The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1919. A FAULTY ELECTORAL SYSTEM.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3366, 19 December 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1919. A FAULTY ELECTORAL SYSTEM.

With which is incorporated "The Taihape Post and Waimarino Brews*’ 7

The most larresting feature in the new Parliament that has been elected will be the largeness of an? thira

aparty. Greatest success at the polls has been gichieved by Labour, and it now goes without saying that had more experienced and better equipped-cam didates been arranged for in many other electorates the prespects of a

much larger Labour section in‘ the House would have been greater. The rose of .«3uccess- is certainly. not Without its thorn, for it will be found that there are no “dumb dogs” on the ten or twelve Lzrbour benches. Mr Massey has the largest voting force, which many people will say, “that is all that matters, but, his debating will all have to be ‘done by a very few, for the power of debate is lamentably limited in the ranks behind Mr Massey. In casually glancing over the names of men returned the suggesition is that Labour’s ten men are all capable, hard debaters, and it must be realised that this Labour squad of ,ten earnest, determined, capable debaters are going to influence for good‘ or ill, if not Members of the House, then they will create some marked effect on the country. This election may be regarded -as a victory for the farming community, for the party having a. majority has in it very few city I'epre’sentati\7es. Out of forty-three Refornrhas but four city

members, While Laboul"s ten are half city representatives, and of the twenty Liberals five are contributed by city constituencies. It may therefore be claimed that farmers will furnish the country with a Government’ for the

coming three years. In this connection the eyes of the whole country will be on Ministerial Work. While there seems to be no good excuse for it, this country is passing through parlous times, and from the marvel» 1011S1ab0u1'vOf.c recorded it is unques-

tionarbly true that the people ‘are waiting for improvement with some determination. We are at eventful crossways and into the near future the very conditions of human existence will crowd our social and industrial life full of events of the most vital and momentous charaeters. Man foiyman, the Labour vote at the pollskhas been greater than that of either of the other parties; the four leading Ministers of the Crown polled one thousand votes per man less than was polled by four Labour leaders, and Labour runners-

lup, in some instances polled twice the ‘votes that elected Rofol'nl€‘l‘S polled_ These aspects of the election demand that considration that no discreet Government dare refuse to give. Even the Labour candidate for this electorate polled within a few hundreds of Sir James Allen, Who holds the high ~ and important portfolio of Finance in his Government. We mention these aspects of the situation with Which the country is. confronted so that there may be a. better understanding as to wha,t‘the future will bring forth. The voice of the people has» had no uncertain sound, as the resultant figures show; for although men have secured majorities at the polls, they only Tepresent in the House a marked minority of the olectorswho voted. Ithas been found in Britain, in other eonn— M tries, as Well as in New Zealand, that a. minority administration has had to govern with morethans ordinary caution. 7.La.ws made by a minority for M the tgo,vel-nance of the ‘majoritghave to

be evolved and framed with greatest care, throwing upon the lawmakers a responsibility much‘ out of tlie ordinary, and in the present difficult situation no politician will envy Mr Massey and his Government the task of legislating to please such demands as those diselosed——not in the men elect‘ ed, but in the votes recorded. Much talk is made about confidence €XDI'OSSed at the polls, but why try to deceive ourselves? It is only necessary to spenda few minutes in calculationto discover that what is regarded as confidence, is, in fact, want of confidence. Another fault in the electoral system of this countryis disclosed in the returns; we see that the electoral district of Bruce has. one member to 5674 electors, while in quite a preponderance of electorates there is ‘but One member to 10,000 voters. It is apD%ll‘ent that the electors of Bruce have twice the representation that some other electors have; that one ‘Bruce elector is equal to two electors in other constituencies. Of course, the figures given may be incorrect. but they are the figures upon which the elections are based, and tllcl'ct'ol‘e they should be dependable. This discloses. that our “one man one vote” is a misnomer, in fact, the opposition to a scheme to provide for perfect “one ;man one vote” machinery clearly indicates that there are very many people ‘amongst New Zealanders who are yet ;strongly opposed to the “one man one lvote” idea. There are noticeable in ‘the election returns several 5000 or [6OOO voter electorates, and this will ‘{l!lel<.e it appal'cnl_. that electors in such lfavofired electorates have a doubleibarrelled franchise. In addition to a leandidate being elected by a minority lot votes polled, he is also elected by voters whose votes have twice the power the votes of voters in more nu~ merously popugated electorates have. An effort was made to ~lessen the un‘fairness of. such a faulty system, but ’the. Reform Government repealed it, -promising something better; and more just, and the country, as disclosed during the recent electoral campaign, is rather anxiously waiting for that promised ilnproVemcnt_ _ A sawmill worker’.s vote in the country should be of the same value in electing a Parliament as the timber-worker’s vote in the city, and this is evidently so re‘garded by workers generally, from the steps they are taking to secure a ljust equalisation. From a broad view hot‘ this country’s. electoral system no ‘one can justly deny that prevailing lelectoral conditions engenders an air lof disloyalty to any Government elect}ed thereunder, and as nothing is more subversive of political, slocial, and in}dustrial peace than a continuation of ‘such conditions they should be re~ [moved at the earliest possible moment. ‘Fourteen R-cf.ormers in the South Is? ‘land were _eler=.tc-d on ‘an average of HO7l votes each seat; eleven Liberals ihad to poll 8281 votes for each of the «eleven seats won. while Labour polled . 14,649 votes for each of its four seats. E The disproportion is so outrageous that ;Dominion—widc organisafion is sure to lspring into existence in furnishing a .' remedy.