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New Zealand Mail, Issue 843, 27 April 1888, Page 16

The Electoral Law Amendment proposals have not yet been discussed in Cabinet, and several important points have still to be definitely settled. The qualification of electors is understood to be one of these, and it is suspected that considerable dif-

ference of opinion exists in the Cabinet itself as to whether (1) plurality of voting should be abolished altogether, only the residential qualification being retained ; or (2) whether the number of districts in which a vote may be exercised should be limited to two or three; or (3) whether the present plan should be preserved of allowing each person to vote in every district in which he has a specified interest. It is not thought likely that there will be any further extension of the polling hours, which are considered to be now long enough to afford ample time for every elector to record his vote if he choose to take the trouble to do so.

It is not yet decided whether any Bill amending the Land Act of last session shall be brought in this session, but at present the disposition seems to be to postpone it to the following session. It is rumoured that if an Amendment Bill should be introduced one prominent feature wifi be a provision as to the reletting of the Canterbury runs, whose leases expire in May, 1890, and that it will be proposed to classify those runs', distinguishing the purely pastoral from the semi - agricultural, and according a lengthened fixed tenure of 14 or 21 years in the former case, so as to give greater security and encourage improvements.