Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 1934. LONDON COUNTY ELECTIONS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 88, 13 March 1934, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 1934. LONDON COUNTY ELECTIONS.

The triennial elections to tlie London County Council have given a surprising verdict to the Socialist opponents of the Municipal Reform. Party. The Liberal Party which held six seats on the former Council suffered the complete defeat of its 24 endorsed candidates, and the new Council is composed of 69 Socialists and 55 members of the Municipal Reform Party. Eor the first time Labour has a majority in the administration of the world’s greatest city, and _ the apathy of the voting public is given by one of the leaders of the defeated party as the chief reason. It was generally believed in London that -the position of the Municipal Reform Party was so strong as to be well nigh impregnable. Its defeat therefore may well cause surprise to the large body of electors who neglected to exercise their vote. It is a lesson that other countries have experienced, and apathy at election time may cause the loss of seats equally so with disaffection of a party in power. There was, indeed, a warning in London of the danger of lethargy on the part of electors. The last Council, it was pointed out, was elected in 1931 when Labour was already beginning to be discredited. The Municipal Reform Party had been in power for twenty-seven years, and for this _ reason was particularly susceptible to the danger of electoral lethargy, and of the unreasoning sentimentalism which likes to “give the other side a chance,no matter what its record or its policy. Moreover, it was stated that the policy necessarily pursued during a time of national emergency is always likely to offend those who know what such a policy entails but cannot appreciate the perils it has averted. The election was fought upon two chief issues of housing and public assistance to people in necessitous circumstances.

In its manifesto the Municipal Reform Party claimed that while rates had been reduced the efficiency of the services the Council administered had not been impaired. Since April, 1931), it was stated, a million cases had been considered under the public assistance administration, and only 1,288 complaints had been received. Yet the Socialists had declared this policy inhumane. In the matter of housing, in a period of severe financial stringency, the Council has built more than 11,500 houses, and it has a scheme of slum clearance * estimated to cost £35,000,000 within the next ten years. Actually, since the "War 64,000 dwellings have been erected. This forward policy was denounced by the Labour Party manifesto as insincere, yet it was said of its members on the Council that they had done their “best to make a difficult task more difficult.” Mr Herbert Morrison, secretary of the London Labour Party, has been quick to say that “Labour will exercise its power cleanly.” That implies a fear in the public mind of a repetition in London of what is known as “Poplarism” —lavish expenditures of ratepayers’ money without proper enquiry. The Municipal Reform Party warned the electors on this score, and other writers emphasised that the record of the Labour Party in several municipalities shows how much reliance can be placed .upon a promise to exercise a rigorous control of the Council’s finances. But the Socialist success cuts deeper still into the minds of London people who prefer sound to rash government. The Socialists have always aimed ,to secure control of the great metropolis

of the Empire as the first step towards the establishment of a Socialist State. The Municipal Reform Party’s manifesto stressed the danger of such a success as a “disaster of the greatest magnitude.” Such a development, it added, would result in the establishment of a huge bureaucracy in which the representatives of the ratepayers would be powerless. The people of London have chosen to ignore this warning' and the responsibility of the city’s administration has been given to the Socialists for the next three years. The Empire will watch its course not without apprehension, but secure in the knowledge that prodigality bringing increased debt and rates will bring retribution in 1937.