ENROLLING THE ELECTORS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1255, 11 October 1911, Page 6

ENROLLING THE ELECTORS.

ACTIVITIES TO DATE. STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER. Mr. G. J.'ANDERSON (Mataura) asked whether instructions had been given to liavo electoral rolls which werc read} cent to the printer. If this were douc, it would be. possible to remedy mistakes that had been made in fiho compilation *>f the rolls.' , Sir Joseph WARD Teplied that if the hon. member had rcicrred to Mataura tho rolls there were now ready lor printing and instructions had been given t-> have them printed immediately. He txptded that they would be completed ;within 14 days, tho averago timo it took to complete the printing of the main Toll throughout tbo country. He had noticed an attenipt which seemed to have boon inspired by an ingenious desiro to manufacture tho idea that Iho rolls were not likely to bo in a proper condition in tho country. Speaking generally thpro Tvero. moro names on tho roll than at'tno last general election and ho hoped to have the Toll's quite all right. Tho people who had been manufacturing theso imaginary grievances would iind, as usual, that there was nothing in thom. Mr. FISHIiR said he understood that, in .the Wellington South electorate, 1100 people who wero entitled to get on tho roll could not get on. Ho knew that in his own electorate many pooplo desired to iret on the roll and could not. Sir Joseph WARD stated that thoro ■were at present 500,m0r0 names on the Wellington South roll than on tlio old roll. If, in addition,. there were 1400 pooplo waiting to go on,- they would of c6utso bo put on. It was unsafe t'o take information about tho rolls from tho man in the street becauso he knew nothing at all about them. There wero now on the Wellington Sonth roll SB3l names, as against 8300.at tho date, of last election. Theso. would be' printed upon tho first wain roll. " " . . Reinstatement of Names.

Instructions had been given to put on the roll iho names of persons who had been absent from their homes when tho census papers were sent out and consequently had not returned tho papers. Tho •vriiolo of these people, would bo. reinstated upon the Toll excopt in eases where the' registrar was perfectly certain that ixsi>le had left the district. Tho insfcruL-tiens-which; had now been given wore that everyone to whom tho census paper had been sent out was to be put upon the roll. Afterwards officers wero to call nnd ascertain why, in somo eases, the ropers had not been returned. This was being done from end to end of the country. The matter had not been allowed to drift at all. Tho total niimber of people entered on tho Tolls up to;l September 13, 1911, was 5M,333. To this total a number would have' to bo added;;! The number on the Toll in 1908 'was' 536,003, so that • there wero 28,330 more names upon the later roll. Hon. members would see that, even making provision for th<y .annual' -increase of population, the figures showed very clearly that the matter of seeing that people, wero put upon tho Tolls had received close attention. Ho proposed to ask tho llouso shortly to legalise what was being done in the way of putting peoplo on the rolls. Purging the Rolls. Mr. Massey: How do".votL.propose to ■purge tho rolls? Sir Joseph Ward: "In tho ordinary way." After the main roll had been printed, objections would bo received, as was done every year.. Supplementary Tolls would bo prepared as usual; one in Bomo electorates and several in others. Tho Prime Minister stated that if he had trusted to the census his own name would have been omitted from the roll, but ho bad taken the precaution of being' put ■upon tho roll in the ordinary way. 'Throughout tho country tho printings of rolls—except in one or two cases—had "been arranged for definitely, and, in a majority of cases, ti fortnight had been allowed for the work. The work of tho was being well looked after nnd well attended to from end to end of tho country. -When tho rolls wero completed it would ba found that everybody entitled to. enrolment had been enrolled. Mr. "WEIGHT said that at first it had l>eon apprehended that 2000 people, in his electorate would be struck off. Since then instructions had been given not to remove any. more names. This seemed to open tho way to a danger that somo names might be improperly included. Tho PRIME MINISTER Teplied that purging of the rolls would take placo as ■usual. Electoral Transfers, Mr, HERDMAN asked tho Premier to give somo indication as to when the rolls were-likely to bo printed. It seemed difficult to-discover when the, roll in •vAicli tho lion, jsntleman and - himself wero mutually interested- would be-avail-able. A considerable amount of .territory being transferred from ' Wellington Suburbs to Wellington North had necessitated a number .of/ electoral •transfers. There seemed, to be-somo difficulty in effecting theso transfers. Sir Joseph .WARD stated - that work in connection with tho preparation of the Wellington main rolls .was completed. They would go to the printing offices in a few days; and a fortnighthad l>?en allowed for printing them. Transfers wero effected by officers of tho Department who went round in tho ordinary \vay. People wero put upon tho proper Tolls.. .. Postmasters, iwliee, and others liiid been at work, in this matter for some considerable time.

Mr. PEARCE (Patea) said that in his district a large alteration had been mado at tho second, meeting of the Boundary Commissioners. So far .as ho knew, pome 500 or6oo electors would be effected. There had hardly been timo to transfer their names.

Sir Joseph WARD replied that a little common-sense must bo applied to the whole position. Supposing a portion of tho 500 or 800 electors. mentioned woro not in the proper district on the main roll,' the matter could bo rectified on tho supplementary rolls. Everything poseiblo was being dono.