THE COUNTRY QUOTA.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1917, Page 6

THE COUNTRY QUOTA.

WHAT IT MEANS. From Our Wellington Correspondent. Wellington, Sept. 17. The Prime Minister's promise to the House of Representatives that before the next general election it would have an opportunity to discuss the "country quota" lias aroused some sort of interest in a subject which the average member of Parliament understands as little as does the average man in the street. The popular idea is diat away in the dim and distant past it was decreed by a. "Tory" Government that the rural districts, on account of their sparse population and their difficulties of communication, should have a larger r.hare of parliamentary representation than the urban districts and that no subsequent Government, whatever its party color, has had sufficient courage to repeal a decree which has had the inevitable effoci; of maintaining in the House a majority of country members. The idea roughly summarises the position, but the "country quota," whether for good or for evil, cannot he fairly attributed to any one party.

■ '•• ITS GENESIS. 'Previous to the passage of the Electoral Act of 1887 parliamentary representation had been based for some years -on population, but subject to the provision that the commissioners who fixed the boundaries of the electorates might take into consideration "tho locality of the district and the facility or otherwise of access thereto." In proposing in 1887 a more precise definition of the "country quota" by fixing tho advantage given to the rural districts at 15 per cent Sir Robert Stout was careful to explain it was only an expedient to get over a passing difficulty. "Of course," he said, "as the population of the colony increases this portion of tho Bill will be dropped out and then representation in New Zealand will fte based entirely upon population." But Sir Robert Stout went out of office in the same year and in ISS9 and 18(10 with Sir HarryAtkinson in power the "country quota" was raised to 28 per cent and has remained at that proportion ever since.

HOW IT OPERATES. '■ The "country quota" does not give the rural elector any greater voting power, directly, thau the urban elector enjoys. One man one vote remains the law of the land. But the country, elector votes in a smaller constituency than the urban elector does and thus gets, directly and indirectly q, larger share of representation. The electoral quota, the population required to entitle a district to send a member to the House, is ascertained by dividing the total population of the Dominion, after adding 28 per cent to the rural population, by the total number of members. At the general election of 1911, for instance, the total population was 1,008,200,, 488,715 being urban population and 519,491 rural population, and after adding 28 per cent, to the rural population, the nominal total was 1,153,604. This means that for electoral purposes it was assumed there were 488,715 people residing in the borough areas and 604,949 in the country districts. ITS EFFECT.

The electoral quota was fixed on these figures in round numbers at 15,180, with the statutory latitude of 100 persons in the ease of urban electorates and 550 in the ease of rural electorates. In other words a city district had to produce at least 15,080 living people to secure a member while a country district might be required to produce only 11,750 or even fewer, its nominal quota being made up of the country quota and the statutory allowance. As a matter 01 fact-Kaipara had only 11,508 inhabitants when it returned a member six years ago, Wairarapa 11,503, Rangitikei 11,524, Motueka 11,503. Hurunui 11,441, Selwyn 11,474, Temuka 11,575, Waitaki 11,575. Bruce 11,433 and Wallace 11,408. At the same time the purely city constituencies ran from 15,275 in Wellington East to 15.153 in Auckland Central and their populations secured nearly one third less representa'tion than they would have obtained if 'they had voted in the country.

THE DEMAND FOR REFORM. This is not the place to discuss the rights or the wrongs of the system that produces these results, but there obviously is a growing feeling in the House that the position should be reviewed, if only to ascertain the views of the electors on the question. When the "country quota" was first proposed it was strongly denounced by Sir James Allen, who was then representing a city constituency in the House, and Dr. Newman and. was tolerated only as a necessity of the times by Mr. Rolleston, Sir John Hall and other big figures in the political arena of those days. As a result of the census of last year the volume of the "country quota" will be somewhat reduced by the ' further movement of population towards the towns, but the electoral quota will be considerably increased and if the absent soldiers are taken into account probably will reach .16,300 or even more.