SUPERSEDED.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 18 January 1928, Page 10

SUPERSEDED.

SYDNEY’S CITY COUNCIL.

GOVERNMENT BY COMMISSION.

SYDNEY, Jan. 5. The inglorious reign of the Sydney City Council, under which the Labour TCgimo of tlio last* few years bad be>come a byword with tho citizens, came to an end with the passing' of the eld year. It is a case of “Ring m the new” with a vengeance. Tuesday saw the swearing-in of the three Commissioners—Mr. E. P. Fleming (chairman), Mr. John Garlick, and Mr. Morton —who are to govern the city until such time as may be decided upon. Probablv they will stay there until a Greater" Svdney Bill lias been passed by Parliament, and municipal governniotu in Sydney is once more restored on right lines: Certainly the Commissioners will have their hands, full toi a long time to come in trying to untangle the many knots they will nnd at tbo Town Hall. ~ , ~ This is not the first time that tho City of Svdney has been under government by Commission. Many years ago —so long ago that the present generation knows little about it—Town Hall affairs got into such a serious mess that it was found necessary to clear the aldermen out- and appoint Commissioners to govern the city. And they did it well, according to the accounts that have been handed down to us. It may be that the present three Gommissiouers will do their job so well that the ratepayers will not be inclined to part with them. The chairman draws £SOOO and the other two £4500 per annum. These are big salaries, hut they are big men. with a big job before them, and may easily prove themselves to he cheap at the price. Who can say how many thousands they will save the citizens P 'The Lord Mayor (Alderman OVlostyn) hunc on grimly to the end. as, ot course, a Lord Mayor should do, and on Tuesday he handed over the Town Hall keys" to the Commissioners who have taken control of the whole business. Mr. Mostyn—for he is' l>lam “Mr.” now —has not taken kindly to the change. He has no grudge against the “Big Three” who have taken charge of affairs, but he has very decidecf views about the wickedness of Mr. Bavin, the new Premier, who made it- known during the elections that- he would “wipe the City Council ont’Af he were returned to power. These views, it is hardly necessary to sav, are shared by the ex-Lahour aldermen, and also, it mnv he added, bv several of the so-called" “Reform” aldermen, who resent the slur the “wiping out ofthe council” has cast‘upon' the city. But Mr. Bavin is a man who keeps his pledges—and there it is. Whatever the “makings” were—and it may he that the Commissioners will discover some surprising things that have never yet been made public—there will be no more of them. There are many people who would like to see Stab* ‘Parliaments abolished as well as the City Council, though not for the same reason. Now and again some political scandal comes to light, and the reputation of some public man is shattered, hut this does not occur verv often, and Parliamentary government. on the whole, is free from bruber. V and corruption. But is expensive, and the arciiment is that except for the law-making the work could be done quite’ as efficiently, and certainly much more cbeanlv. by well-paid Commissioners selected from the most able business men in the community. Without dwelling on that, there is a distinct movement in favour of more economical government. Let the Federal Government make all the laws that are necessary. sav tho advocates of economy, and let the States he content with “provincial councils.” New Zealanders who Tememher the old days of provincial councils in the Dominion mav perhaps he able to offer some advice on the question. ,