AN ELECTIVE COUNCIL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1800, 12 July 1913, Page 6

AN ELECTIVE COUNCIL.

THE REFORM BILL. ITS FEATURES EXPLAINED. FOUR ELECTORAL DIVISIONS. The Legislative Council Bill has now been circulated by tho non. H. D. Bell. Tlio Bill, is intended, as was tho Bill of last year, to reform tho constitution of tho Council by providing for tho election of its members on. the system of proportional representation. "I'rovision is made for tho election of 40 members, and, in addition, three Maori members ' may be appointed by the Governor-in- > Council. Attached to tho Bill is a memo- ' randum which supplies tho following particulars:— . "Tli'e Bill is in somo respects different in its provisions from that presented to Parliament last year. The present Bill , is divided into parts for the convenience of collocation of tho several subject mattors, aud of reference. "Tho system of proportional representation has been maintained, but in lieu of the method prescribed in Lord Courtenay's Bill, which constituted tho Schedule to tho Act of last year, there will now bo found tlio method prescribed by the Tasmauian-Act. Tho method is mei'ely a question of detail in any Act giving effect to tho principle of proportional representation, but .there can bo little doubt' that tho Tasmanian -method of transfer- . Ting votes by computation and. fractional transfer value goes far to'eliminate chance in the provisions for transfer, Tho Electorates. ''Ono material 'alteration is the establishment of four electoral divisions—two m each island; instead of tho two electoral 'divisions, each formed of a whole island, proposed by the Bill of "last year. Plans havo b«n prepared, showing the division of tho islands proposed for tho first election. In tho North Island, in tho first. electoral division, tho actual population by last census is 282,791; and in the second electoral division the actual population is 280,935. Thfcro are twentyono electorates in tho first electoral division, and twenty-one. in tho second, so that the division by electorates has resulted in a remarkably lequal division of the total population of tho North Island. In tho South Island tho third electoral division, wit'li seventeen electorates, has for actual population 222,903 and the fourth electoral division, with seventeen electorates, has 221,571; again a very near approximation to equality. The First Election, "The total number to bo elected from both islands is forty. In eacli electroato it is provided that tho number io bo elected must bo odd, and not even, and tho North Island has its due preponderance in electoral strength over tlio'- South Island. In the first place, tho boundaries abovo stated aro provided for tho present constitution of tho four electoral divisions, and until tho Representation Commissions next-alter tho boundaries of the electorates those divisions will remain. Each North Island division, until alteration, will (except at the first election) return eleven members, making twienty-two in all; and cacli South Island electorate . will (except at tho first election) return nine members, ■ making eighteen in all. But at the first election, becauso there will during tho first two Parliaments bo a number 'of life and of seven-year members, tho' number for election is to bo twenty-four—seven from each of ilisa North Island electorates, and five from each of tho South Island electorates. It may appear that at-this first election- the North Island will obtain an undue preponderance, but,' first, it is very desirable that this members.ehquld be.od<l from each electorate, and, secondly, even if .that point were given up for tho first election, the South Island would not bo entitled to twelve. Tho preponderance in proportion to tho population should givo tlio North Island fourteen and the South Island eleven, so that in any case tho South Island docs not get much less than its due, and it is impossiblo by other/ figur.es to avoid giving it-more than its due. - An Important■ Alteration. ' "The method proposed by tho Bill of last year preserved continuity for tlio Council by providing that one-half tlio whole number should bo elected every three years sitting for six years, or, more accurately, for two Parliaments of tho House. But that was really only possible' because of thie laTgo electorates. To givo proportional representation a fair'chanco of success there must be a considerable number of members elected for leach constituency at each election. Tho Government has been assured by at least ono high authority in England" that it is not necessary to provide for' continuity, because that Tesult-s in any case, as in tho case of tho House,'by tiro re-election of a certain proportion of old members. Giving up, therefore, continuity, the present Bill provides that all tho elected members of tho Council go out at ono timo and aro elected together, and thereby it is possiblo to provide, as has been abovo stated, for a largo number to be elected at each election in each of four electorates. In order to avoid tho Council coming to an end by dissolutions of tlio House coming close together, tho- Bill provides that the Councillors elected at ono geiaral election shall hold offico until tho next general election held after tho expiration of five years from the dato of their election. In certain events this might lead to their sitting for eight years, but that would bo an extremely unlikely case. Readjustment of Boundaries. 'It is manifest that if thb islands are to be divided into electoral divisions some provision must be inado for the subsequent alteration by tho Eepresentation Commissions of tho boundaries of tho House electorates, since the whole schema depends upon tho electoral diyisions being coincident with thb boundaries of House electorates; otherwise, 'the Tolls and tho polls would have to be entirely distinct and separato. Those provisions will bo found in Sections 14 and 16. Wten the Eepresentation Commissions alter tlio electorates they readjust the electoral divisions in the manner* directed. • The first process is obviously one not for them —namely, tho division of tho number forty into two parts, which shall most nearly represent the proportion which the population of ono island baai-s to that of tho other, so that thereby tho number of members to bo elected from each island shall bo ascertained, the total from both islands still of course being forty. It is necessary that this division into two numbers should bo a division into two even numbers, becauso tho total number from eaoh island must be an even number if tho numbed from each of two electorates within that island is to be odd. Tlie division then of tho number forty being gazetted by tho Governor according to tho last preceding census, the Eepresentation Commissions sit together to determine the new division-lino in each island separating till? electoral divisions. If tho number to fco elected from an island by tho two divisions of that island is not. a multiple of four, it is divisible into two equal odd numbers. For example: Twentytwo is not a multiple of four, and divjdes into two elevents; twenty is a multiple of four, and divides into two even numbers if equally divided. Therefore, in I order to preserve the odd number for tire divisions, it is provided that when the total number to bo, elected from an island is a multiple of four, . the Commission shall divide tho island into two unequal parts, so that ono part shall return two more than tho other, according to population. Take, for instance, again tho number twenty, and suppose that that number came to be the number to bo elected from the South Island. It would; be Hie duty, of tho Eepresentation Commissions'to divide tho South Island into two electoral divisions, each containing comptoto electorates, but so that approximately in proportion to tho population one division shall elect eleven and tlio other nine.. Petitions Against Elections. "Another matter necessary to explain is expressed in Section 30. On a petition against an election to tho nou.se an Klection Court can scrutinise and count votes, It is a mero process in that caso of examination and of arithmetic. But in tho caso of proportional representation, the wliolo process may be upset by tho allowance or disnllownnco of a particular jiaper. and it would bo hojclesa and iw-

