POLITICAL NOTES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 79, 30 September 1914, Page 8

POLITICAL NOTES

ENROLLING ELECTORS COMPLAINT BY SIR JOSEPH WARD THE PREMIER'S REPLY. "What is the position in regard to the electoral rolls?" asked Sir Joseph Ward of the Government in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. "There is," he added, "an uneasy feeling that the people are being humbugged over these rolls. That feeling exists all over New Zealand at the present moment. I don't blame the Electoral Department," he added, "because I think that their efforts are in the direction of trying to ensure that the people shall be enrolled, but there are thousands of people who don't know where they are or where they are going to be because they cannot get an opportunity of seeing the roll, and there is a fear among them that they will not get on to the roll." There ought, he added, to be legislation to ensure that everyone who had the right to vote and was left off the roll should be given the right to vote. He had had communications from practically all parts of the country in respect of this matter, and he gathered that in many country districts there were thousands of people being left off the rolls — the working people who could not afford the time to enrol themselves during the hours set aside for that 1 purpose. The Right Hon. W. F. Massey said that everything possible was being done, and would be done between now and the issue of the writs, to ensure a perfectly clean electoral roll for each constituency. "We hope," he said, "that every male and female entitled to be enrolled will be enrolled, and that there will be no names on the roll which ought not to' be there." Hon. F. M. B. Fisher : The main roll will be issued on 7th October. Mr. Massey said that even more than the usual precautions would be taken, and are being taken, to see that the roll was perfectly satisfactory to all the people concerned. GOVERNMENT BY CAUCUS. " Government by caucus " was the description applied by the Leader of the Opposition to his oppo- ! nents on tho Treasury benches in the House last night. They couldn^ do , anything, he said, without a caucus, ' unless it was with a commission or a , board. If any initiative was required, j the Government "appointed a commission or created a board, or, if they were not ' available, they resorted to caucus. I And when the caucus had met, the ! members on the Opposition benches could see how it had gone by the looks on the faoe6 of thq tMinistry and Ministerial members. A member: It would do you good to como along. Sir Joseph said he would have great pleasure in coming along iif the Whips . invited him to the caucus, and gave an undertaking to discuss things just as freely ac they did if he was not there. " I should probably," concluded Sir Joseph, " hear some nice things about myself."' (Laughter.)