VOTING BY POST.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 8700, 20 December 1899, Page 2

VOTING BY POST.

A LARGE number of members of the new Parliament are pledged to the principle of the referendum, which appears to be a very desirable democratic reform, the chief objection being that under present methods of recording the votes of the electors it would be costly and cumbrous. The question has often been raised in Parliament, why Bhould not all voting be by post, and whilst there are obvioiw objections to abolishing the secrecy of the ballot in the case of the election of represental tives to Parliament, it seems to us Jihat I if the referendum is to be adopted for the purpoße of sounding the voice of the people on all great public questions, then, in order to prevent the disturbance and turmoil inseperable from the ordinary elaction, postal voting would be the proper thing, 'the idea has been raised bj Mr W. Sievwright, of this town, in ft letter to tho Lyttelton Times. Mr Sievwright considers that some machinery must be established by which the mind and will of the electors shall be brought to bear more promptly and directly on their rulers than under present methods. The presß, public meetings, and petitions, he holds, are ineffective means, because no concensus of opinion can be secured thereby ; therefore, no certainty. The machinery required seems to be a quick and cheap poll, upon all important questions of principle, using the post office for the purpose, and allowing a reasonable time to elapse between the issue and the return of the poll-papers, so that the electors in the various localities may have time to consider before returning their papers. Tho elaborate and expensive methods of a licensing poll are not required. A post office poll, he thinks, would be far less liable to corrupt action, besides being simplicity itself. The poll papers would be issued in an authentic form, and the returns examined and tabulated by public officers. "Some such method is, moreover," concludes Mr Sievwright, " the logical complement of representative government, if that form of government is to be what it ought to be. With such a cheek available there would be less rash and hasty legislation, and much more circumspection and care iv administration than has been shown by the history of the colony in the past."

CABINET RECONSTRUCTION. The Cabinet reconstruction has resulted, aa anticipated, in the inclusion of Messrs Ward and McGowan in the Executive. The reappointment of Mr Ward was regarded as inevitable. He is far and away the most capable of the Ministerial following, and will bring a good deal of sht'ewd, progressive business ability to bear in the deliberations of the Ministry, though there is always the fear that he may lead them into unsound financial operations. As to his promised railway policy, we shall hnve something to say to-morrow. Mr McGowan's appointment was also inevitable. The Premier had to find a colleague from the Auckland provincial district, and to replace Mr Cadman as Minister of Mines, Mr McGowan, the representative of a mining constituency, and a memher with eight sessions' Parliamentary experience, was the only one in the running. He is not a brilliant debater, but he should make a good administrator. There is still another appointment available, for the law allows seven Ministers, but Mr Seddon is doubtless keeping this up his sleeve in view of coalition contingencies. The only unsatisfactory features about the reconstruction are that Mr Hall-Jones, in spite of the large majority with which he was returned for Timaru, was not put on the shelf, and, from a local point of view, that Mr Carroll was not elevated to full Cabinet rank. Why does the Premier still deny him the Native portfolio to which he is justly entitled, and keep him on half pay?