The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4059, 25 July 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1884.

It ia to bo bbped tha_ tiie incoming- J?arlja» -, ment will find time to amend the -Taw i-e* , lating to the registration of electors. A newly elected Parliament cannot be better qualified for. such', an undertaking. The . members are fresh from election, ancl they ■ are thorougly' alive to the necessity of purg- t Ihg-theidlls: As tho IaAV stands at present - it is ; next;to impossible to remove a name j .fronva roll."'= As an example of the difficulty we may quote section 18 of the Registration of Electors Act:-t-''Tho Registi-ar, or any ._ person whose name is on the .electoral roll .-* of any district, may object to the name ol . any other person being retained thereon, by giving notice In writing to. the person objected to, "setting, forth the objection and .-.d the grounds thereof, in the form or to the' J

effect specified in the fourth schedule of this Act. If the person objected to shall not, within fifteen clays after the service of such notice, cause his name to be removed from the roll, the objector may apply to a Resident Magistrate or a Justice of the Peace for a summons. The Resident Magistrate or Justice of the Peace so applied to shall forthwith issue a summons, in the form or to the effect set forth in the fifth schedule of this Act. If any person objected to is unknown, or cannot after duo inquiry be found, the summons may be left at his place of residence as stated on the roll, and the leaving "of such summons shall be a sufficient service." As ag-ainst the fulfilment of; this provision it may be stated at once that the roU does not state the residence of an}"- one of the electors. The roll simply gives the name - of the person, nature of qualification, place J - • of-residence (that is to say the district) and the occupation of the elector--. For instance, "Abbot, William, residential, Waipawa, shepherd." That happens, to be the first name on the Waipawa roll. Now, supposing Mr Abbot left his employment in the Waipawa district, and accepted an engagement in Wanganui, it is nobody's actual business to cause his name to .bo removed from the roll. But we further suppose that it did come to the knowledge of the Registrar that Mr Abbot had left Waipawa, then, we have seen by the section of the Act that we : have quoted above, he would have to go to the trouble and expense of first serving a notice, and then issuing a summons. Before, however, a notice could bo served, Mr Abbot's ..last residence would have to be "discovered. The word " Waipawa " means no place in particular, and, therefore, no residence is indicated. No notice, consequently, could legally be served, and service not being able to be proved neither a Magistrate- nor a Justice of the Peace Avould issue a summons. But tho Act allows another way out of the trouble. The objector. can assert that the Mr Abbot is unknown, and after an inquiry cannot be found. : A summons is accordingly issued and loft at his place of residence as • stated on the roll. The roll states that his place of residence is -Waipawa. Where then is the summons to be left ? Would it be- sufficient service to stick it on a telegraph pole, or leave it at the Post Office, or the Police ~"" Court? And, after all; who is going to trouble about the matter?. Under the old Act there' 1 was' a Revising Officer < whoso' business it was to purge the roll-; it-was a better system than the existing one, but it did not "work satisfactorily;;; There is. only one effectual way of purging the- roll, and that is to burn it immediately: after 1 " each general election", or as soon- after as mayrbe ... convenient. Fresh registration would ■ become necessary, and here: again -a; leaf might betaken, out of the Victorian law. Registration should be by personal application to the offices appointed, the elector signing the,paper and also/the' block of the book from whichit is torn off. Before recording his vote the elector should have to produce his registration paper; the signature upon Avhich might if necossary, bo compared Avith that which he had Avritten on the block: ' As this system would be mora expensive than the present one a fee of not less than one shilling might be charged on registration, which would go towards "covering the cost of. preparing tho rolls. There would be another advantage in this ~*"~ system; that only those who can" read and write Avould be capable of getting registered. The second schedule of the Registration of Electors' Act also requires amendment. It is this : that furnishes the form of the claim for enrolment, the declaration being as follows:—" I hereby claim to have mynamo inserted on the Electoral Roll of ,'aridl hereby- declare that my name, place of abode, and Occupation, are correctly stated at tho foot hereof, and that I have resided within the' colony of New Zealand for twelve mbnths, and within the said district for the "six months immediately preceding the dato hereof.".. It will be noticed in this declaration that no age is required to be stated by the claimant, nor aro his names in full demanded' from him. Under the circumstances anyone haA'ing Somewhat the appearance of twenty •'due years of age might put in aclaim to vote, k and under the loose residential 'qualification franchise that we possess, there might be forty John Browns or John Smiths registered in a district, and nobody would be able to'tell'bhe from the other. . -