THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1909. "A PUBLIC SCANDAL."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3178, 1 May 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1909. "A PUBLIC SCANDAL."

The recent Municipal elections in the Dominion appear to have been productive of at least one good result, viz., the drawing of attention to the unsatisfactory manner in which the rolls are compiled, indeed, it might be said that the rolls are scarcely compiled or arranged at all. As matters stand at present it is quite possible, at any rate, in the larger towns for persons' who are not entitled to vote to give an effective vote, which the Returning Officer would duly record, and to escape absolutely scathless from the wrongful action committed. The mention, however, of persons voting who have no right to vote immediately raises the question in the mind of every m micipal reformer as to what extent the municipal franchise should be granted. For our own part we have no patience with the restricting of a privilege, which should be exercisable by every man and woman of ordinary intelligence. Wealth was never yet the hall mark of either respectability or intelligence, and history has not yet produced a singl instance of a democracy, enjoying the widest suffrage that it is almost possible to imagine, abusing its privilege, that is, carrying by popular vote measures inimicable to the general welfare of the community. The "Dominion" newspaper may describe it as "a public scandal," and, figuratively speaking, hold up its hands in horror upon realising the fact that the municipal roll of Wellington was not quite in the good order that it should have been in on Wednesday last, but sure!/ the questioning of the right of a percentage of the adult population to ba upon the roll at all reveals a very much greater "public scandal," and one which the pen of every able journalist should be directed towards removng. The franchise question is certainly one in regard to which an enormous amount of prejudice is shown, and after all, it is merely prejudice. The strongest objection towards extending any franchise, that is to say the most energetic, invariably comes from the quarter of vested interests, but experience has shown that vested interests are safer in the hands of democracy, than when committed to the care of those similarly nterested. In America we have in-

stances innumerable of greater "corporations," not merely preying upon smaller, hut absolutely consuming them, or ruining them for the benefit of the already enormously wealthy. It is a grievous error to suppose that wealth protects wealth, or that selfishness is capable of caring for anything else than itself. But apart from the discussion of a question, which we may seem to have treated somewhat academically, we would suggest that any proposal in the direction ot extending voting power always appears to be met with a degree of unreasoning hos- , tility. No better example of our suggestion could be found than the opposition that is accorded in certain quarters at Home to the female suffrage movement. Enlightened men have made speeches there upon the female suffrage question, which, if made in New Zealand, would have caused them to be howled off the platform, and not a single public man in New Zealand would have put in a word in their defence. But we are digressing once more, and space will not permit ol our discussing the extension of the municipal franchise to a much further extent upon the present occasion. We will conclude by observing that we should like to see it similar to the Parliamentary franchise, and moreover, .we consider that the rolls should be more strictly kept. The public should be gently made aware of the privilege that they enjoy by deprivation of it if they do not take the trouble to see that their names are on the roll within a certain time. A practical, fearless, democratic and impartial system should be observed in the compiling of the rolls, and then we would hear less of "public scandals," and other matters, which certain reactionaries seem more anxious to continue than to remove.