The Hastings Standard Published Daily. MONDAY, FEB. 22, 1897. ELECTORAL REFORM.

Hastings Standard, Issue 253, 22 February 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

MONDAY, FEB. 22, 1897. ELECTORAL REFORM.

For the cause that lacks assistance,| Fur the tjjat nred rebalance, fur the future in the distance. And the good that we can do.

Tuk [»res*'i)t electoral law haw lor its ba»i* the Hitpertitie theory of i'«[intliiy anil purity. !n tin- i-vc of the electoral law ( very aluit, man or woman, is r<pial, ami in this resjM-ct it h doubt fill whether there is - n « < ( justice. Natiir.il Luv ordattlH dith r» lit 1 v, and men aii'l wuiiieii van in ■ ti-'ie in all the liner and (til the Imer .j.i.ihties , the artificial and the natural «lisk*r. and with the political -ntulimeuis that tirnl fa\or in tin country now it w /il l |m rank liMwy to nay that the law is «lefecti\e in so far as iiuMti liitu jl of " one adult one *ot« " i* con«« ri ««1 liowtwr, we ittUit accent liifc rull%

sentiment, but there is no reason to compel acceptance of a law as unalterable, which is impotent to accomplish that fairness which passes for purity. The elections of to-day though vastly less corruptly conducted are nevertheless very much tainted. The petition in connection with the Wellington City election which was decided last week revealed howsimple a matter it is to driv<? the proverbial " carriage and four through an Act of Parliament. Perhaps the greatest mischief lies in the fact that the Local Option Poll and the General Election are decided at one and the same time. There are no restrictions or limitations with respect to the former, but for the parliamentary contest there are some tery urgent and very wholesome restrictions. But when an unrestricted contest and a restricted one are decided at the one time, and the same combatants are angaged in both, it becomes an impossible thing to discern where limitations do or do not cease. Under cover of the licensing poll it is possible to engage in every degree of political corruption without coming under the ban of the law,»and it is manifest that unless the one is disengaged from the other the corruption which seems inevitable in every election will increase. It is freely admitted that it is a huge mistake to take the licensing poll and the general election on the same day. If the limitations, restrictions, and penalties could be brought into agreement in the laws which govern the two polls, all may be well, but the divergent methods which now exist tend to gross corruption. The administration of the two Acts may be illustrated by fancying the driver of a carriage and four whipping the leaders into a gallop, and at the same time doing his utmost to keep the polers at a gentle trot. Disaster is inevitable. The licensing poll and the general election, though run together are not suited for double harness, and a change is imperative. There is a good deal of high-class stupidity about some of our laws and the way they are administered, and the taking of the licensing poll and the general election on the same day is a puissant example. Would it not be better to take the licensing poll with the licensing election ? There -is a strong family likeness between the two, but there is no connection between the licensing poll and the general election. The last Parliament did some funny things, and generally viewed measures and sentiments as with the optics of Chinamen—obliquely, hence the clashing of the laws manufactured. The new Parliament will it is to be hoped remedy all the defects of the electoral laws that have been made apparent by the general election.