THE LODGER FRANCHISE.
(Ntleon Evening Mail.)
In another column will be found a copy of a petition that has been framed, and is now being signed in Wellington, praying that the right of voting at elections may be extended to a class of men which is very numerous in the Colony, namely, those who live in lodgings. Some good reasons may possibly exist for refusing to those who prefer to live in lodgings a right that is conceded to the man who has run up a slab shanty, the ownership of which entitles him to call himself a householder, or to him who rents half-an-acre of laud for the very laudable purpose of turning it into a cabbage garden ; but we are unable to see wherein lies the superiority of those of the latter class over the dwellers in lodg-ing-houses. Of course it must be understood that certain conditions should be complied with by those to whom we wish to see the franchise extended, so that it shall not be possible for anyone who may happen t« be temporarily occupying lodgings in any part of the Colony at the time appointed for sending in claims to be placed on the roll, but in oases where people are bona fide residents in the district, we cannot understand on wbat grounds they are to be refused a privilege tbat is accorded without question to many of the most ignorant and illiterate of men, simply because they happen to rent a house or lease a plot of land. Neither intelligence nor industry is wanting among the lodger class, which comprises Government officials, bank clerks, mechanics, and numerous others whose interest in the welfare and good government of the country is quite equal to, if not greater than that of many whose names are now on the roil. Should any of these men prefer to rent a two-roomed cottage at a few shillings a week, instead of paying his twenty-five or thirty shillings to a lodging house keeper, tho registration officer would be bound to accept, and the re-
vising officer to pass his claim to ho registered ; but because he chooses to live in a manner more conducive to his comfort, and better suited to his tastes, he is not allowed to have any voice in the election of a representative. We sincerely hope that the lodger franchise will be allowed by the General Assembly in its next session, convinced as we are that it will lead to a large number of names of those who are well fitted by their education and general intelligence to exercise some control over the destinies of the Colony, being placed on the electoral roll.
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Evening Star, Issue 3226, 23 June 1873, Page 3
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448THE LODGER FRANCHISE. Evening Star, Issue 3226, 23 June 1873, Page 3
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