The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. TUESDAY, NOV. 12, 1889.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2705, 12 November 1889, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

TUESDAY, NOV. 12, 1889.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Ot whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political.

Di'uing recent discussions and correspondence on the evils in our present policy and system of administration which cry for immediate reform, it is remarkable that all those writers who have been formulating various political remedies appear to have overlooked the question of representation. Vet, it is one of the most important of the moment, and should be kept green in the minds of the people before the next general elections. Indeed, it mav very properly be said that a revision of the electoral and representation system of the colony is the stepping-stone to procuring all other reforms. Great efforts have been made to remove many anomalies and abuses from our machinery of state, but with little or no success. Most of these attempts have proved abortive because the legislature of the country has failed in its duty to the distinct will of the people. The present method of representation does not assert the principle that should attach to it, and a radical alteration is considered imperative to place it 111 touch with the country. The principle of true representation, as well as the privilege it is supposed to confer upon us, is, the, absolute rule of the majority in the government of j the country ; it has, however, been proved over and over again that this result is seldom actually realised and is a positive myth. Under tho present system, and notwithstanding the ballot, it is almost the rule that parliamentary majorities can be secured and are obtained by a minority of the electors, leaving a vast majority absolutely unrepresented. This is a great evil, which isfollowed in its train by dire consequences with possible calamity to the state at large. To put an end to this condition of things the introduction of Proportional Representation —a modification of the Hare system j with the retention of its principle—• I has been strongly advocated. By it there will be not only the rule of a true majority, but the minority will also obtain representation in proportion to their numerical strength—no section of the people will be left out from participating in the councils of tho nation. 011 previous occasions, when treating this subject, wo have quoted instances adduced by established authorities of tho results of elections conducted 011 tho existing systems, in which the majority have been defoated by the minority, and immense waste of voting power has accordingly taken place. We_ will here give another remarkable illustration of the manner in which the present system of singlo-niombered constituencies operates.

Tho supporters of Homo Rule for Iroiand never fail to assert that tho bulk of tho Irish peoplo have declared in its favour, and they point to the fact that their party has secured an overwhelming majority of members. If we could accept the result of a general election in that way as conclusive evidence of the views of the electors, thoro could be no reply to such an argument. What, however, do wo learn by an analysis of tho general elections in 1880? On that occasion eighty-six seats were contested. Of these, as Sir John Lubbock tolls us. the Home Ilulers gained fifty-two, and the Liberal-Conservatives only thirtyfour. The numbers of voters who polled for the Home Rulers were only 48,000, whilst the Liberals and Conservatives numbered 105,000, or more than double the minority who secured a parliamentary majority. Under the Redistribution Act, which came in force since, the disproportion, is, we believe, even more striking. Ulster, for example, returned at the last elections twenty-eight members, of whom fifteen were Nationalists, and thirteen Liberal-Conservatives. There were in the province 238,585 electors. The Nationalist majority polled 102,267 votes, whilst the Conservative and Liberal minority polled 102,892. Taking the unopposed elections into consideration,

the Nationalists, as they are now termed, do not represent a majority of voters, or even half the number of the electors of Ulster. Here is a terrible loss of votes, with domination of the minority. Under this system Ireland is misrepresented, and serious difficulties are creatcd. As Lubbock says :—" To adopt, indeed, a system of representation, by which we shall exclude from the representation of Ireland one-third of the electors, and give almost the whole power to two-thirds, would, under any circumstances, be unjust; but, to do so when the one-third comprise those who are moderate and loyal, while the two-thirds are led by men not only opposed to the Union, but in many cases, animated by a bitter and extraordinary hatred of England, seems to be an act of political madness.'' We can point to another and more stupendous example of the danger into which a constitutional and democratic country can be led by the misdirection of the just principles of popular representation. It was the deliberate opinion of a committee of the Senate that if the United States had possessed proportional representation, instead of single seats, their disastrous civil war would not have taken place. By the agitation of the leaders of revolt, and the plurality of votes at elections, the patriotic majority were over-ridden by the secessionist minority, and the Union nearly fell to pieces. So, to corne back to ourselves, and guided by the circumstances of other aud kindred countries, we can recognise cho elements of national disaster, together with grave political evils and disabilities, which are associated with the present unequal and imperfect system of socalled representation. Whilst the the system continues there can never be any surety that any Parliament will give effect to the will of tho people, because the members who occupy its seats may not represent the majority of the people ; nor that even the Ministry will be supported by a party representing a legitimate majority of the House. If we are to win reform in the administration, railway policy, taxation, local government, etc., we must provide for ourselves a system that will give us a legislature which shall truly reflect the views of the whole people, in which the majority and minority will be represented in exact proportions. We must banish from our minds all those local, parochial influences which have hitherto swayed our politics and cramped the actions of our legislators. In place of that, we must bend our energies to questions presenting themselves on the wide field of national policy and aspirations.

When Mr Hi.slop withdrmv his Representation Bill of last session, lie did so on tho understanding that the Government would endeavour to educato the colony during tho recess to the advantages of tho Hare system. We think no time should bf> lost in doing so. for it is desirable that public opinion becomes decided on the question before next session, in order that the Bill may bo accepted by the country. If the next Parliament, with its reduced number of members, be elected 011 an improved system of representation, as proposed, we may safely build our hopes on beholding a great and beneficial change in the character of our future legislation, policy, and national condition generally.