possiblo to attempt to traco tliie result through the count, or to •rearrange tho papers as they were before tho transfers began, or aftor tho elimination of a candidate's namo from tho poll. It is therefore necessary to limit tho Election Court in sucli cases to inquiring into corrupt or illegal practices of a candidate by himself or his agent, and to questions relating to tho qualifications of a candidate, Filling Vacancies "Another slight departure from tho Bill of last year is tho provision for filling vacancies. Last year it was endeavoured to limit tho class, from ■which tho Council might elcct, to the candidates defeated at'tlie preceding election. Thcro aro very good reasons for some limit; but that particular limit was much criticised last year, and tho present Bill gives th» Council unlimited power of selection to fill n vacancy, except only that no member of tho House or Council must bo elected." Limitation of Powers. The latter part of tho memorandum deals with tho limitation of tho powers of the Council. The Bill provides that proposed laws appropriating revenue- or moneys or imposing taxation shall not originate in the Council. Tho limitation does not apply to laws appropriating fines or other penalties or licenso fees. Tho Council may not amend any proposed, law so as. to increase any proposed chargo or burden on tho people, but it may return such a law to the 'Houso requesting tho omission 6r amendment of items or provisions, and the House may, if it thinks fit, rnako any such omission or amendment with or without modifications. If a money Bill, having been passed by tho Houso and sent up to tho Council at least ono mouth before the end of tho rsession, is not'passed by the Council within ono month, it . may beoomo an Act of Parliament without the consent of the Council. If the Council rejects a public ■Bill, other than a money Bill, passed by the House and if tho House in tho next session again passes tho Bill, tho Governor may, during that session, convene a joint sitting of tho two Houses. Tho members prebent at tho joint sitting may then deliberate and vote together upon tho Bill as last proposed by tho House. If tho Bill is affirmed by tho vote of a majority of tho assembled members it shall bo deemed to have been- duly passed by both Houses. If tho Bui is not- affirmed by tho voto of a majority tho Governor may, if ho thinks fit, dissolve . both the Council and the Houso simultaneously. It is provided that no such dissolution shall tako place witmn the last six months of the period of three years for which the House of Eeprespntatives is elected. Section 5, containing provisions relating to money Bills, is adapted, with alterations, from the Parliament Act, .1911, of tho Imperial Parliament. Section G, dealing with joint sittings, is adapted from the Irish Parliament Bill, which passed tho Houso ot Commons this year, Electoral Divisions. Tho following tablo sliows the distribution of electorates in tho ' proposed electoral divisions:— First Electoral Division—Bay ot Islands, Marsden, Kaipara, Waiteniata, Parnell, Auckland West, Auckland Central, Auckland East, Groy Lynn, Eden, Mauukau, Thames, Franklin, . Raglan, Ohinemnri, Tauranga, Waikato, TauniaTunui, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke-s Bay, Section Electoral Division.—Stratford, Taranaki, Egmont, Patea, Waimarmo, AVanganui, Kangitikei, Oroua, Waipawa, Napier, Pahiatua, l'almorston, Otaki, Ma'terton, Wairarapa, Hutt, Wellington Suburbs and Country District, We inston NOii'th, Wellington Central, Wellington East, Wellington South. Third Electoral Division—Motueka, Nelson, Wuirau, Bullcr, Grey,' Westlaud, Ilurunui, ICaiapoi, Riccarton, Avon, Christchurch East, Christchurcli North, Christchurch South, Lyttelton, Ellesmere, Selwyn, Ashburton. ' Fourth Electoral Division—Temuka, Timoru, Waitaki, Wakatipu, Otago Central, Oamaru, Chalmers, Dunedin North, Duncdiii West, Dimediu Central, Dunedin South, Bruce, Clutha, Mafcaura, InyercarpilL, Awarua, Wallace. " Present members of tho Council, under tho provisions of tho. Bill, retain-their seats for tho remainder of tho term for which they were appointed, or for life, as tlio caso may be.