PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2910, 24 October 1916, Page 6

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

Sir, —I have no doubt that Mr. James Ames is a very capable returning officer, and a very estimable gentleman, but I trust' tho -Wellington City Council, for its own credit, is not going to accept his report upon proportional representation without further inquiry. Mr. Amed, having "carefully perused tho Proportional Representation Act and Mr. Mansfield's report," as ho tells the council, will not commit himself to saying "the system of voting for tho election of councillors is impracticable," but he thinks it would "prove a most ponderous method of arriving at the result of such an election, and the change from tho present system would not prove satisfactory to. the electors." I don't want to say anything that would bo likely to hurt Mr. Ames's feelings, but I submit with all deference to the worthy Returning Officer that tho author of a statement like this ought not to be objecting to anything on account of its ponderosity. Tho plain truth is that Mr. Ames lias utterly failed, in spite of his ful perusal of tho Proportional Representation Act, and Mr. Mansfield's report upon the Tasmanian system of election—which, by the way, have no relation to one anothei—to follow the simple process by which proportional representation is obtained in an elective body. Ho talks of tho cost of an election of councillors under tho singlo transferable vote system being "at least from £500 to £750 over and above the present cost," and of tho final results not being known "for several weeks after." This, not to put too fine il point upon it, is inexcusable rubbish. I am not going to ask you to givo me space to explain* to your readers; tho operation of the single transferable voto in its application to proportional representation, but I would beg you to urge the members of tho Wellington City Council to obtain a report from some competent authority beforo they make themselves supremely ridiculous by endorsing the Returning Officer's extraordinary conclusions.

You may give my name and address to Mr. Ames, if he should wish .to hare thcra, and assure him of my friendly desire to help him towards a better understanding of the system ho condemns.—l am. etc., / EFFECTIVE VOTING.