The Evening Star THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 1927. THE ELECTIONS.

Evening Star, Issue 19542, 28 April 1927, Page 6

The Evening Star THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 1927. THE ELECTIONS.

Yesterday’s local election' polls ■were fairly representative, considering the bad weather conditions. Under,the circumstances the polling indicates the general opinion that the City Council has fulfilled its trust and that it would bo unwise to introduce to the chamber a block which would take its instructions from an outside sectional authority intent on instituting changes which would he of very questionable value. Through the retirement of Messrs Tapley, Hancock, and M'Manus from municipal affairs and the unopposed promotion of Mr Taverner from fcho council table to the mayoral chair, it was possible for the,voters to reinstall nine former councillors, and they did so in respect of eight. The exception was ex-Cr Sincocb. . He. it is to bo presumed, was made the sacrificial victim of the controversy regarding dogs on the Town Belt. His rejection, however, may not he entirely attributable to that business, and it is possible that municipal employees generally will not regret the disappearance of what must at times have been a disconcerting form of surveillance. The new-comer on the council who polled heaviest was Mr H. C. Campbell, placed a .dose third on the list; An excellent rjeord of service on the Harbor Board doubtless accounted for the heavy support given to Mr Campbell, and appreciation, of Mr Munros .past services in. Parliament must be regarded as the reason for that gentleman being placed in advance of a number of veteran councillors. The huge gap between Mr. Munro and the other Labor candidates shows that the idea of a “ticket” makes very little headway with our electors. In making this very pronounced distinction between Mr Munro and his Labor colleagues they demonstrated that personality counts. On a body such as the City Council, into which party politics, ought not to intrude. Mr Munro should now be free to exercise his own independent discretion, because the discrepancy in the support given him as compared with the rest of the ticket makes it evident that he represents a far wider circle of citizens than the Labor section, and that lie owes responsibility to the former as well as the latter. Messrs Black and Mitchell will not bo strangers in tJm council chamber. They had better fortune than Messrs Marlow and Sullivan, both of whom had good records as former councillors. That, however, was some years ago, and evidently the public memory is short. Nevertheless, especially in the case of Mr Marlow, one cannot help regretting that ho has been denied The chance of a renewal of service. Non-recognition of past labors, which in this case were much more than merely useful, does not constitute encouragement of the class of candidates most needed. Nor was there any en-, couragement to lady aspirants to council honors in the position accorded Mrs Macdonald, who essayed a change from Hospital Board to City Council, but found the latter body harder of entry than the former. To sum matters up, one would say that the new council should ho at least as efficient as the last one, and will be presided over by a mayor thoroughly capable of conducting proceedings as they should be conducted-

The other elections decided yesterday wore rather devoid of striking feature. Four out of the five members returned by city electors to the Harbor Board are also members of the new City Council. and the fifth is an ex-mayor with a long previous council experience. In old days there was but little overlapping in the personnel of these two bodies. It is becoming more and more pronounced since the basis of the hoards’ election was altered, hut whether the similarity in the constitution of the two bodies is good or the reverse it is unpossible to say. Tho Hospital Board has an almost entirely distinctive composition. quite apart from tho fact that it comprises two lady members a • ’is quite devoid of special Labor representation As in Dunedin, there was no contest for the St. Hilda mayoralty, and this seemed to help the effect of tho weather towards an exceptionally light poll at which some of those who sought reelection failed. It would be premature to hazard whether the prospect of amalgamation with the city has been brought any nearer by the changes in personnel at St. Kilda. The intensity of that issue appeal's to have died down for the present.