PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.

Grey River Argus, 18 July 1922, Page 4

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.

There is a humorous side to the respective attitudes of the Liberals and Reformers towards proportional representation. The former fancy it might save them from extinction, while the hitter know it would dissipate their majority. Mr Massey now openly commits himself to the opinion Labour has long entertained that there is no room for a middle party to-day. between the forces of progress and reaction. lie even goes so far as to parcel up the Liberals between Labour and his own party. Mr Massey now and again makes a little excursion into Scriptural and poetic realms, and his quotations are more amusing than anything else. Tic says the Liberals must choose now between light and darkness, or some such alternative. Call it what they may, the dilemma is certainly there, and > if the Liberals rest on its horns much longer they will be tossed into political jeopardy individually. Mr Statham is going great guns in appropriating Labour ideas, but his one object seems to be to secure the return of his party of one. The Premier professes to think proportional representation would endanger the country quota, and so also his party ’s retention of seats on a minority vote, lie would like to “try it on the dog,”—i.e., the Upper House. His colleagues would not mind seeing it apply to the cities, but when it comes to the country, where a smaller number of electors go to each constituency at present, Mr Massey says the system would be objectionable. What is to prevent larger rural electorates being demarcated from urban areas under proportional representation which, despite all the talk, has, everywhere it has been tried, ensured a stable strength to the parties representing different interests? That seems to be the last thing the Tories want to see—the adequate representation in Parliament of sections of the community. In setting up quotas, allowance can be made for both urban and rural electors. The distinction, anyway, is not a truly democratic one, but it can easily be maintained, if thought fit. The promises of the Premier to improve the lectoral system have been shamefully ignored by him. He has been deliberately fooling the people and their representatives. He has been at that sort of thing since the first year he took office. And unless the electors grow wise to his ruse, ho will go on fooling them.