PREFERENTIAL VOTING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 505, 12 May 1909, Page 7

PREFERENTIAL VOTING.

LABOUR. CONDEMNATION. (BY TEMOBAPH—PEESS ASSOOUTIONr-COPIEiQHT.) .■ ■-' Sydney, May 11. Mr. M'Gowen, Leader of the Opposition , (Labour, party) in i>lie State Parliament, has returned from a.visit, to Tasmania, where he participated in the election campaign on behatf, of the. Labour party, - He omphatically'condemns the Hare .system of voting as'an absolute negation' l of the principle's of manhood suffrage. He declares that it only stands for the representation of minorities arid of various sectional ideas. ;' '■ : ' ,; ■• ■ '!' '■■ ••. ■': . ■■-:■... .. THE SYSTEM CRITICISED. \ 'Writing. just prior, to tho Tasmanian elections, the "Sydney Morning Herald" said:—The Hare-Clark system, under which tho elections are to be concluded, has caused no end of confusion. For the most part Tasmania is what is generally culled behind the times is legislative enactments. It knows no compulsory ar.bitration, industrial'^disputes,..wages boards, or factories legislation, , and is to-day seriously disoussing political problems settled at least a quarter ,p£ a .century' ago in the other . States. In electoral machinery, however, it has something 60 ■ very advanced as to be beyond the understanding not only of the elector, but of the:men' who framed the measure.. It is a series of experiments.: .■ ' _'■'.' . .', -'v Nobody Seems to Know. In. the first, place, the elections will be contested on the same rolls as are to be used for Federal elections, the State having'been divided into five constituencies, each rqturning six members. Voting will bo on the p'referontial system, and each elector will be compelled to exercise a preference for-at least three candidates. Papers on which fewer than three places of preference have been marked will be treated as informal, but tho voter riiay extend that preference up to six or more. Nobody seems to know what power a voter possesses under the Aot. Many are under the impression that they can only effectively vote lor one man, and that the preference is merely to provide them with a second or third chance.' Others think that they may have several votes, , especially if their number one and two secure a quota arid surplus, believing that "they have voted once to seourethe quota, and again as to the man who 'is to get the surplus.; Borne consider that.they have a voice in the selection: of the , full six to be elected, but that each vote has a diminishing value. Believing that they have six votes many are under the impression that it does not matter in what .order they place the names, and that they.are really voting for a man so long as he is included in their list of six. Both Parties Dissatisfied. The Labour party thinks that the new machinery will be disastrous to itself in that' it;robs the party, of its triumphs by means of tho split vote. : The Anti-socialist party fears that Labour will benefit because the latter is the only party able to record a block vote. The measure owes, its origin to the late Justice Clark; who sought for some nieans whereby the log-rolling roads.and bridges member could be eliminated. The electors now fear the opposite 'ovil—the return of men who will feel no local responsibility whatever, and that when any particular portion of these huge electorates has need of particular Parliamentary attention it will not bo given, since what is everybody's business is nobody's Again, the electorates are too large to permit ot any community of , interests. The Franklin, for instance, covers about a' third of tho total area of the whole island, and ranges from the ■ pastoral areas of the midlands to the fruit-growing districts of the Derwent Valloy and the Huon on to the sawiuilling country of the extreme south. For so conservative a community this new system is indeed an anomaly, and its results will be awaited with curious interest. As.ouo politician remarked, the best thing to do is not to attempt to explain it, but tell tho elector to cast his vote, anfl trust to the machine to understand what ho intended. .