REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8477, 8 May 1893, Page 6

REPRESENTATION OF MINORITIES.

TO TUB EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sib,—-Iα hia speech at Leeaton Sir John Hall made some pertinent remarks on this subject, showing how ia Wales 129,000 Libeials returned thirty-one members, while 78,000 Conservatives represented by only three under the present system. Then again contests between M.essr3 Seobie Mackenzie aucl Viuoen't Pyk:e or .itessw G., Hutchison and Bru«e mrist result in a loss to the country. I myself have been compelled to choose between au ally wllom I despised and an opponent whom I sincerely respected. A system which' gives rise to such results as those ia surely too defective to bs longer tolerated. This letter ia intended to provoke discussion, aud by way of commencement let mc propound a plan of my own.

■ Let us assume that Canterbury is entitled to twenty members ; on j* given day every elector votes either Government or Opposition. Tha figures so obtained will siiow how many members either side is entitled to, say for example twelve Ministerialists and eight Oppositionists. Then a 3ec'oud election is held, at which eich elector niay vote either for twelve Ministerialists or eight Oppositionists. This method would secure absolute proportional representation, and is just exactly what every honest mih wants to see.

The weak part of this proposal is the question of expense, but therd are some things we don't mind paying for, and surely justice is one of them. As a matter of fact, however, this mode of, eliciting public opinion would bo so much fairer aud more reliable tliau the existing one that it would justify quinquennial Parliaments. All the best meu on each side would infallibly ba returned, audit would be impossible for a tried man, say a Miuister of several years standing, to be rejected in favour of a local celebrity or a, faddist, such as a prohibitionist in a cold waterdistrick In tact we should succeed in t eliciting public opinion, whereas at present we too frequently see men returned or rejected on private grounds. Lastly, my suggestion would iid us of the independent candidate, and that would be something, aud we should not have a struggle interfered with by prohibition, Bible in schools, aud so on ; supporters of such movements could support or oppose a. Ministry iv accordance with its platform; at the same time they could ensure the returu of 0113 or two of their number, where at, present they caauot do so. Hoping that my readers will think well my suggestion aud improve it.—Yours, &c, J-i.