“ AS YOU WERE ?"
As tho system of proportional representation is in operation in Tasmania the results of Thursday’s general election will not be definitely known probably for a few days. Tho wide electorates under this method and the extra work thrown upon the returning officers necessarily make for a little delay in ascertaining tho verdict of tho people. Our cable messages state, however, that present indications are that tho now House of Assembly will consist of sixteen Liberals and fourteen Labour representatives. This does not seem much better than tho chaotic results of the last ©lections eight months ago. Then the parties were — Liberals 15, Labour 14, and on© Independent. This solitary one, Air Cameron, proved a very stormy petrol in tho brief life of the Parliament, although in any circumstances a “working majority” was impossible. The Liberals (wo must insist upon the reservation that Australian “Liberals” include Conservatives) lost a vote through providing a Speaker, leaving the parties even, so far as _ voting strength went, with tho. most important Mr Cameron able to decide every vital issue. Of course the situation was an impossible one, and the Independent’s action in asking a certain consideration in return for support of the Opposition merely precipitated the inevitable dissolution. Tho returns of Thursday’s voting to hand so far give no news of tho fate of Mr Cameron, who was again a totally unattached candidate, though the inference is that he has suffered defeat. If the sixteen-to-fourteen estimate stands—and it is not likely to be materially varied —the subsequent events promise to be just as awkward as before. The Government party must elect a Speaker, bringing its majority down to a single vote. No Ministry can carry on satisfactorily in such circumstances. The trouble is that in such a small country, where there is plainly something very close to an even division of opinion, a fresh appeal to the constituencies offers little hope of altering tho state of affairs. There is so little margin to work upon. Tho number of seats is but thirty and of electors less than a hundred thousand. As a matter of fact, there were only 50,402 votes recorded at the general election of 1909. There is certainly every appearance of another political deadlock and no very clear way out of the difficulty.
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8338, 25 January 1913, Page 4
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384“ AS YOU WERE ?" New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8338, 25 January 1913, Page 4
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