LORD MAYOR SNUBBED

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 147, 19 December 1933, Page 13

LORD MAYOR SNUBBED

SYDNEY ELECTION . SCENE

A BATTLE OF WITS

(From "The Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY, December 14. It is likely that the New South .. Wales Government will be asked to . ; . amend tho Municipal Corporations Act so that Mayors will bo elected by Hie ratepayers direct, as is dono in New ' ■ Zealand. An agitation in this direc- ;., tion follows tho amazing battle of tac- , tics which preceded tho election oji ',',; Saturday of the new Lord Mayor of .['. Sydney, Alderman A. L. Parker, a '.. ■].. solicitor, who became tho centre of a ''- tense battle of wits and of intrigue '■2- Not that this was anything unusual. ~. Every year there has boon an unseemly ..',-.■ struggle for the honour, with the issue always in doubt and depending more or less on the attitude of Labour .';. aldermen, and on aldermen who have --not remained loyal to tho plcilgo under ,',', which they wero elected to office. li' In Sydney's municipal affairs the ■■'•^ ruling authority is the so-called Reform v:> Party, which, paradoxically, is not supl.{ posed to know any party. Tho Reform. Party is in existence to keep Labour out of control, and over since the ■ days of the Commission it has sue- '■■• ceeded in its object. All the same, the r ,< Reformers havo been far from happy among themselves. For months they have been unable to rely on the sup- - port of Alderman MoElhonc. When : the time approached for the election of . , the- Lord Mayor it was seen that per...sonal ambition was going to play a far more important part than party ~■ loyalty. ; "An endeavour .was made by ~- the Reform. Party to select 3. eandid&to '-~, in caucus, but an announcement by '.'.(Alderman Parker that no matter what ... the, caucus decided ho would nominate' .'.' in open council came as a bombshell. ,: ■ The upshot of it all was that no official nominee was selected. With two Reform, aldermen out of ;. nino refusing to be bound by caucus the position became complicated, and the. election developed into a battle of wits. The Eeform aldermen eoneent. tratcd on. securing the election Of a '.'.] man whose .loyalty to tho party was ■" undoubted. When the City Council . met on Saturday morning Alderman ~.' Parker, true to his threat, nominated : 'himself. Tor a time it appeared doubt- ,.... ful whether he would secure a seconder, V and when the retiring Lord Mayor was ... on the point of refusing his nominar , tion a Labour alderman came to his rescue. Practically every other Reform. .'., alderman, and several of the Labour , . aldermen, wero nominated in turn. Alderman Parker- and Alderman MeElhone voted with fellow-Reformers against Labour nominees, until all were ~ eliminated. They then joined Labour . iri defeating the Reform Party candi- : dates. It so happened that Alderman Parker alone remained, and with the aid of Alderman MeElhono and the ".'.'. Labour aldermen, ho was duly elected. A CURIOUS SEQUEL. ; Then followed a dramatic finale. " JAfter he had declared Alderman Parker elected Alderman Hagon, the retiring ; • Lord Mayor, -promptly left the chair so, ']''. that the ordinary, congratulations could not be extended to the new city chief. In 'short, tho Jiewy Lord Mayor was snubbed. Not one Reform alderman ..shook the hand of Alderman Parker, and ho was not even invited to the : Lord Mayor's room. One alderman, ' pointing7 to the door, said: "Why not ;.go in?'* -He went in, but almost imv * mediately he walked out again. It is presumed that his .fellow-Reformers, ■' who had gathered there, gave him a : col<S reception. Alderman Parker was content to address the Labour alderman who stayed behind. He said he was determined to do his best for the city. He stated subsequently that the indig- , nity which he had been called upon to :J b^ear meant nothing to him. ■'■'.■ Alderman Hagon subsequently explained that ho left the chair suddenly, after the election had been announced, because he did not want a scene. If he '■; had permitted speeches it is certain' "that there would have been some hard words, and he was anxious *to avoid :' that. He had no personal animus. . ;' sAfter the election ho spoke to his 'fellow-aldermen and impressed upon f them the necessity of upholding tho dignity of the city. They would have ' tq support the new Lord Mayor. ■;"' The president of the Citizens' Re- '; form Association said: "For the last ■ two months the atmosphere has been : full of rumours and forecasts about *'" the election. Practically this is an annual Occurrence.' Even among-Re-form aldermen there are factions and . , partisanship. The tendency is to cause /-division in tho ranks of men who havo ' been put into the council for siugleminded administration of the city's affairs. Many among us consider that V: the only solution is the election of the ?. 37ord Mayor straight out by tho people-' / Representations have been made to ' the Minister for legislation in this direction."