Saturday. MARCH. 25, 1899.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 14, 25 March 1899, Page 3

Saturday. MARCH. 25, 1899.

Jin .Municipal Franchise lloioim Act . w), os into opci.ilion m a few da\s, and <■ ni,i\ not be not <i j m&s to call attention io Ut. nioie nu|)oitant picmsions. The Tu.immo is a cniious jumble, the losulfc of - 1 attempt on (ho pait of the Govemj'Kht to hbei,ih*e the municipal franchise ."id ,i deteiminalion on the pait of (he i c"_:i-.laU\o (A.aiicl to picAeiit iho Got ( in.ncnt i;onig too t.n. Instead of one < ' i-s ot \oteis, the l.itepfneis, th<rLe aie i.o\» ihiee Imts to bo made up, namely, a j i(,pci;\pi s l"-t. ns urdu the Municipal ( o^p nations Ad, 18S6, a freehold list, i.ul a lesidenKil list. r J'he ficehoU list A' ill oon'mn tire names of e\ci^ person ■\> 'io ■• is the beneficial owner of a Aeehold • ,t ite m land of tire cipital valiio of not i -11 than X'"?~3." e^en though another perm nn^ he em oiled as tatcpa\er foi the ime The i evidential list may contain lie ua-nes oi e\ci t s person -who, foi at 3( ist, Lin re months psist, his. been m i up.ition as tenant or &ub tenant, whether ]omt ci 1 several, ot mi} house, v alehouse, shop, or oilier bmldinjj, pio\'dcd that the tcnanc\ shall not be of less l : ian 110 per \«jar ioi cm)\ usidential v- crpaiit thcieundoi. Under the I'unci]nl Att, it ,t, tenant Mas on the 101 l as ',itep,'\ei, the owner of tlie piopeity i'.ici no \o*cq m the ifiiifniinent of the i'oioiiEfh. On the otli'jr hand, if the ( \mipi v i^ontlu mil asiatt-pTAei, though Io lii^lit live outs 'le the boiough, he had .i a oto while the t Pliant had none. Undor il'e ] J nncipfl Act, onb iatepa\cis, who i ii'^ht ho owneis agents, oi tenants could ■vote, pud. iccoirtmg to the lateable value . '.ainst their names on the Aaluation 1011, il«L'\ had one or i ioie votes up to live on . II Minions submitted to a poll, evcept the eJecLion of mavoi, which was conc'uei'K* oi the one-man. one-\ote pimciple. ( ndoi the ne v measure, ou^ wan-one-M>io onh is peumttcd. Sonic ciuious < DiiipliCdtions uify ansc under the ncvi icrswe, and it might be aniusmg to i )llo'\ outafcrt of these, but oiu object ! f piesent is to show, as cleaily as we i "i, who may nov, be placed on the bulges* lists. (I) All latcpa^ ers as under ihe riincipal Act, whether lesident or 1 ct . (2j E\ciy owner of land situate \ illnn the borough, the capital -\alue of v.lrdi is not less than £25; {6) Persons V 'H> as tenants oi sub-tenants, -whose ti'iuinc\ 's not of less \alue than per }imi and wJio hare resided at least three ! imitl Mn the Lovough. Section 15 pioi'iat "1:1 the case of husband and Vl 'e oin (juahiication possessed by one (1 th( in, whether under this Act or the 1 "i'c ivil Act, shall be deemed to be pos- "■> - ( 'il h\ both It will be seen that m a sou-,' dio vow ct extends the franchise, vl * too far in some respects and !ot fai euuroh m otheis. It allows a iolp to il, c now resident owner of a* sec(l'i of the nominal lalue of £1^ and who u i s Is a a ear rates, and not only so, but lt ■would seem as if under section 15 his Ulle K"'^ also be emollecL On the other !l{l »«l, a lesident tenant whose lent is £9 -Us a yeai cannot be enrolled. Again, a Hopun woith ilO a year occupied as a P lf «e ot business by a naanied man who Ues °'>tMtlo the borough may cairy with 't iwir \otcs. The owner and hi& wife, Ul il' lv ig citnt^e tl.e Lcici gh, irny

appear on the ratepayer-, list or freehold, list as the case may be, and the tenant and his wife may appear on the residential list. No one suppose 3 the legislature intended to create such a muddle. The intention w,is doubtless to give a vote to each non-resident owner of la ad valued at £25 for which another person's mm 3 appeal &. on the ratepayers' list, and to each le&nlent tenant and his v.'ife who occupies a progeny worth at least CIO per \ear, but the maddle is there all the same. Our sympathies aie -with the town el'iks, Mho will h.i\c all the bother and wo.i) of t<nmg lo o\olve order out of such chaos. All persons desnous of being em oiled, in \iifcue of the qualification created by tljp new Act, can do so on lorms oblainablo fioin the Town Cleik. IV'isons whose names appear on the ie&idontisl list are not entitled to \ote at any poll relating to loans or rate 1 ?, but luue all th" othei lights of buigesses.