The Daily News TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1. OUR LATEST EXPERIMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 289, 1 December 1908, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1. OUR LATEST EXPERIMENT.

Confessedly, the Second Ballot Act is in the nature of an experiment, and as such it ought to be regarded. Tile object being to secure, if possible, Unit representatives of the people should he living embodiments of the views and opinions of a majority of the electors in the constituencies" the Government gave consideration to' the preferential voting scheme, the absolute majority proposal and all other plans which are either in operation or have been submitted in order to reach the end in view, the result of their studies being that they decided in favour of trying Hie second ballot. Speaking throng?! the Hon. Dr. Findlay. the Government profess to be satisfied with the result of the first practical test of their legisi lation in this direction; but in this, as in most other things, there are diffe"ent points of view from which result can be regarded—-there are diflVfeif

tests which can be applied. The AttOT-ney-General talks learnedly, as lie always does, of the opinions expressed bv Professor Rryee on "reigning" nml '■ruling," but it is to be feared that that kind of tiling is just a little too lnue'i above the heads of the geiieral.itv. Coming down from Ihe t-xalted altitude of Professor Hrvce lo perhaps meaner things, the British Constitution, upon which I lie salient pninls of our ConsUt'i tion are based, is dislincllv founded upon the representation of the opinions of the people in the great assembly of I the nation. Parliament is presumed to be a relleetion of the wishes of the people. In this Dominion, candidates for seats in Parliament have to undergo a very severe trial ill order to ensure that the electors arc fully acquainted with their views and principles, and, indeed, . ie cardinal principle of the Second Itallot Act has reference to the representa-

tion of views ami principles, hi regai'u to till' recent second bullot elections, the fact seems to stand revealed that tmpeople have no convictions at all in refcvencc to political question*: or, if 1 hev ii:ive convictions. Iliev do not seem to weigh much with them when u. go to record their votes. The most startling instance of this truth is to lie found displayed in the election for lnapeka. 11l this contest, there were three candidates, two Ministerial and one Opposition. lift ween tliem the two Ministerial , candidates polled 2842 votes, whilst the Opposition candidate had recorded for liitn only 1441. On the face of it. therefore—regard"d purclv as a matter of the representation Vf opinion—the constituency of TuapeVa was Ministerial, and the return of a Government supporter a certainty. Notwithstanding this, however, the Opposition candidate on the second ballot was returned by 2477 votes to 1744. Political principles had in .. week vanished into the thinest, of air. Another instance. In Dunedin North there were two .Ministerial candidates and one Opposition, ilr. Barclay polled 3250 votes, Mr. Green 5X3, making 3783 between them,.the Opposition only recording 3047. On the face of this result it appeared a certainty that, it the electors voted a second time according to their expressed views, .ill'. Barclay would be returned by a large jnajority. As the result of the second ballot the Opposition candidate triumphed. In Hawke's Bay there weie live Ministerial candidates standing op posed to one Opposition. The live Ministerialists polled between Ihei-.i' 3031 votes, the Opposition IIi.VJ. Vet on the second ballot the Government candidate only polk'd 3314, whilst til-' Opposition had no fewer than 2422 votes recorded for him, showing that some 015 electors had changed from Government to Opposition in the short I space of one week. For Chalmers there were three candidates, two Ministerial and one Labour. .At tin- lirst ballot the Ministerialist polled 2550, the Opposition 2403, and the Labour 101. The inajoritv in favour of the Ministerial candidate was not large, but. the result of the second ballot shows that the whole of the Labour voles must have been east against flic old member, who has represented the constituency fu l ' years. On the first ballot be only required nine votes to be elected, obviating a second ballot. Now lie is out. This is very hard fortune. In Wellington North the two Ministerial candidates polled between them 3578 votes, against 2773 cast for the Opposition. According to the constitutional principle of the representation of opinions, Wellington North ought to have been a safe scat for the Governuient. Instead of this result, however, the Opposition candidate on the second : ballot was returned by a majority of 708, showing that no fewer man IIM7 electors must have simply " railed." hi Wellington South there were no lew-'r than seven candidates—one .Ministerial, one Oppositon, and live Radicals, Socialists, and Labour. _-H the lirst ballot the Ministerialist stood at. tlu' top of tile poll with 25SS voles to his credit, the Opposition with 2340. On these tigures, taking it that the electors would vote according to their political opinions as expressed, it might 'iavc been regarded as a certainty by a vevy substantial majority for the Ministerialist. On the contrary, the Opposition candidate was returned by a majority of 403. Professor Bryce, unfortunately, docs not live in New Zealand, and if lie did it is more than doubtful whether ho could by any abstract reasoning upon "feigning" and ■•ruling" satisfactorily account for these facts and figures. At Wellington East there were four candidates. The two Ministerialists poIUd 2371 votes, the Labour 1741, and the Opposition 2400. At the second ballot the great, Imdy of the Ministerialists agreed to support t'Jie Labour man, ! and he was returned by a majority of I 429.

