The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-18
LONDON'S NEW LORD
MAYOR PRESENTED
Elaborate Mummery That Costs
the City 100000 Each
Year.
Special Foreign Service.

Special Foreign Service.
LONDON, Oct. 17.-Partly as the re-
suit of American example, London
gradually is letting a good many of it's
old customs lapse into what eX-Presi-
dent Cleveland calls 'innocuous des-
uetude," but the metropolis has not
yet got up-to-date enough to begin
electing its lord mayors in business
like fashion. So when Sir James T.
Ritchie, who in private life is a pros
porous jute merchant, was chosen as
the cityS nominal chief executive the
other day the decidedly picturesque,
highly absurd and extremely costly old
ceremony by which lord mayors were
elected when linEmen and town criers
were public institutions was gone
through with solemnly, and on the 9th
of November the brilliant but rather
childish procession of state coaches,
floats" and powdered and gold-laced
retainerS that constitutes the famous
lord mayors show will diSorganiZe the
traffic in London's streets just as it
has been permitted to do since a time
before America was discovered.
Really it is like a particularly funny
act out of a Gilbert & Sullivan opera,
this ponderous business of electing a
lord mayor. And the most ridiculous
part of it all is that the so-called "elec-
ton isn't really an election at all. 1t
is true a monstrously solemn formality
of voting is gone through with, but it is
what is known in America as a "cinch'
who will be selected. The ancient
city of London possesses twenty six
aldermen, who hold Office practically for
life, and one of their number is chosen
lord mayor every year-this being in
variably the senior alderman of those
who have not already passed the
chair"-that is, been mayor.
Here is a veraciouS resume of the
remarkable procedure gone through
with annually in the heart of business
London and whose chief result is to-
give dignified old gentleman the priv
ilege for one short year of wearing
magnificent robes and chains of office,
riding about in a wonderful gilded
coach, eating prodigious luncheons and
dinners, and otherwise doing his best
to spend twice the $4,000 salary which
he gets for UNFOLDING the prestige of
his little domain of one square mile.
The lord mayor actually is voted for
by the so-called liverymen of the city,
those being members of the ancient city
guilds. A few days before the day of
the 'election"-the result of which
everyone knows in advance-all the liv-
erymen are commanded to appear at
the Guild hall to choose the new mayor
The lord mayor in office, with his
plumed hat, ermine robes and gold lace
is summoned also by the civic sword
aldermen,
their quaint robes. They gather in
the great council room of the guild hall,
where is laid out also the city's proud
insignia, the mace, the sword, furs and
so on. Before the balloting is begun,
however, the whole powdered, ermined
and bedizened outfit marches
over to the nearby church of
st. Lawrence Jewry for pray
er. After which the illustrious
sword bearer has to ask the rector of
the church to lunch with the city dig
nitaries at the guild halI-and goodness
knows what awful calamity would hap
pen if this invitation were not rendered
Now, imagine the entire assemblage
back in the guild hall and that import
ant functionary, the common crier, an
nouncing that the election is about to
take place. This announcement hav-
ing been made, the superbly uphol-
stored city reporter comes forward and
informs the company that the lord
mayor and the aldermen who have
passed the chair will withdraw so as
mot to influence the liverymen" in
their decision-which everyone knows
in advance-and these dignitaries do
withdraw with all gravity.
Then the common sergeant reads off
the names of the aldermen who have
not yet been lord mayor, and the liv-
erymen select whichever two have been
longest in office. Then the result" of
the election has to be made known to
the serving lord mayor and the other
aldermen, waiting outside, and this is
done by deputation consisting of the
common crier, the common sergeant.
two sheriffs in their chains of office,
and official carrying the great mace.
Now it is the business Of the lord
mayor and the other aldermen to
ponder over the names of the two can