The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED "The Evening News," "The Morning News," and "The Echo." THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 1878.

Auckland Star, Volume IX, Issue 2604, 22 August 1878, Page 2

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED "The Evening News," "The Morning News," and "The Echo."

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 1878.

For the cause that lack* assistance, For the ifTons; th»t needs resistance, I f For the future in the distance, ,', . , And the good that we cm da

I-The withdrawal of Mr Whitaker's Representation' Bill last night may be taken as a declaration tHat"the House will accept the Government : Bill as a basis of the new -' Electoi allaw. - 'This is an important indica--tionjjf&quiet'isession, lor no other measure before the .House is likely to excite very much opposition. We have reviewed the Electoral Bill so often that most 'of our readers are", no doubt, familiar with its provisions. [, Its distinguishing features are the exclusion of Maoris from European electoral rolls unless ratepayers, and a "residential qualification-," by virtue of which every person'resident for two.years in the colony and six-months in any ; electoral district, capable 'of signing his own name, shall rbe; a-duly qualified elector. This modified rformKdf ,manhood suffrage will, we believe,meet all present wants,f or though "it is doubtful whether in the case of lodgers a majority will be able to claim the privilege won by a continuous six months' endurance ', of one landlady, a'pretty wide; choice of locations isl'■-'•offered in each electorate. The household franchise is fixed at £10 per annum, and the property franchise at a clear £25 value. The ratepayers' franchise requires considerable amendment to make it workable, quite apart frigun the hoiror which certain honourable members appear to entertain respecting the right of voting enjoyed- by ladies who are, as the Act quaintly expresses it, "seised of lands and tenements." It is proposed to include in the electoral roll the names of all" persons who appear in the ratepayers' list for any district. The Registration of Electors Act, 1875, framed for the same'purpose, was found to be quite useless for the object sought, viz., to register the .names, of persons who may themselves have neglected to qualify. The -Act provided "That an alphabetical list of all persons, who c have been assessed, and who shall have paid rates, should be forwarded to the Registration Officer in each year before the 31st day of March. But in reality these lists for all practical purposes were valueless, the property qualifications being- in no .case shown, or distmguishedsufficienntly to identify the owners of property/ or to prevent confusion. Thus, a ratepayers^ roll j may have -half-a-dozen persons of the name of John Brown living, say, in Queen-street, or a dozen Smiths or Robinsons living in. one street. How could the Registration Office utilise such lists - without some' means of identifying any one person with some property, or of ascertaining if the person on the ratepayers' roll was not the John Brown already on. the electoral roll ? The commonness of some names aggravatosthe difficulty so miich that the Returning Officer, to prevent confusion, did not take much notice of these returns when sent to him, and it is needless to add, very few found their way on the rolls. A large amount of extra work was thrown on clerks of municipal and highway districts,for wfeich no provision for remuneration was made, •~~4~*"L«nian_v of the latter are honorary, Act, the law became virtually a deaa letteivUnless better provision is made in the new Electoral Bill, it is certain this portion will remain as useless in the future as it has been in the past.