15 MARCH 1919, Page 3

The elections for the London County Council on Thursday week

gave the Moderate or Municipal Reform Party a new lease of power. The redistribution of the London boroughs has increased the elected membershipof the Council from 118 to 124. The Moderates, who won 67 seats at the lasteleetion in 1913, now hold 68 seats. The Progressives, who were 50 strong, return with only 40. The Labour Party, which made a great effort, won 15 seats, as against one in the old Council; several former Progressive members now style themselves Labour members. We are glad to see that eight out of the fourteen women candi- dates were returned, including the Duchess of Marlborough, who stood as a Progressive for North Southwark. But it is pity that the citizens of London took so little interest in the election of their rulers ; barely ten per cent, of the electors voted in many boroughs. This indifference is, in a sense, compliment to the Moderate Party, who are evidently trusted' by the mass of the community. But indifference on the part of the electorate encourages slack administration.