The ' Moderates v were equally' responsible owith 'tMtprogfessives for the esfcalilish'ment of a river ' steamboat service. Mr. Hayes. Fisher, the Moderate. Chairman of the Finance'■ Committee, gave' evidence be- , fore Parliament in 'its, favour;, The Moderates stopped the. Service, threw 3do men out of work, first laid up the boats, saving only 47750 by so doing,' or about 2d. per annum to every. householder rated at '.£i9,. and eventually sold the boats to Belgians, ■ Dutchmen'; Germans,-and Servians, at prices below.;what the engines ■cost. "Fourteen of the boats have been sold by auction, at one-tenth their, cost, to a company which has been formed to run them. The Progressives still believe in the steam-boats, and charge the Moderates with wrecking,'.the service and throwing away 4250,000 of the ratepayers' money. Works Department. When the Progressives were in power, 3000 men were employed in the Works Department,; which formed an effective check against contractors'- "rings/' .The Moderates starved it by refusing it work, and actually took away from it the construction of a/big sewer, which they gave to a contractor-after the Works. Department's price had: been made public. Tho plant has now,' been sola, and the ratepayers have lost the guard'against contractors' "rings," and 430,000, by the forced sale of the. plant. . Tho Moderates have voted against the interests of the workers,: refused .a special meeting of the Council.in:.October," .1908, to consider the, question of unemployment, refused to spend an.extra million on .the tramways last winter, in order : to- acc£lorate' the construction and to provide work for the unemployed, arid voted against the extension ■of the hours of polling from 8 p.m. to 10 p.ni. They have cut down housing schemes, have oleared no slums in their, three years of office, and have attempted to sell part of the ■ Tottenham Estate, Fortunately; the LocaL Government Board refused to give their permission for the sale. They' 6ell London's land at every opportunity. They,: have starved education by refusing to make adequate provision for school accommodation,, they have wilfully delayed "the sanitary and other improvements in non-provided schools, but they : have, decided to purchase flagstaffs for schools :at 410 each. They refused, on three separate occasions, to put into force .tho Act for Feeding Necessitous Children, and triM to provide the food trom private subscriptions. They , failed, and they were then, compelled to apply the rates for the purpose. Temperance Policy. The temperance policy of the Progressives has been reversed. A permit to sell intoxicants has been' granted to the Carlton Theatre, Greenwich; the Moderates have sold land so. as to permit the owners to enlarge public-houses; they have permitted advertisements of intoxicating drinks to be put on tho Council's tramway cars; they have refused public voting on licensing matters, and they have attempted to allow the London Hippodrome to sell intoxicants, except in the auditorium.