The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22. 1885. ELECTORAL ROLLS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1588, 22 December 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22. 1885. ELECTORAL ROLLS.

U>itil 80ine system of local government is adopted which will ensure the insertion of the name of every occupiur on the municipal rolls, it is unlikely that the electoral rolls will ever be satisfactory. In this matter the Victorian system is a good one. From the Sydney Globe ye obtain the following particulars : — The ratepayers' roll, made up annually by the Town Clerk m beroughs, towns and cities,, or by the Shire Secretary m shiras, is duly certified and handed to the Electoral Registrar, who incorporate* m his roll so much of it an hippens to lie within his district, or all of it if necessary. The roll contains the name of ev«ry occupier of property, however small its rateable . value may be, even though the rates may be paid by the landlord, and included m the rent cbarge to the tenant. Even where the rites are m arroar, the person rated is included m the ratepayers' electoral roll, although he loses his municipal vote if he have not paid his rates by June 10th, and any occupier, whether he be the actaal ratepayer or not, can apply to the Co'incil to be rated for tha property he occupies, and they are compelled to grant his application. The consequence is that the electoral roll is every year completed and corrected from the municipal ratepayers' roll, and omissions are extremely uncommon. The annual revision of'- the electoral roll is held before the justices of the peace, after a long notice given by advertisement m the " Government Gazette " and m the local papers of each place which any Revision Court deals with. The electoral registrar is himself compelled to advertise that the rolls are ready for inspection at his office for a considerable time before the Revision Court is held, and is also entitled to appear at the court and object to the retention of the names of persons no longer resident m the district. The system is not perfect, but it is better than our own, and it is not of Victorian origin, although it is used m Victoria there can be no objection to its adoption.