The Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1912. THE ELECTIVE COUNCIL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10535, 9 August 1912, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1912. THE ELECTIVE COUNCIL.

The summary of tlie provisions of tlie new Legislative Council Bill reveals it to be a most interesting measure. How Parliament will receive it remains to be seen. A number of good. Democrats have already expressed opinions in opposition to proportional representation, but the assumption is tliat tliey have not made any study of the subject, and are not looking ahead. Tho chief objection urged against the system is that it would prevent- a poor man from contesting an election, hut really the poor man would have a better chance under proportional representation than he has under the present system. The essential feature of proportional representation is the representation of groups. Organisation is imperative, and, as a rule, -ticket-voting follows naturally. A man who desires to represent his fellow-men has to commend himself to a group of electors. Ho has to do that in any case, but it is obviously easier to secure the quota in a large, multi-member constituency than in a single-member district. Tho organisation at the back of the candidate directs ana finances the campaign, and in practice it will be found cheaper to contest an election under proportional representation than it is to-day. Of course, this may not apply to a first election, because the public have to be educated in the system. In taking Lord Courtney's Bill as a guide, the Government has avoided the blunders and weaknesses that were prophesied when Mr Massey first talked proportional representation out of the depths of his ignorance of the subject. It must be confessed that tho Bill is interesting rather as an experiment in a new electoral system than as an attempt to reform the Legislative Council, but if the Council is to bo reformed this is undoubtedly the system on which it should be elected. The agitation against the Council has subsided in recent years, mainly, no doiibt, because the men appointed to it have been fully qualified to represent the public. Thero has been more work for the Council to do since the lower House became comparatively quiet, and, moreover, the Council has been permitted to carry out its duties with a minimum of control from the Government. It has rendered good service on many occasions, and probably the great majority of those who used to agitate for its abolition have become reconciled to its existence. Probably there will bo a great deal of ill-informed criticism of the Government's proposals, and ono must expect to hear again that tho people will never be able to master the intricacies of the system. But really the method of voting under proportional representation is extremely simple, and there is not the slightest reason why any elector of average intelligence should fail to record his desires properly. The hard work falls on the returning officers and their assistants, but it is the number of voting papers to bo counted rather than any inherent difficulty of counting that causes the delay in the announcement of the final results. It is to be hoped that Parliament will accept tho measure, And that those members who object to it will take the trouble to study the system before they commit their views to " Hansard."