PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14760, 2 September 1913, Page 3

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.

♦ ■ - ELECTION OF MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS. In a report presented to the City Council last night, the By-laws Committee recommended that the Government be requested to amend the Municipal Corporations Act Amendment Bill, now before tho House, to provide that tho principles and methods of proportional representation (as set out. in the Bill prepared by the Council for the reconstitution of the Lyttelton Harbour Board) might be applied to the election of city and borough councillors, and that the city solicitor be instructed to prepare a clause for inclusion in the Bill authorising city and borough councils to adopt the said principles and methods by special order made in that behalf, provided that in a case where tho council of a divided borough made a special order as aforesaid, all the wards of tho said borough shall be thereby abolished. In order to save time the city solicitor was asked to prepare the proposed clause. The committee also recommended that the Government be requested to amend the Bill in the direction of applying, as far as possible, the same method of election to the election of mayor, thus ensuring majority representation. ; HARBOUR BOARD ELECTIONS. | The Committee also reported that tho Lyttelton Harbour Board Election Bill which had been prepared by the city solicitor, provided for the election of members of the Lyttelton Harbour Board on the principle of proportional representation, as already approved by the Council. Mr Davey had been asked to introduce it as a private member's Bill, or as he thought most advisable. Tho reports were adopted.