THE DUNEDIN SOUTH CONTEST.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14357, 29 October 1908, Page 6

THE DUNEDIN SOUTH CONTEST.

Tiiu claim is reasonably made by Mr iSidry that, if tlio electors of Dnnedin ■South .ore prepared to renew their confidence- in the Government-, the support which he has almost unquestioningly tendered to the Administration entitles liim to their support. He deelurcs liimseli that he lias been in advance of the Government, and if the fact that- lie Ims voted for impracticable proposals lor the extension of the functions of the State so that- they might inc-'aido the control of the supply of food Bi)tl clothing is to be. accepted as an evidence of progresviveness on his part, thc-n tln.s declaration may also be said to be valid. The position Mr Sidey occupies in politics can hardly be differentiated, in fact, from that, occupied by Mr Douglas, his principal opponent in the present contest. He is, we should judge from .some of the votes he has recorded in Parliament, if not- from his speeches, prepared to go to quite the absurd lengths in social legislation that arc contemplated in the programme of the party of which Mr Douglas is the nominee. The adherence ho ha.s given to the doctrines of Socialism has not prevented him, however, from giving an entirely dependable support to the Government whenever it required his vote, Even (he iniquitous proposal in the Second Ballot Bill to stifle, the right-) of the electors to give public expression to their opinions in the interval between the first and second ballot in their respective constituencies did not- elicit a word of protest from him. Mr Tanner, Mr Vilford, and Dr Chappie did not consider it inconsistent with their general support, of the Government, to offer a manly objection to this illiberal and retrograde proposal, which the Prime Minister was glad enough to drop at the eleventh hour, but. Mr Sidey was eon-tent to be mutely acquiescent in (he adoption of it. Concerning the principle of the sreond ballot, Mr Sidey is almost apologetic: (lie system, he as-"eris, is experimental, and much that has been said regarding it can only be tested by experience. This is, however, iiot th? ease. The-

system bus passed lout; beyond the .stage of experiment oil the Continent-. And tho misehievensm'ss of it is- weii it cognised. The Spectator, the great Liberal weekly in England, thus refers to it in its issue of the 29th August last: The cardinal vice of the system is llie trafficking in votes to which it gives rise. Tho supporters of the candidate who Ins retired too ofion Income n market in which tin- friends of the retiring candidates are welcomed as competing purchasers. The praotiial working of the second ballol it ir.osl visible in (iernrany. At the last general election tlio Social Democrats carried 43 saats. as compared with 105 secured by the Centre party. Vet the vcies given for tho former numbered 3. 251,000, 2,27*1,097 givnn to iho Contra parly. Moreover, where there are three parties in an a Ministerial an Opposition, and a Labour system affords no just- basis of representation. The Spectator supposes the caso of a constituency of 10,000 electors, of whom -1000 vote for one candidate, ,'iloo for another, and 2900 for a third. The second ballot provides for a deriding poll between the candidate who received -1000 votes and the, candidate who. pclled 3100. If the supporters of the candidate excluded from, tho second ballot support the man who polled ■1000 votes the result- is the same as it would have been, if there had been no second ballot. But- if they vote for the candidate who polled: .'JIOO votes the strongest, party in the constituency is left, without a member in order to enable a minority to return the candidate it dislikre least. This, as the Spectator truly observes, is representation in ii strictly Gilbertian sense; bub Mr Sidey helped last, session to enact the electoral absurdity which admits of this. The worst we can wish some of tho supporters of this foreign notion, which we have imported free of preferential duty, is that- they may have to run the gauntlet of a- second ballot. We need not. follow Mr Sidey in his whole-souled expression of appreciation of the legislation and administration of the Government. Even the lamentable weakness which was displayed over the land question seems to be regarded by him as a cause for admiration. And the Ministerial finance cominc-ncls itself to him as, upon the whole, a pattern of prudence and caution. His conscience seems to have been troubled only by the fact that- tho million loan, which is ordinarily authorised each year, was this year, in anticipation of the general election and to allow of the effective utilisation of the Public Works Fund for electioneering purposes, increased by a- quarter of a- million that is specifically earmarked for the. redemption of some of the unfulfilled undertaking.; of previous years to road the back-blocks districts. If he will look a little ahead Mr Sidey may find further causo for dubiety, since next year, if the Prime Minister's estimates are realised, there will be no surplus available for transference to the Public Works Fund, so that, unless the construction of public works is to be curtailed, there- must either be an increased Iran, or else increased taxation. In the meantime, however, the loan authorised this year has not been raised, and there is not- the faintest possibility of tho expenditure before I tho end of the financial period of | more than a moderate proportion of i <ne allocations. 3lr Sidey has been ;m many respects a useful local repre- , tentative, and the interest- he has shown ; :u the furtherance of the claims of the ; educational institutions of the districtupon the attention of the Government may be particularly emphasised. Butit- is unfortunate that he is not more discriminating than he is in his acceptance of the Government's proposals and that- he is uot- less /-.atisfied than apparently ho is to conclude that- whatever the Government desires must- be done.