THE WAY OUT

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 149, 27 June 1925, Page 7

THE WAY OUT

",■:.-'■ ;:.■■■ TO THB EDITOR, :i/ -:':"'...: Sir,—-Fusion vequi,res "that one; candjr date, and, bi.ieou.Jy pledged to su.pp.ort' the Goverftnient, s,tands.f,or eaoh consti-i tuency .at next : General■Eiection. This means -that in' every constituency 'one prospective. Liberal; candidate or one prospective Reform candidate must make a sacrifice and stand down, .and let his; rival-carry the-> Government colours. I Who is going to linder'taUe/ the task' and incur the oclium, and face, the.-..failufei of this eliminationvpf the unfit? There/ is only-one authority qualified in right and in power to do the sifting, and that is the electorate' itself. No man, • and no caucus/and iio party boss, shouklbo permitted : -to* usurp the right of a constituency .to make its own selection through the medium of the ballot box of the man who is to represent tho ma-, jority .ju":Parliament. But if a Reform candidate, and a Liberal, and a Labour come up to the tape,: it might well be that in many constituencies a Labour candidate may win, because of the splitting of votes between the Reform and tlve Liberal. This is the Government's danger, as. it is the danger in every democracy, 'where three political parties of somewhat equal dimensions have emerged. . .

There is a, way out, and that is the adoption o£ the new modification :o£ the alternative vote. Under this great and now urgent reform ; each ofv the three parties would bo free to send its candidate to'the poll. The elector would be instructed on the ballot-paper containing the three names of the Reform, the Liberal, and the Labour candidates to number each in the order of his choice by placing the numbers*!, 2, and 3 opposite their names;-and the Returning Officer would be instructed to givp to each candidate all the preferences cast in his favour by the voters, and to calculate which of the three commanded a majority. ' Reform electors '■ would, place the figure 1 qpposito the Eeforin candidate pledged to support the Government and. 2 opposite the Liberal candidate also pledged to support the Gqvernm.ent, an.d 3-' opposite tfie Labour Q^idats

| pledged to oppose the Government. ' The Liberal electors would return the com-

pliment. If there were a. majority of Governnient supporters in any constituency, either the Reform candidate or the Liberal candidate must win, for under this system the majority sen,ds its member'to Parliament and cannot be defeated. Whether labelled .Liberal or labelled Reform makes no difference to a Government pledged to a policy that has the approval'of both parties, as the fusion movement indicates.

This : system of voting is in operation in , all the Australian States, .except News South. Wiles and Tasmania, and it prevails also in the Australian Fed-

eration, with this difference only : : that the bottom man on the first count is not rejected, as is the case in"! Australia. All preferences are allotted to each candidate! as the voters direct before any rejection .takes place. -:■ ''This secures.-the "seat to the majority man without fail, whoever may be at the bottom on the first count. Proportional representation has had another trial in . the recent elections - in New South .Wales and Tasmania, and the "Bulletin"' says of it:—-"Proportional representation is a fool of a system. The sooner it is abolished the. better." .'',. "'/■■. .

'■%: It is not often that a great reform and/j the •interests of;-majority rule and the danger of minority rule make'a change in electoral, methods so urgent, and the Government could pass an Act in ihe^ coming : session that. would , moct the emergency: at the General Election.—l am, etc., 1' : i ■ . " ■ ■•'-' : • .: 1 ■ W. A, CHAPPLE. '. 26th I June./ ■ •/ ; .'•'._ „;;,; ";