WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 July 1923, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES.

ELECTORAL REFORM. I Ii e GOVERNM ENT'S PROPOSALS. [Special To Tun Guardian.] Vi ELLINGTON, July 27. There is a growing feeling about the lobbies that the Prune Minister’s Electoral Reform hill will make provision for each of the four groups of city electorates Auckland, Wellington, Cnristeiiurcii and Dunedin —voting as one constituency under the system of proportional representation, and for the other single electorates remaining as they are, subject, of course, to the periodical readjustment of their boundaries, and voting under the preferential system. At present there are twenty-six constituencies in the Dominion that would be regarded as city constituencies under this scheme, nine in Auckland, six in Wellington, six in Christchurch, and live in Dunedin, and fifty other European constituencies that would remain as single electorates. Ihe general impiossion here is that the change would he of great advantage to the Reformers, bv ensuring them representation Recording lo 1 heir numerical strength m the cities and saving them from votesplitting in the country electorates, hotair examination of the polling at the last general election does not suggest I luu the party in power has anything material to gain in this respect from Mr Massey's proposals. As a matter of fact the Reformers suffered le-s from vote-splitting last December than did Ihe Liberals and the Lahmuites, and their superior discipline must always give them this advantage over their disunited opponents.

PROPORTIONAL R EPRESEXTATI ON. In the twenty-six constituencies that would form the city groups under the proposals attributed to Mi* Massey 217.781 valid voles were recorded last December. Of these 81,(558 were cast for Reform candidates, 44,0.5.1 lor Liberal candidates, 107.074 for Labour candidates and 14,51!) for rmlepondent candidates. The "quota,” the number of votes reiuiivd to elect a candidate, that is, would have been some !),SJO. assuming the twenty-six electorates were treated as one constituency, and would have returned eight Reimmeis (with 5418 votes over), four Liberals (with 0413 voles over), eleven Labourites (with 224 1 votes over), and one Independent (With 4089 votes over). Ibis would have left two seats to fill ami the exercise of second preference probably would have given one of these to (he Reformers and one to the Liberals The actual result in these constituencies under the present system was the return of eight Reformers, four Liberals. thirteen Labourites and one Independent, so that the Labourites appear to have secured two more than their fair share of representation at the expense of the Reformers and the Liberals. Bm the scheme attributed to -Mr Massey makes four const it ueucies ot the four city groups, not one, and by this arrangement some ol the. flagrant errors arising out ol the present system would lie corrected. FIRST VAST THE POST. It often happens that under the "first past the |>ost” system the errors occurring in one electorate or in a group of electorates are counler-hal-nneed by the errors occurring in another electorate or another group. At the election of 1914, for instance, in Hie four constituencies forming the North Auckland district 1.5.850 votes were east tor the Retorm Government and 11,095 votes for the l.iberal-Lab-uni- (Ipiui'ii ion, hut the Reform Government secured Hie whole of the four m'ul-. In the six Chri'trhurch 'eats, ihe other hand. I 1.71 I votes were vi (or the Reform Government and Id voles for the I,i hcral-l.ahull I Opposil ion, lull the Liheial-LaUiur Oppo-

si li on secured the "hole o! the six -eats. At that election there was only n dilfereiiee nt two seals beLween the parlies, and all proporlional ropresolilatioii wsoild have done would hu\e hern lo place the uiajorily on Die side ol' Die Opposiiion instead ol on the side of Die (loveriiineiil. At lhe election of lUl 1 .). however, the "first pa. 4 the post" system was -een at its worst. There were lit Hi. 1:11 votes east tor Deformers, I'lli.SlT lor Liberals, 127,iD2 for Labourites and 12,2 In tor Independents. This disl ribulion of voles, ex-pres-rd in impossible decimals, should have relumed 2S.SH Dcfnrmcrs. 27.0 h Liberals. 17.'-2 Labourites and Lit? Independents-: but what it actually did do uas lo return II Delormeis. 22 l.jberals. S Labourites and 2 I tidepemlelit s. A HAPHAZARD SYSTKM.

It is sue!, results ns these that bring tile ••first past the post" system into contempt and the whole machinery of democratic government into ridicule The election of la si year by the compensating process again gave the parties verv nearly the representation io which they were entitled by their numerical strength. Hut this, as in lf;M. was the result of over-representa-tion in one place being corrected by under-representation in another. In the suggested Auckland group of nine const itllciu-ies, for example, the llelormers with ,‘10,(122 votes secured four scats, and the Labourites with •'!•'),lfl!i votes five seats, while the Lilierals and Independents with Id.IWVI sect'nvil none In the suggested Christchurch group of six constituencies the Labourites with 2-1.82:1 votes secured four seats and the Liberals with votes two seats, while the Reformers with M.fifll votes secured none. Hi Dunedin again, the Reformers with 11. Old voles secured two seal-, and the Liberals with h.-lS.', votes one seat, while Ihe Labourites with 20.2(W votes, more than the other two parties polled together, secure,l only one. Surely a system that gives such results as those, frequently it would seem, misrepresenting the will of the majority, is not going to he tolerated simply becau-e it sometimes effects a balance by making errors on both sides.