ELECTION WAYS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 897, 17 August 1910, Page 5

ELECTION WAYS.

WHERE.BRITAIN DIFFERS. : ' MR. M'NAB'S OBSERVATIONS. Some interesting observations on the differences between British -and New Zealand election ways were made by Mr. Robert M'lN'ab at the luncheon dl' the New Zealand Club yesterday. As the friend of Uγ. Chappie, formerly of Wellington, who was a candidate for Stirling, and afterwards at the request of tho Chief Liberal Whip for Scotland, Air. M'Nah took an active part in the recent Liberal election campaign in the Old Country. . ' . Mr. M'Nab staled that whereas in New Zealand the chief trouble was to reduce the number of candidates, in Britain, and in Scollatid especially,, there were soores of districts in which none could be found willing to stand. The result was that they had to go outside for candidates. • .

Throughout the south of Scotland tho feeling in favour of Irish Homo Rule was very' strong, with tho hope that Home Rule for Scotland and other parts of tho United Kingdom would follow. Candidates were not troubled by the "man -with a grievance" who is so prevalent in New Zealand. The functions of the State in this country were su wide, Air. M'Nab -explained, that "every individual here comes into contact with the State as it affects the individual, and many people have personal grievances against the Government. That is not so in the Old Country, and tho result, to my mind, conduces to better platform speaking than here, though I thought that candidates as a rule did not appear equal to colonial candidates in resource or facility in discussing qnestiunu when they cropped up." Mr. M Nab also stat<>d that he found a strange ignorance on 'hn part ■■ of British candidates about questions which the mass of the people understood well' in New Zealand. The •jiibjcct of land taxation was an example. It was amazing to find that tho British liad never ' attempted to deal with tho land question- by anything. approaching ::md taxation. There was a system of rating based upon tho rental, but where there was no rental there was no rate. A candidate for Parliament might have to put down as much as £iod with nis nomination papers to defray the general costs of tho election, so that men of small means were virtually shut but. Out of a population of 150,000, in the two • l; «tricts in which he worked, only about 22,000 were on the electoral roll. One of the political questions that would have to be settled in the future was the opening up of an avenue to the Legislative' Chamber to the great mass •of tho people.