PARLIAMENTARY.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1403, 14 August 1878, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY.

Last Night’s Proceedings.

Wellington, August 14, After the ten o’clock adjournment Mr Hodgkinson continued the debate on the Electoral Bill. While approving the Bill, he regretted it was not accompanied by a Bill redistributing the seats. The two years’ residence clause was a wise and conservative measure. He would have preferred having six months’ local residence to twelve. He was opposed to the woman franchise and to Hare’s system. The Hon. 0. 0. Bowen commended the speech of the hon. member f 'or Cheviot as fair, practical criticism of the Bill. He was glad it was not discussed from a party point of view. He hoped the Registra'ion Bill would be brought down and dealt with in a similar manner. He did not admit the principle that manhood suffrage would give all that was needed in the colony. He instanced cases in America where the tyranny of the majority had often buried out of sight some of the best and wisest minds in the country, and the Government proposals in the main were fair and reasonable. He admired the residential clauses, and the plurality of votes. At the present time not more than two-thirds of the electors were on the roll, and so it would be in future. He did not see how the rolls were to be purged of names placed on them in respect of residence when the persons left the district; and it struck him that the lowering of property qualification and enacting a plurality of votes would result in giving more property votes. This would act in a manner contrary to what the Government expected. As to woman suffrage, he contended that under the present system woman was fully represented, and by her family ties exercised a great deal of political influence, and that the class of women who would come into the House would not be those who would be accepted by the women of the country as their representative. He disapproved of Maori qualifications which would allow them to interfere in our elections as well as their own. Mr Sutton thought the Bill dealt with a question which was not of burning importance, and predicted that were the franclr'se lowered as propose!, it would be productive of evil results which had followed a similar condition of things in Victoria, and would not in any way tend to the good government of the people. Instead of political power being thrown into the hands of the bulk of ths people, it would be plated in the hands of the large employers of labor. Ho denied that the lower classes were the most liberal. The true liberals were to be found in the middle classes. Registration and exercise of votes should be insisted upon, and votes should not be allowed to persons who were rate defaulters. Mr Woolcock wanted to know why the Government had not introduced a measure which would give to the voice of every man in the country an echo in that House. The Bill was not sufficiently in unison with democratic tendencies of thought in a new colony. The debate was adjourned on the motion of Mr Reeves. The House adjourned at 11 50.