THE ELECTORAL ROLL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 496, 5 August 1857, Page 3

THE ELECTORAL ROLL.

(Prom the Southern Cross.)

We observe that many erroneous ideas, concerning the nature of qualifications to vo!.e,' are current among the constituency. These of course will be dispelled by the first sitting of the Magistrates, when the objections shall be heard and determined ; but as no real revision has ever yet taken place, the law of qualification, practically speaking, remains as 3'et unpromulgated. We therefore propose, without entering into nice points, to correct a few of the mis-impressions.

It is supposed by many that if A has a freehold and leases it to B, A is entitled to register as a freeholder and B as leaseholder. But the Constitution Act carefully guards against the squeezing of two votes out of one property. A cannot claim upon his freehold estate unless hehaveit'm possession ; and he1 parted with the possession (for this purpose) when he leased it. Nor can B claim to vote upon his leasehold estate unless he have it in^possession.* 5

It should also be observed that a freehold estate must be of the clear valueof £50 above all charges and incumbrances. Much property in this Province, being mortgaged up to its full value—in many instances (owing to the change of times) beyond that value, becomes incapable of conferring a qualification upon the mortgager. There have been conflicting decisions on this point; but we believe that the principle is ■ now fully established. The Middlesex Committee, upon the vote of John Beaumont, resolved, That a mortgage on a freehold shall be considered to invalidate the vote, if the interest paid by the voter reduces the value of such freehold below 40s. per annum. But it does not therefore follow that the qualification should be transferred from the mortgagor to the mortgagee. The latter has no claim unless he be in actual possession of the rents and profits of the estate. Neither can a trustee claim, by reason of his trust; for he is not in receipt of, or entitled to receive the rents and profits for his oion use.

It is remarkable that although a freeholder, under the 7th clause of the Constitution Act, to be duly qualified, must have been seised of the estate " for at least six months next before the last registration of electors, (meaning we suppose the registration to which he claims, otherwise eighteen months would be required,) still a lease having not I ess than three years to run would" confer a valid claim, although made ou the very last day allowed for the putting in of claims. Whether this was intended by the framers of the act, or whether it be an inadvertency, is more than we can presume to say ; but, at all events, so stands the law.

But it is in regard to claimants as householders that the great mass of objections will be taken. Until now, in this province, every man who sleeps under a roof (and there are none here, fortunately, who, as in London, are fain to take their nightly rest under a dry arch of a convenient bridge) has been considered as a householder. In fact, we have had universal suffrage. Even immigrants, on landing from the ship that brought them out, have found themselves electors, having been previously registered by friends.

* This reading of the Constitution Act is disputed by some lawyers, aud would probably not hold as a ground of objection.—Ed. L.T.

We believe that the general rule upon which the Purification Committee proceed— for they have not time to do their work with great nicety—is to consider each house as giving one vote, —without enquiring too curiously as to the value of the tenpment. There are instances in which joint occupiers have each a claim ; but the distinction between occupiers and lodgers must be carefully borne in mind.

It has been decided that no person can be deemed a householder who does not possess an exclusive right to the use of the outward door. The original right to this exclusive use is therefore the point of discrimination between the householder on the one hand, and the inmate on the other.

But, if a person let a certain part of the house in which he dwells, and severs it from the other part, making a distinct outer door to each, it is then as two houses. Otherwise it is treated as one house. Upon this principle, sets of chambers in a college or in the inns of court, which have each an outer door that opens upon a common staircase, are held to be the houses of their respective occupiers. A lodger has never been considered by any one as the occupier of a house, even should he rent his apartments from year to year, or even, in England, should he pay rates; for he is not said to be an inhabitant, but an inmate under the tenant. In case of joint occupation, unless the clear yearly value, when divided amongsta^ the joint occupiers, be sufficient to enable all to vote, none at all can claim to be registered.