AN ELECTORAL ROLL SCANDAL.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 270, 5 April 1898, Page 3

AN ELECTORAL ROLL SCANDAL.

An extraordinary stale of things in connection with the electoral rolls of the colony is exposed by the Napier Telegraph. Speaking of the Official Year Book, the paper says :—" This admits in plain words that the general election of 1893, which was the one that confirmed Richard John in the Premiership he had " jnmped "on the death of Mr Ballancc, was won on rolls which contained an aggregate of 14,000 more names than the possible adult populatiou of the colony could furnish. To show that we are speaking within bounds we quote. The Year Book, page 358, speaking of the 1896 election, says:—"lt would seem that the rolls must have been, at any rate, more accurate than in 1893, when the number of male names was actually 14,000 above the estimated adult male population." As the census at a later date proved that the estimated population was less than (? exceeded) the actual, the truth is that there were on the rolls used in 1893 nearly 20,000 more names than there should have' been. As the number of votes recorded for elected candidates was only 4250 more than the votes recorded for defeated candidates it is quite possible that we owe to the 20,000 bogus names on the rolls of 1893 the reigu of corruption which the colony has since suffered from." Writing of roll-stuffing, the Napier Telegraph Bays :—" How this rollstuffing is done may be partly shown from facts which have come to our knowledge during the last few days. On Monday last several men left Napier for Wellington. These men are domiciled here, their names are on the Napier roll, and their wives and families are here, yet before leaving they were not afraid to tell men of the " right colour " that they were going to vote for Kirk, having had their names transferred from the Napier to the Wellington roll As the clause allowing transfers provides that an applicant to have his name transferred from the roll of any constituency to that of another must have resided in the latter a month prior to making his application, it is obvious tlut if any of those ineu voted iu Wellington he broke the law and must have committed perjury in order to get his name on the roll. The fact that the rolls used at a general election can be so corrupt as is admitted by the Year Book is a slur upon the colony, and an indelible blot upon the i;epuatiou of the Government under which such a state of things could Le, and is in itself a reason for rejoicing at the beginning of the end, as is foreshadowed in the victory of Mr Duthie against the whole resources of the Ministry and their crowd of office-seeking supporters."