Evening star., 1900-10-27
Electing and Installing the Lord
Mayor Of London.
HOLDS OFFICE FOR ONLY A YEAF
He Must Needs Be Man Of Good
Digestion.
QUAINT OLD CUSTOMS


Special Correspondence of The Evening star.
LONDON. October Is, 1900
II isn't likely there is in the world any
thing more ceremonioUs, more gorgeous,
more decorated with rigmarole and fuss
and feathers. more appealing to the sense
of humor than this business Of providing
with a chief magistrate a city only
square mile in area and containing about
1Gnuu actual residents. 1t costs the city
about $ionoo0 each year and it costs the
chief magistrate himself about the same
amount. but il is considered we'll worth the
expense. because of the addition it makes
10 the gavety of nations. because of the
color it lends to gray London and because
of the picturesque traditions 1t keeps
sacred.
Alderman Frank Green. the new lord
mayor of London. who takes office on No
vember ., doubtless will have some actual
municipal work to do, but he will earn
most of his salary of S5o.om-which is the
same as that of the President OF the
United States-by eating prodigious num-
ber of official lunCheons and dinners, wear
ing strange robes and going through funny
ceremonies with much solemnity
Although he has no more authority than
any one else outside of his square-mlle
city the lord mayor of London in many
WAYS is the most important mayor IN the
world. His little city in the heart OF the
great metropolis Is the center OF BrlIsh
commerce and although 1t is practically
deserted by night, more than a million
people do business there in the daytime:
1t is a complete county all by Itself, ana
in some respects is an ally rather than
humble subject of the British government
British troops may not march in Its streets
without permission of the corporation ana
the queen herself may not enter 1t without
the permission of the lord mayor. VINO
meets her at the city's gates and hands to
her golden key with which to unlock
them. 1t happens that there are no gates
but that does not interfere with the eere-
mony.
The lord navor is al the head of a police
force that has nothing to do with the police
force of the rest of the metropolis, ana uh.
like all the other police departments OF
England is not even under the authority
of the home department He Is at the head
of a corporation that can do whatever IL
pleases with its funds. Not much depends
on the man himSelf-it does not ma after
greatly whather he is {, big man or a little
one-but the weight of dignity vested in the
office he holds for year is something stu
pendous.
school for Mayors.
Alderman Green. the man for whom all
these pornps and vanities wait was elected
on September %. Michaemas day, just as
all of his predecessors were elected from
before the time America was discovered.
And the manner of mis- election was as de-
lightful as that of his installation will be.
He couldn't exactly say that the honor
came as a surprise to him. for he knew
pretty much all about 1t years before, and
doubtless had been saving money for it.
The chief difficulty about becoming lord
MAYOR of London is to get the ratepayers
to elect YOU to a life membership in high
l. ornamental board of aldermen. There
are only twenty-siX of them, and vacancies
are scarce. Once you are an alderman yoU
don't have to bother further with the rate
payer, but look for advancement to the
citizen. The citizen is not al all the same
sort Of being Il plain citizen without the
CAPITAL C" lie is no less than a freeman
liveryman, a member of ons of the city
guilds.
Each year two Of the aldermen are elect
ed sheriffs by the llvcrymen. The sherifs
do not run around catching offenders
against the law. Their chief duty is to
uphold the dignity of the city by wearing
wonderful gowns with chains of office
hanging from their necks. eating official
dinners and other such cares of office. The
sherIffs hold Office for only d year, and
they keep sharp eye the lord mayor