"P.R. FAILURES."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19057, 20 July 1927, Page 13

"P.R. FAILURES."

TO THE EDITOH OF THE, PRESS. Sir,—Your leading article under this heading in Friday's issue is what might be expected from an official organ of the Party at present in power in this Vountry, inasmuch as you.are naturally anxious to justify their conduct in betraying the cause of Proportional Kepresentation. You are welcome to whatever satisfaction Sir James Craig s declaration affords you, and, in fact, you might have added that, shortly before the late elections in the Free State, Mr Cosgrave likewise condemned Proportional Representation. Curiously enough neither of these gentlemen dare go to the length of stating that voters who belong to minorities should be disfranchised. They are still to have the franchise, hut an electoral system has to be'devised which, bv making their votes ineffective, will have the same effect as disfranchisement! It mav be added that Sir James Craig has made the same threat before, but he saw good reason to refrain from giving effect to it. Mr Cosgrave, of course, visualises single-member electorates and an understanding with the Unionists, -as a result of which the very powerful Republican minority in Ireland would be precluded from winning seats in proportion to their numerical strength. Thus, he would be in the same position as Mr Baldwin, who governs England,' though he polled about a fourth of the voters; or, coming nearer home, he would be in the WPJ position in which Mr Coates finds himself with 60 per cent of the repressntation, though he secured 38 per cent, of the votes of the electors of this country. However, it remains to be seen whether Mr Cosgrave and fcir James Craig will proceed with their united assault on the public interest 'n the meantime, the fact remains that Proportional Representation, both in the Free State and in Northern Ireland has been a distinct success. Not the least evidence in its favour is that it .meets with the opposition of mochine politicians of every brand. Everywherei that nnsavour v breed hates |ndependent opinion, though no fact na& o ata endeni ° Pini<m to the .aAf rd i n * Prance y° u are altogether tin«!f '-o F anCO never has had Propor- ■ tipnal The system^e-

vised by her Chauvinist war-mongers in 1919 was totally at variance with the principles' of .Proportional Representation. As a matter of fact, the Proportional Representation Society of England issued an official statement showing that the French invention had nothing in common with the principles for which the organisation stands. The motive behind the Electoral Law of 1919 was to prevent anti-war opinion from having proper representation. The wirepullers have discovered, however, that their scheme was far less effective than they had contemplated. Accordingly they have now reverted to the Second Ballot, under which two or three Parties may combine, thereby preventing other Parties from having any representation in the gerrymandered constituencies. The cabled intimation that the so-called proportional system was responsible for groups in Parliament is palpably false. Every legislature on the Continent, the French Legislature in particular, has long been divided into groups. The proportional system has grown in popular favour for several reasons, not the least of which is that it assures each group participation in the national councils and effectively gets rid of combinations and _ alliances whereby some sections of opinion are effectively disfranchised while others secure a predominance altogether beyond their numerical strength. In conclusion, I may be pardoned for reminding you that in attempting to belittle the cause of Proportional Representation, you are evidently unmindful of certain facts affecting the Party you support. Sir John Hall, Sir William Russell, and Sir Frederick Whitaker were lifelong supporters of Proportional Representation. Mr Massey supported the system and voted for.it while he sat in Opposition, and until very recently the great majority of proportionalists in this country belonged to the same political affiliation. Converts, according to Cardinal Newman, are. not given to reviling the principles they have seen fit to abandon. Who will write the "Apologia" of the so-called Reform Party?— Yours, 6tC '' P. J. O'REGAN. Wellington; July 16th. [Wc refer to this letter in our leader columns. —Ed. The Pres^.]