The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1914. MAJORITY REPRESENTATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 203, 25 February 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1914. MAJORITY REPRESENTATION.

Sir John Findlay has come forward as an advocato for the reform of our electoral system, as a necessary preliminarj to further Liberal progress. His ideal appears to be proportional representation; but in tho meantime he would be content if the law were altered so as to' give us a system of preferential voting, The peculiar merit of the proportional system is that it gives representation to minorities. We are not sure that this is desirable, more especially as it is general)' recognised that large electorates, each returning a number of members, are necessary corollaries of that method of election. What is most to be desired is the proper representation of majorities, so that "the common sense of mast" rhny rule in practice, as it is supposed to do in theory. Large l electorates play into the hands of the wealthy classes, for of course the larger the electorate the more costly is it to contest it; and even if the amount of expenses are limited by law, there are many ways of evading such statutory provisions. It is clear that single electorates are most democratic in principle, provided the system of election is such as to give clear and effective expression to the will of the people. The existing method, however, seems specially designed to secure minority representation. The Second Ballot Act provided a cumbrous method of securing majority rule; but even that has been swept away by the Reform Government, no attempt being nia-de to substitute a new system. It thus looks as though Ministers had deliberately willed that minority representation shall continue; and this presumption lends color to the assertion that the Massey Government owes its existence to a defective electoral system. Tho present house of Representatives would have borne quite a difl'erent complexion if the electoral system had allowed the free expressi&n of the will of the majority who polled at last general election. Tho votes as cast for the different candidates ought to have secured the return of 37 Liberals, 27 Masseyites, 10 Lahorites and 2 Independents, Such are the results which the advocates of proportional representation say would have been achieved under their system—that is, assuming that the election took place under the single electorate method; but quite a different result would have been attained under large electorates. It is, therefore, a mistake to agitato for the establishment of the system of proportional representation. The single electorates must be maintained; they are a necessity at the present stage of the Dominion's development; but the electoral system ought to bo amended by the introduction of the single transferable vote, as advocated by Sir John Findlay. This system, we take it, is identical with that laid down in the Preferential Voting Bill that was drafted some years ago by Mr. Kobert McNa.b. Under this system the elector records his vote for each of the candidates in the field, in the order of his preference, as represented by figures placed after each name on tho ballot paper. If at first count any candidate has an absolute majority of "first preference" votes, he is declared elected; if no one •has such u majority, a second, and, if necessary, a third count must take place, adding the .second, third and fourth preference votes until it is determined which candidate would really represent the majority of the electors who polled. Under this "absolute majority" system the voter has the assurance that his vote is in no danger of being thrown away; for as he records a vote for every candidate he knows that whoever may be elected lie has helped to return him; and at the same time the person elected would feel that he really represented the whole constituency and not mere'y the party voters who gave him their first preference votes.' If the New Zealand Democrats really wish to maintain the principle of majority rule, they will insist ui)on the reform of tho electoral system.