The Evening Star TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1905.

Evening Star, Issue 12397, 10 January 1905, Page 4

The Evening Star TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1905.

9>r Friday last we made reference to the TheDraUage " rol1 " lla s been camBoard Election, piled by the Drainage.Board far the purpose of the approaching election of three members of that body, and felt it our duty to direct the ratepayers' particular attention to the fake economy involved m the procedure. We return to the subject, because we are fully persuaded that if this type-written roll bo made to do duty ou polling day the consequences may be disastrous and costly, far exceeding the outlay on a properly-printed roll. It wilL of oour.se, be recognised that -wo do not attach - any blame whatever to the Board's principal executive officer, who, as we have already remarked, is fortified by legal advice that is likely to be generally deferred to. It is therefore with the utmost diffidence and not a little trepidation that we question the soundness of th© advice tendered on this occasion. Now, the justification for preparing an abstract of the municipal rolls, instead of reprinting them in the form suggested in the Board's own Act, is alleged to exist in the following subsections:

5. The citizens and bnrgesses for the time being entitled to vote for the election of City and borough councillors in the City and in each of the several boroughs forming part of the district (herein called "the electors") shall at the time and in manner hereinafter set forth elect the BoaTd. . . .

6. A roll, to bo called the "district electoral roll," shall be formed, upon which shall be entered the names of all persons having the. qualifications hereinbefone described as electors, which roll shall be compiled from the several burgess rolls and lists of tho City and the boroughs within the district, as tke same are SETTLED AND SIGNKD, but SO that CCtch pernon'z name sIwU only be entered once. ...

Wo submit; that the Legislature, by its frequent use of the term "roll" in tho tbove-quoted sections, contemplated the employment of the rolls prepared by the bc.il authorities. (Subsection 3of clause 10 of the Board's Act of 1902 is confirmatory of this view, for it declares that

The local authority having jurisdiction therein shall from time to timo furnish to the Board a list or roll, signed by its chairman, containing the names of aJD persons residing or having property within the said area who possess a qualification entitling them to vote for" the election of members of the said local authority, and such list or roll shall form part of tho District Electoral Roll.

If we turn to the Regrdation of Local Electionß Act passed last session wo find in the interpretation clause that a roll must be made in the manner provided for by law, and contain the "names of all persons entitled to vote at an election." It is clear, therefore, that in the spirit of the Municipal Corporations Act the qualification of "residential" and "freeholder" is kept alive for the purposes- of a Drainage Board election. This is only as it should be, for tho tenant's interest in drainage matters is quite as absorbing us that of the property-owner. And it is worth remembering that the Local Ejections Act repeals only clause 16 of the Municipal Act. Now, under the last-mentioned enactment the ,Governor-b-CoTincil has thought fit to frame a series of regulations for the conduct of municipal elections, and in one of the schedules therein is set oat the exact form in. which the district electors' list or roll shall be compiled. Whether it be need for an undivided borough or a borough divided into wards, it must supply this information.: (1) Number on the roll; (2) surname and Christian, name; (3) occupation; (4) qualification—whether freehold, ratepayer or residential; (5) situation of property; and (6) whether the qualification is claimed in voter's own. right or in right of husband or wife, as the case may be. There are obviously excellent reasons why tfe specific information should be forthcoming even in respect to a Drainage Board election Under ih& Local Elections Act a returning officer may, at the call of any scrutineer, put questions (section 22) to the voter to determine, inter alia, whether at the time of voting he retains the qualification for which he was enrolled. We have already hinted at the possibility of personation being rendered easy if a roll be used that omits the essentials enjoined by the Legislature, and it does not moke for the avoidance of risks of that kind if voters are entitled, as we believe them to be, to vote at any booth within tne<lramagearea, whether they be burgesses of the particular ward or borough or not. It, seems to us, after close study of the provisions of the statute bearing on the point at issue, that an abstract of the district electors' roll which omite the data enumerated in the regulations under the Municipal Corporations Act is not a legal roll within the meaning of that Act, and furnishes material for successfully challenging any election so conducted. That is a pitfall which the Board, will be as anxious as anyone to avoid.

