SYDNEY’S NEW COUNCIL

Taranaki Daily News, 8 July 1930, Page 16

SYDNEY’S NEW COUNCIL

THE DEFEAT OF LABOUR. ELECTION OF LORD MAYOR. Sydney, June 26. Sydney is now back to the old constitution so far as the management of its municipal affairs is concerned. The defeat of the Labour Party at the city council election last week came as a greater shock to that party than to the electors, though it can hardly mean that the party has lost caste in the city. The franchise was such that it gave pro-perty-holders a big say in the selection of aidermen, and one that was large enough to counteract the lodger vote. The results of the poll are not taken as reflecting the probable result of the State elections that will be held later in the year. Sydney’s new Lord Mayor, Aiderman E. S. Marks, will hold office only until December next, but he will be eligible then for re-election. He was pre-se-lected for the position by a caucus of the Reform Party that is now in power, and he was not opposed when the council met for the formal election of the Chief Citizen. Aiderman Marks is a m mber of the State Parliament and has represented the big electorate of North Sydney—a Nationalist stronghold —since 1927. He has been selected to contest the seat again, this year. A member of the Jewish faith, Mr. Marks has always been an extremely busy man. His main hobby has been a keen interest in sport. He has been president of the New South Wales Sports Club for 25 years, and he still holds executive positions in swimming surfing, athletics, football, cricket, hockey, rowing and other branches of outdoor sport. He was chairman of the Australian and New Zealand Athletic Federation, and had presided at council meetings in New Zealand before the federation became defunct.

Alderman Marks is one. of the few bachelors who have occupied the position of Lord Mayor of Sydney. The last was the Labour Lord Mayor, Alderman Stokes. The Lady Mayoress will be Miss Hilda Marks, a woman . who has taken a keen interest in charity movements in Sydney. Of recent years Miss Marks has earned the title of a globe trotter, for she has spent a great deal of her time travelling abroad. She "will now have to settle down for a while, at least, for she will find that the duties of the Lady Mayoress in a great city like Sydney are many and arduous. Mr. Marks is in. the woolbuying business, and is very well known in commercial circles throughout the Commonwealth. He is a man who believes in upholding the dignity of the mayoral office, and has stated very emphatically that he will wear the robes. This is in. contrast to the attitudeoof Labour Lord Mayors In recent yearsu ‘