PURGING THE ROLL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10586, 15 October 1910, Page 1

PURGING THE ROLL.

members urge radical re form:

By Telegraph,

to the<Oamaiu Mail.) Wellington, October 1-1 A detailed cuticikm ot the system of [roll purging and the readjustment of 'electoral boundaries was indulged in b\ members of the 'House to-day in Com'mittee'on an item or d£6774'm the Esti'mates'.foi the" Electoral Department. Hon. T. M/Wilford.introduced 'the 'subject by humorously complaining that quite "a number of rdead ( < men walked .on election day,- and not only walked 'butivoted. .-■ '>' -~ Mr Fisher- It is resuirection Say.i ! Mr G-. Witty (Riccarton) said that tho 'Representation Commissioners, had not exercised commonsense m adjusting the boundaries. Thiec candidates in Canterbury had to oross the same river, 'which was over a-mile wide, although this could have been-av oided, and his own boundaiy had gone 20 miles round )to include a dozen voters. The people had appealed and no notice had been ; taken of their appeal. 1 Mr C sA. Hardv (Selwjn) said that 'the faulrlny with the House, which had 'placed'awkwaid limitations on tho Com,missioneis. ' The Minister in, charge of the Department, the Hon D Buddo, said that the t corrections on tho rolls since the last .general election had totalled 30 per >cent. and the lolls were always ready for abuse. He wished to lemmd the Ho'use that it-had deliberately reduced the margin from 25 to per cent on the ground that the Commissioners w ere 'to.keep within the, limits of 12 pei cent. ' ' Mr T. H. Davcy (Christchurch East) said 'that, community ot interest shpukl be ihe ruling point Hi the Commissioners' mmd, but some of the southern boundaiies wcie absolutely stupid. Riccarton, which was laigelj a subuiban district had been altcied to inn tioiu Sunnyside to CKloid. while Papamuand "Belfast had been attached to Kaiapoi That district was a fanning distnct, and had no community ot inteiest with The svstom ot pmgiug the rolls was ladicallj wiong and should bo alteied. Last yeai, in his own electorate, the letunmig oftcci had stiuck 1750 names otf the main 101 l after it had been punted m Wellington, and. lo(H) liad been added He also wished to know what sense theie was in sending 1000 copies ot the 101 l to East Chnstchurch foi sale and 1500 to Chnstchnrch South. On two pages ol his own 101 l theie had been 25 dead men's names although theie had been three yeais to puige the roll The local letiuning officer should puigc the roll bettei thau the officer in Wellington The numbei of adults on the lolls was far in excess ot the votcis 1 in East Christcluuch. There had been 8200 on the 1011, vet 2000 ol them had not voted, although the conditions could not ha\ e been bettei He suggested that ll mombus cast up the total 101 l numbei of all the electoiates m tho Dominion thev would find'that the total was twothuds ot the census population Jt was tunc that a law_ was passed fotbidding anjone but Government officcis fiom placing names on the 1011. ' Mi Fisher moved to reduce the item by £1 as an indication of opinion that greater fieedom should be given to the Commissioners in considering the electoial boundaries so as to ensure a community of mteiest m each clectoiate This he said was often absolutely destroyed m the cities as - well as in the icountrv. [ Mr J. F Arnold_ (Dunedm Centi )1) ,mo\ed a pnoi amendment to i educe tin 'vote as an indication that the piesent Isjstem ot compiling the rolls was uiisatisfactoiy. The House, he said, was [only twelve months off a geueial election, and this year the Legislatuie Amendment Bill was to be put thiough to thoioughly purge the lolls, though at the present moment a large staff was employed ,scrutunsing lolls and getting reports from registiais. Yet when the Bill went through a larger staff would have to be engaged to o\eiliaul the whole rolls. j Mr Ma«sey stated that he had had the opportunity of looking into one 'countiy roll and had seen the names sof,a thousand persons included who had [no legal light to be theie The rolls were evidently ni a bad state, and it -was a -mistake to have thrown ovei the old system ot automatic purging of the lolls Hestionglv favoied giving moic attention to community of interest, and would not mind increasing the margin to secuie it, though when theie was, a bigger margin the boundaries' were not bettei. Mi J. Vigor Blown (Napiei) dealt with the number of lolls punted, urging that it w.is~far better to ha\e an" v excess, because he had heaid of one side buvmg up the supply so as to prevent the othei side fiom getting them. , JUi D. M'Laien (Wellington East) said that something moie should be demanded of* a pei son to prove the right to vote than meiely statuig a, name on the toll. »

Mi C. H Poole (Auckland West) alleged that the canvasseis of the licensing trade kept hundreds of reputable people ofi the 1011 through neglect to forward v their claims 'to the legistrars because vthej'- would have voted. nohcense.

The Minister stated that the present margin allow ed the Representation Commissioner was I'2\ pei cent. It must be lecogniscd that clean rolls welc impossible owing to the movements of the population. Tho Legislatuie Bill would be .passed this session, and would make provision not only for purging the roll bat foi cariying out an electoral canvass New South Wales had gone back 611 the system of electoral lights. 1 Fifty per cent of the electors recorded their votes in that colony while SO per cent, voted in New Zealand, even though the majority of membeis seemed ,to imagine the system t was 1 unsatisfactory. ' ,'..'? , The reduction was negatived on the voices. , '