j Tu the ollkt districts the result of the | second ballots was what might have I been expected from the disclosure o? 1 opinion at the Jirst. The truth seems tu be that the electors of New Zealaad are not very strongly swayed by political or party considerations. The clktful voice, the pleasant manner, the forceful, 'energetic display seem to appeal to the bulk of the people. There is the blushing speech of the charming young lady at Akaroa to serve an a guide: "I could never bring myself to | vote against a candidate with such love* j !v, dark, melancholy, dreamy eves.'' Jt!

is to 1 w feared the femafc voter 's everywhere equally impressionable, <nrl subject to influences that are very far removed from polities. By this token, the Parliament of this Dominion ought to consist of the handsomest men in the country—and no doubt it does! ilea-

souabh* people wi)) probably conclude that it would he wel] to await (he ted to be applied three years hence before deciding Ihially upon the success or failure of our rate*t experiment, the Second Ballot Act.

cooperative house-mjyixo, A public IprUuv in explanation of tin principle- of the Co-operative Jiriiiso ■mying Ani'.«-iaiion was delisrifd h W'eljiug.ton Just Friday evening by Ml A!v, in Fischer. ol Adelaide. the origina tor <>f the system. in the course of hi. lecture*. Mr J'U-her «;>id ij' Die cully ol runt could be dealt with .satisfactorily and the constant n thug done away with, the effect would, he that even, (hiring hard times men would he bettor oil' with small wages than they were before with much higher ones. Lhere were several systems in vogue whereby people were assisted to purehase their own houses, |, u t hi- contended that that originated by hhnaelf was very much bet lei' ill in any other. How to run a Co-operative House-buying Association was then explained. A member applies for a* many share* as he required hundred-pound loan? : that was, ii lie wanted to a C.",(>o property lie took live shares, and so on. For Cdi'h share 'hp paid a weekly subscription of Js or «»(), according fo rircuminto 1 lie fund, jtnHoi« were held at (hree-monthly intervals for what money was available, the idea being t*> assist member- with (lie margi.i of *eeui'ily (or one-third of their requirements). which wa»- needed to enable them (o arrange lor loans from elsewhere. The weekly »uljM'.ription ceased when the loan was arranged, and whatever bad been paid in. pi us interest, SVrtS placed to the credit of the losin. The wa< repaid by weekly instal me'i'iirJ of 4s or 3" fid per share. aceording l" A'Srciim-tanees. Ihi* being continued imtVl ihe loan iNelf oh! Hie amount, received Loiu the a^u-iation had been paid off. He voniendefi that his scheme introduced a principle of equity which removed a mtuhts d«"Vd r*\i.>!ing in r others. Year by year a uu'mher gradually became the ■owner of lii* t.'.vn house | --al first. sh>\\ ly, Iml afterwards 'nurea- f >inglv quicker and quicker. join- > ing the association 'became entitled to , the full privileges of membership with- • oul delay. In South Australia the association had proved mo>t j