PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2231, 3 December 1896, Page 51

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

The Election. So far I have refrained from disoussing questions connected with tbe eleotion, whioh you will have full particulars of next week. Perhaps you have read moßt of the Bpeeobes. I have glanoed through a few, but -have heard only one, 'and that was one too many. Many think that editors haven't very kindly feelings for their readers when they give Buoh an amount of space to' the yards of words coming from so many candidates; but I think we ought to thank the editors for being so thoughtful, especially to as in and around Dunedin. We who have votes mast know something about what eaoh candidate says — that isn't necessarily what he thinks, however — if only to have something to say to tony friend who passes the time of day with us. And bow much more pleasant it ie to sit and read— to read what we lika and skip the rest. An average reader can soan a column in five minutes, whereas to hear that same would mean, very often at any rate, turning oat for a whole evening and listening listlessly to a stream of drearisome drivel. But I am awfully sorry for the reporters, and I don't wonder that some of them are not prohibitionist?. And that brings to mind that in Dunedin the question of prohibition is the most prominent one dealt with by the candidates and the various political and labour organisations. Oceans of ink and miles of paperthere are four miles in a reel of Witness paper before it is printed— have been and are being 1 used in discussing the pros and cons of this question. First, there is the question of what vote shall carry prohibition —a bare majority or three-fifths. Now I don't think the less of a man who has taken a glass occasionally for years and who, still continues to take one — he is as good a' man as lam who do not take any ; but Ido say that my vote is of as much value at his, because we are living in a democratic conntry where we boast that the ballot box makes us all equal, and that being so,' I favour the bare majority, for if I admit that this question is not to be decided by a democratic majority, then a precedent is established violating the principle by which democracies govern. I am not saying that lam In ' favour of the democratic law of one man one vote— indeed, I really think that the franchise as we have it haß come just a little before its time; but I do *ay that as.wa have it we must abide by it, and profit by the - mistakes that result from unintelligent voting. We oan only learn from experience, and every failure to carry out a reform is an advancement, for successes are mostly built up on' failures. But I feel— notwithstanding thetaohtrary opinion-expressed in the Witness editorial columps — that in this question- tbe bafe majority ought. to rule, even if I allow a tbree-fileho majority on other questions; for, wbile .1 think that most prohibitionists are aotuated by humanitarian , motives, and are making some effort to solve this great social question, I also think that most — not . all, mind you — who vote for a continuance of the liquor traffic ought not to receive even that consideration that their vote seems to entitle them to. I saw somewhere not long sinee — it wasn't in a prohibition paper — that at a moderate estimate f ally 12 per cent, who take drink ought not to touch it, and that at least 25 per cent, would be better without it. And from my own observation I really think that these estimates are not far out. Now, if we depart from a bare majority, ought it not to be on the side that makes for a higher morality ? It seems to me that if in every 100 there are 50 for prohibition and 50 against, 12 of the latter (halt of 25 per cent.) ought, in the interests of the State, to be disfranchised, leaving 50 against drink opposed to 38 who are in favour of it and oan use it in moderation. And that majority ought to be sufficient, especially as many of the 38 can give up drinking without any inconvenience. If I admit a three-fifths majority to be necessary, then I admit that the vote of the toper, and of a man who is fond of his ease and does nothing whatever to solve tbe problem, iB in eaob oase worth 50 per cent, more than mme — and that I can't admit. Oan you ? That's rather more than I intended to write on that question. Here's another in which voting* is involved. Curiously, many who insist on a three-fiftha majority to carry prohibition have no objection, though in. a democracy, to be represented by a minority. I think it will be found that all oar large towns in the aggregate, .if. not the country as a whole, will be represented by a minority vote ' When the figures for the coming election are published work them out'for curio* sity, and see whether I am far out. The referendum and the elective Executive have been referred to by most of the prominent candidates, and that is a good sign, though most of our would-be M.H.R.'s don't know what they are. To some the referendum is a godsend, for whenever aeked a knotty question, or one that might jeopardise votes, they are anxious to let it be known that the referendum would be a capital way to solve the difficulty. That some of oar candidates do not understand what an elective Executive is, is shown by tbe fact that they cannot see that men opposed in politics can work together on the same Executive. They evidently do not know that the Executive or the Cabinet neither control Parliament nor are responsible for agreement on bills brought in. Eaoh department has at its head the bett man in Parliament for that position. There is no Cabinet agreement or disagreement ; each member is responsible to the Parliament. However, the fact that politicians are talking, however glibly, of the referendum, of an elective Executive, and of the abolition of party government shows that we have made an advancement in the science of politics.

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