LABOUR ROUT

Hokitika Guardian, 13 September 1930, Page 6

LABOUR ROUT

VICTORIAN s MUNICIPAL , $ ;;' : FLUCiALNS; \,$K

SYDNEY, Sep. 4. • Although the rout' of the Labour Party at the municipal elections in Victoria created a surprise throughout' tlieiGbintnonwealth, 4t can ; ivirclly. be taken "hs a’’ political guide. In the lirst place the franchise -is confined to ratepayers over 21 years of age, who are allowed up to three- votes, according to tiie value of the' property l.tld. Secondly the' issues are .'vastly diflcr-, out from those which confront elecTora-' in the political sphere. All the -vu.tn wind is blowing., but even that As licult'iul: It is difficult to discover n irUii'of the rout. Of the 26 cub* **d La hour candidates in the metropolitan l'.notions who were opposed, al’ f* twtf were defeated. Nine retir ug l.ab< ir. councillors lost their seats. Mr WiV: Anstey, a son of the Fedei-1 Mbr-'m for Public Health, and Go t i ■! Keen, secretary of the «rum IJramah of the Australian J.i.lou Pitrtyf were, among those w!..i ran. Hie-president of the Auatiainu Council of Trade Unions :Mr W .JDuggan) was displaced fro u thoCoburg Council, and the Labour candidate for the Port Melbourne Mayoralty—a municipality that has u led Labour ever since the formation I tn*’ Labour Party—was defeated by a ' •ogressive Party candidate. So it is that distinctly Labour areas will liava Council that is mot La'n-'r. Nationalists are claiming that the voting is an indication of wh.ic "ill happen when the next Gen ml I '*-. tion takes place, but moderate thinkers cannot .see that the position is affected in the slightest as a u-sult At the municipal voting.