The Fates continue to -war against Mr Chamberlain and to range Home themselves on tire side of ByfroleeUous. the Opposakm. The victories gained at the byeelections lost year are apparently- to be repeated in the present .jesrr af._grace.. Stejys

bridge, a fairly safe Conservative stab, has been wrested from the party, and a Liberal elected by a gratifying majority. Tho oubcom© will undoubtedly bo to stiffen tho backs of waverers, to call forth, fresh anticipations of ultimate triumph, and to roduoo Mr Chamberlain and Mr Balfour's followers to proving, as they doubtless mil to thoir own satisfaction, if not to that of the outside world, that bye-elcufcions are not an infallible test of bucccss ab a General Election. Nor are they. Tho history of parliamentary oontesta during the paßt thirty years, furnishes amplo evidence to justify the sanguine supporter of the Balfour Government in his faith in their final victory. An expert journalist and parliamentarian of long experience, in tho course of an article discussing this question, has pointed oat, among other instances, that Between the General Election of 1892 and that of 1895, the three years which saw Mr Gladstone suid Lord Rosebery successively filling the office of Prime Minister, the Liberals lost nine seats as the result of bye-elections, and captured four. Nevertheless, when the flowing tide was with the Unionist party after the dissolution of 1895, no fewer than six out of the nine constituencies where the Liberals had sustained defeat returned to their allegiance of 1892—Huddersfield, Linlithgowshire, Grimsby, Forfarshire, the Bngg Division of Lincolnshire, and Mid-Norfolk—whilst Walsall, which fell into the hands of the Liberals in 1893 was won back by the Unionists. '

But whilst this is so, and whilst perhaps equally striking examples of fickleness or uncertainty in public support are forthcoming, we are disposed to think that the current that has set in against Mr Chamberlain's policy is too consistent, as well as too persistent, to be lightly treated or viewed through optimistic spectacles. We are inclined to affirm that the prophet of Preferential Trade and Imperial Union has a clearer insight into the probabilities of the immediate future, and that he is not to be lulled to sleep by ingenious, if not ingenuous, calculations. He foresees temporary eclipse. In the course of his letter to the Sydney Chamber of Manufacturers he sets forth his belief with characteristic frankness. He therein says: Speaking for myself, I shall not be sorry if the ordinary swing of tho pendulum gives them (i.e., the Opposition) an opportunity of showing what is really the charaster of. their alternative policy. I know that the people of this country are an Imperial people, and will not long consent to be governed by Little England ideas. A short time of opposition would invigorate and unite our own party; then, on their return to power, I should look forward to tho triumph of our policy as a question of months rather than of years.

This emphasises the view we have taken, and it », we opine, an accurate diagnosis of the situation. Time is on the side of the Imperialists. To quote Mr Gladstone, "the rising tide is with us," and that being so, the main factor is whether there are one, two, or more men in the ranks of the Tariff Reformers able to carry on the battle when, in the course of nature, the leader passes away, and that in such a manner that victory will at last be theirs. Meantime, the Opposition, it can hardly be too often insisted, present no consistently constructive policy to the country. They denounce, they harangue, they exhort, they deny, and they sometimes call names. The Education and Licensing Acts, the Aliens Bill, and the Chinese Labor Ordinance have provided the critics of tho Balfour Government with ample material, and much capital has been made and some bye-elec-tions won out of them. But will the Opposition repeal the Education Act? Will they depart from the main principles of the Licensing Act? Can they refuse to deal with the question of aliens? Will the Chinese Labor Ordinance be cancelled? Those who know best answer. "Ko" to all these queries, and if they are correct in their assertion then the country may veer round to that condition of public opinion in which all things are possible, and the strengthening of the bonds of Empire through the medium of clcser commercial relations be no longer regarded as Utopian.