Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1909.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 111, 12 May 1909, Page 6

Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1909.

AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT. «. The unsatisfactory nature of the existing system of Parliamentary vepresentation has lately attracted a good deal of attention both in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom. If, as has been said, "the aim of all representation is to reproduce in the representative body the opinions and wishes of those who elect it," then it must be conceded that the system of single-mem-ber electorates, in which every elector has one vote and no more, and the seat goes to the candidate who polls the largest number of votes, is a failure. It is also clear that the system must fail even if there were only two candidates in -each constituency, whether or not these- two represented the same parties in each case. The simplest position that conld arise under the system would be if Government and Opposition had each one candidate and no more in every constituency, and no Independent or "freak" candidates appeared to complicate the issue and spoil the duel. If, under these conditions, the Government candidate secured a lead of, say, 5 per cent, in every district, then the Government would have a 100 per cent, of the representatives, though 55 per cent, would be more than its share on any ' equitable system of representation. Such an absurdity has never happened", because the unfair advantage which one party gets in one placj is to some extent balanced by the advantage unfairly given to its rival somewhere else. But to suppose that even in the United Kingdom, where there are 670 members to be elected, the general result of the chapter of accidents is to work out something approximating to a true representation of the country, would • be a delusion. The system is grossly misrepresentative, and it was so long before the rising power of the Labour Party confused the struggle in many constituencies by the intrusion of a third candidate commanding a large support. The representation given to Manchester at the last general election supplies a good example of the working of the system under the simplest possible . conditions. In none of the six divisions did a third candidate come forward. The two Labour candidates were accepted by the Liberals, and for this purpose may therefore be treated as Liberals. On this basis the aggregate of the voting was: — Liberal, 35,24<7 ; Conservative, 21,682. With a vote of nearly three-eighths of the total the Conservatives were entitled to at lfcast two of the B«a,ts. But e.s there was* not ft poijsgrvfttiye swiority i& ftß^<2.np.of

" the divisions, all the six seals went ito the Liberals, who, in entire disregard ! of the 21,000 voters who were allowed [.no representation, declared that Manchester was "solid for Freetrade." Similar absurdities could be multiplied indefinitely. The general result was well stated by Mr. Asqnith in his reply * ±o<a deputation ■winch waited upon him on the 10th November last to urge "a complete and authoritative enquiry on the - subject of electoral reform in view of the promised legislation on the subject." He agreed with the deputation that it was "impossible to defend the rough-and-ready method which we had hitherto adopted as a proper or satisfactory application of the representative principle." "It was not merely.," said the British Prime Minister, "that under our existing system a minority in the country might return a majority in the House of Commons, but what much more frequently happened, and what he was disposed to agree was equally injurious in its results, they had almost always a disproportion in the relative size of the majority and minority in the House as compared with their relative size in the constituencies which they were assumed to represent." The evil, then, is gross and palpable. What is the i-emedy? Nobody familiar with the facts will seriously suggest that the Second 'Ballot, as applied in New Zealand, is a remedy. The fundamental absurdity of the present system, which we exemplified in the case of [Manchester, is absolutely untouched by the Second Ballot; and even within its own limited sphere the Second Ballot can hardly be said to have realised any advantage comparable to the cost involved. A more scientific attempt has been made in Tasmania, where the experiment of the single transferable vote nad previously achieved a considerable success. If the testimony of Mr. IM'Gowen, Leader of the Labour Party in New South Wales, is to be accepted, the same cannot be said of the Hare System, under which the recent general election in Tasmania was conducted. Mr. tM'iGowen condemns the system as "an absolute negation of the principles of manhood suffrage," and declares that "it only stands for the representation of minorities and of various sectional ideas." It would certainly be wise to await further argument before accepting this sweeping condemnation. Confusion was inevitable on the first institution of such a system, but Mr. M'Gowen implies defects of a much more radical and less evanescent character. For the purposes of the election the State was divided into five constituencies, returning six members each, and voters were requested to vote for six candidates each, indicating by numbers their order of preference. In order to prevent the "plumping " by which the Queensland voter is said to evade the responsibilities of the contingent vote, the Tasmanian Act invalidates every ballot-paper on which less than three candidates have been voted for. The experiment is one of the utmost interest, and the whole Empire is concerned to know the fullest details of its working. It is possible that Mr. M'Gowen's condemnation merely means that the undue advantage which Labour hoped to get under the old system l*s been put out of its reach. As quoted by us yesterday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on the eve of the elections that the Labour party feared that its chances from the splitting of votes between the other parties were ruined, while the Anti-Socialists were afraid that Labour would benefit as the only party able to record a block vote. If the fears of both these parties have been realised, the explanation may be that the experiment has secured a fairer representation of the diversified interests of the States as a whole — which is, of course, exactly what the Hare system seeks to effect. But until fulkr information is available we cannot , either affirm or deny the soundness of Mr. M'Gowen's criticism.