A FLAGRANT INJUSTICE

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 84, 20 November 1928, Page 5

A FLAGRANT INJUSTICE

TBESENT ELECTORAL SYSTEM. CLUMSY AND UNFAIR. •In Connection with the recent election" (says a&vritter in the 'Wellington Post) it is informative 'if not'edifying to find from the returns available that the Dominion's clumsy elector'system still is producing' its inevitable crop of discontent: and injustice. Of the twenty-three constituencies in the Auckland toral district, for instance, no fewerthan seventeen will be represent 1 -, ed: in ,t^'hew.. Parliament by candi-. dates ■■ who hav no mandate majority f;i,'theeiectors. The Uniki ed candidate for Auckland East 1 w'Qn: the seat with 4058 votes, notwith-_ standing the fact that? his two opponents pclled 5917 votes between them. I The Labour candidate for" Auckland Suburbs was elected ''by 1 4946 votes, while 5090 votes were 0 ' cast' against hfm. The Reform candidate 'for Waitemata, who, by )M way, is a staunch supporter of electoral reform, was returned to . his old seat by 4231 votes, while his tfwo, opponents, representing the wishes of 1248 electors, were ignored. The 36,61 votes cast for the,:. United .candidate for Marsden coun-_ ted for" morej. than did the 4425;. votes cast for the Reform and Labour put together, and. s: the 3457 votes cast fc T the Reform,, candidate for vGisborne for more/ than the cast for the Unjfted and Labour candidates, in that-cpjfe stittiency. •* : '<- - ■■ -"^

MAORI ELECTIONS. ' ;-j , The flagrant injustice of the present) of representation |n Parliament'l(s„itriennially illustrate ed by the elections of Maori memv hers,, :Of course the contest's in which. Sir Apirana Ngata, and Sir Maui Pomare figure are conducted With all the -. ritual, appropriate to the higV; standing of thes e worthy , knights' iii'tlfe community. Opposition itf&eircftse is merely to •em'p'tiasise its impotence. But the: in the Southern Maori

constituency is simply a ludicrous travesty of popular: representation. The electors drop in as they please* and indicate their preference verbally. ' rAt'th#' recent election Mr T. Makitanam- a United candidate, head ed the > poll with* 198 vcteS, just one in front of Mr:Tirikatene, described aft. a Rantanitfe, while Ave other candidates followed with polls ranging from ,ai>2-dGwn to 33-, and bringing thtf'i opposition to Mr Makitanara up. tip■ :620 votes. Surely by this time it is due to the Maori people to admit-them to the mysteries of the •ballot ! and to the advantage of <se;cr,et voting.

HOW THE STAND. Until the 50,000 absentee, postal, and seariie'n's votes have been counted it will mine precisely'the relative strength of the 'contending parties; but meanwhile the* : trend 'of publip opinion is indicated bf the returns which already have 'been unofficially ■ antnouncedi ,! These record, subject to minor corrections, 257,163 vot'es for the Reform' Party, 280Ji& for the United' Party) ; 187,253 for th e Labour #urty, and 14,351 for definitely unattached candidates. These figures, under a sound system of proportional applied only to tlie' k&ropean election, Would give- the Reform Party 28 seat's in the new Parliament, the United Party 1 '25 seats, the Labour Party ao sea'ts; and the Independents,"Assuming they voted together, 1 seat, : , while the destiny of the two remaining seats would depend upon the J distribution of candidates' surplus Votes. »s*■ --' LUCK.

"It lookß'-at!' present as if the United Party "were going t'b capture mrre seats than it is entitled to by

the number of its votes, but on the whole the distribution of seats promises to be more equitable than it has been on many previous occasions, :At the last General Election the. Reform Party, with 317,584 votes, captured 53 seats, while Labour,| .With 184,616 votes, captured ; 13 seats, and th e National Party, t with 'the assistance of Independents, "only 10. " Obviously, it is its luck . rather "than its prestige the Reform Party has 1 lost. One of the remarkable features of the recent remark'able electibii is' the extent to which the rural constituencies have exchanged their representation from practical farmers to others than followers "agrarian pursuits. The m'ost conspicuous instance of this tendency is provided by the Wairarapa electorate, where the Minister! of * Lands, one of the most capable and energetic administrators the farmers ever hav e known, 'has been exchanged for a city resident' 'whos e association with country life must be almost forgotten even by himself. However, I judge that ''Jhe three Ministers of the grown who have been temporarily relieved are not greatly perturbed by the chance that has befallen them. One :of'' them, in acknowledging my inquiries concerning his health, replies with the laconic observation, '"'Blessed are the dead. They rest." And so w e reach an appropriate conclusion. *-*sl'ss