NEW SYSTEM OF VOTING.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18819, 6 March 1931, Page 9

NEW SYSTEM OF VOTING.

Electoral Reform Proposals. ALTERATION TO BE SUGGESTED. United Press Association—By ISlectrltf Telegraph—Copyright (Received March 5, 8.5 p.m.) LONDON. March 4. In committee in the House of Commons, on the Electoral Reform Bill, the Government accepted an amendment that the alternative vote should not apply till next general election. Mr Robert Hoare moved the rejection of the alternative vote clause. The country had not demanded it, the Conservatives opposed it, Labour was divided on the subject, and the Liberals were half-hearted. The elections would be controlled by the last candidate’s second preferences. There would be wangling between the Parties, and the system, instead of giving representation to minorities, might be used to suppress them. He appealed to the Government to allow a free vote on the question. Sir Herbert Samuel (Liberal), said they could not continue the present system, which returned a Government by minority votes. Neither the Conservatives nor the trade unions adopted the system of the “first past the post" in adopting candidates. However, the leaders might recommend the distribution of votes, the great mass of the electors would happily make up their own minds and vote accordingly. If the people wanted, they could crush out a third party. Sturdy Opposition. Mr J. Beckett (Labour), recalled Mr Macdonald’s declaration that the alternative vote would ruin the Labour Party, which always refused to give a mandate for it. The Government had introduced it in defiance of Party principles in order to entertain the nation for another six to twelve months, with spectacles of degradation. Sir Austen Chamberlain opposed the clause, because it was essential to the success of our parliamentary institutions to have the Party and not the group system. The latter would make the House of Commons a market for votes, instead of a great deliberative assembly. The country’s greatest present need was a Government strongenough to govern. The Bill will make the Government weak and the House of Commons ineffective. The clause was carried by 277 votes to 251.