VOTES FOR THE PARTIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19170, 9 November 1925, Page 7

VOTES FOR THE PARTIES.

- - Sir.-—" Elector " makes out what is evi- ■" dently to him a satisfactory case for the present system of Parliamentary ejections. .! There is an old saying, " Handsome is ? as handsome does." Here is another way J of looking at Wednesday's figures: It :|| took exactly 16,000 votes to elect a Labour | member, nearly 14,000 to return a National j or Liberal member, and a little less than 1 550(1 votes to return a Reform candidate. Is that a fair or democratic resuit, and j can anyone argue that a system of this j kind is likely to produce anything but 1 revolutionary ideas ? J. Rea. i t

| Sir,—l have read the letter signed "j "Elector," with which I totally disagree. ; ] At the election just held I had the option j of roting for one or other of two candidates, neither of whom I wanted to see in Parliament. Owing to the "first past the post" system of .election, I had no * opportunity of voting for a candidate in I wham I had any confidence. My case is ' sin: ply the case of tens of thousands of electors all over the Dominion. It may be i said that electors have themselves to J blfcme inasmuch as they should have seen to it that candidates approved by ihem • were induced to stand, but the answer is : that it was. known beforehand that, under j the present system of election, they would j] stand no chance of election. Dnder the i| proportional system, Auckland would i have been polled as one electorate and ;! probably at least 15 candidates of all 1 shades of opinion would have stood. In i 1 this case my vote would have been effective, if not on the first choice, then on i ♦he second or subsequent preference. Disfranchised. . j