TO STOP PLUMPING

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1405, 3 April 1912, Page 8

TO STOP PLUMPING

AT CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS. A PROPOSAL BKFKATED. At the City Council meeting last night Councillor l-'rost moved the motion of which he had previously given notice:— . "That in order to prevent the wishes of the majority of the electors .being defeated, the Local Flections Act be su nnir-ml.'tl by making it compulsory that every person voting shall vote for (he full number of candidates required to fill the number of vacancies at such elections, and that every .voting taper not containing; such number shall bo declared informal." One of the reasons why the nioliin should be given effect to, he said, was that the present system was really undemocratic, in that it led to sectional interests being considered to the i-eglect of the miblic interest. A whole council might thus be elected with purely sectional interests. -The present system might allow n minority to .be-represented and a majority defeated simply bv tl'o operation of cliques or corners. If tho whole number had to be, voted uj>on a thoroughly representative council would be elected. Councillor Shirtclitto seconded the raoCouncillor Cohen said ho would vote against tlio motion for the timplo reason that tho proposed system would lead to such a largo number of informal votes. An elector would never take the trouble to count up how many candidates lie had voted for out of a long list of 30 or 10 candidates. Councillor M'Larcn opposed the motion. His experience of "tickets" .was that they did not work in many cases, and therefore did little harm. Councillor Fuller stated that it was fair to all the citizens of 'Wellington I hat this sectional voting should not be allowed. . , Councillor M'lveiuic thought there was I something in the proposal. It might not i attain the desired object, but at any rale it would do no harm. It was worth a Irial. ' ~, Councillor Shirteliffo did not suggest that the motion would stop tho ticket .svstem, but it would go some distance towards preventing voting for small sections of candidates. ■ Councillor Fletcher opposed the motion. It would entail upon people tho necessity of voting for representatives distasteful to I hem. Tie would support some scheme of preferential voting, but not this crudo scheme. Councillor Trevor could soo no reason for voting for the motion. Tho fact of tho matter was that people did not know the men in tho council antl did not know tho candidates. In any case "tickets would be set up as More. ' Councillor Cameron supported the motion. . Councillor Fitzgerald thought the root of tho trouble was that the candidates took no pains to mnko their views known to the people, lie opposed the motion. Councillor Barber agreed that the motion was an attempt to achieve a very desirable object, but he thought; the penalty to be inflicted on the electors would'bo greater than tho benefits derived. Councillor Frost explained his reasons for submitting the motion. Last election there had bean a Labour ticket, and an anti-Labour ticket, a sports ticket and an anti-sports ticket, a Wednesday halfholiday ticket and a Saturday half-holiday ticket. All these questions were considered in preference- to the general interests of tho city. Any ticket with the full complement of councillors would do no harni, but when small sectional interests were brought to bear, the wishes of the people were frequently defeated. The motion was defeated by eight votes to seven.