LESSON OF EDEN

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16780, 23 April 1926, Page 6

LESSON OF EDEN

AVOIDANCE OF VOTE-SPLITTING. PREFERENCE SYSTEM ARGUMENT. (By Telegraph—Special to Times.) WELLINGTON, Thursday. Dr. W. A. Chappie, who for many years has advocated a reform in .the electoral systems that would avert the worst evils of vote-splitting, wants the Prime Minister to explain what lesson he wishes the people of the Dominion to learn from the Eden by-election. “Is it,” he asks, “ that a party caucus should deprive a constituency or a free and a wide choice of sending a member to Parliament? Is it that a woman must lie boycotted and picketed, and dragooned if sbc dare to offer her services? Is it that ail public-minded citizens, who think they could serve tiic general good by being in the Parliament of (heir country, must lie ignoniiniously branded as “ vole-splitters,” and bo deterred by a party caucus holding them up to public odium?” Dr. Chappie answers liis own question. Re maintains that it is none of these and proceeds to explain that the “ alternative vole ” system would have prevented all the difficulties that arose during the Eden campaign and would have given the candidate towards which tiic preference of a majority of the voters tended the seal.

Dr. Chappie very rightly declares that the present system, of voting is a negation of liberty and democracy alike, but by insisting upon tiic voter attaching a preference number to all tiic names on tiic ballot paper, “ however numerous," lie keeps 011 perpetuating an objection to the system which lias done much to retard its adoption in this country. Surely with a dozen candidates offering themselves for election it would ho unnecessary for a voter to give preference to alt ids political opponents as well as to all his political friends.