PERSONAL REPRESENTATION.

ASodiOcatioE of Mare's System.

PAPER BY PROCESSOR ALDIS,

Aifte ordinary meeting of the Aucklandln *teon Monday evening, Prof. Aldis read "fwyinteresting paper on Personal Repre- Kntation.a modification oftheHare system." Professor Aldis said that the government «the people by the people is that of a general assembly of the whole people, to Wich every adnlt person is admitted, and » which every such person may express his JPjiion and give his vote. Such, with the restriction of the word " person " to mean man, appears to have been the form of wemmeut in the democracies of ancient J m and Italy, and amougst many of »c warlike tribes of the North in the m middle ages. An assembly of the »00>epeop ie is an impossibility, except in kin l-° l a small tribo dwelling in a TOKttdistrict, and popular government in ™ n e nation obviously requires the aid ]»2T tafcion'tbatis' fchafc a number of TOns dwelling together, or having cora , "jpeoal interests, shall choose 'one to Pttoaß^ an impo £ sibility . ffstoaci t0 it will bo reached AJ i?T b ciasses 'interests and Cfofl h exisb in fche country Jemhtl ence in tho representative as- CEJP°P* )rtioi»l-to--tliat which they tKiV^otlat larfo'e- The will of ftemi; ysliouW coincide with that of the DemT ia u f ery important section of Opb Wj«hOTM find expression for its »H3 through the voice of a representa toJriT riAldis then referred to the KieHi°!,olecfci"S mambera of foietaZ- • ndand' '"^king the list of yen lr of the recent elections of UduSto\,HoMe of Representatives, for 4 "„ X ■, number of votes given fetal or in °6Ssfulcandidates against the it W&S? SBful for the different seats, oft »nstitiiPn«- .ma °««Mlerable number WZfl"*1 ln fac<V in almost all cases *•*!»>* bSVT candidat<* appeared, >b*Ji5H to* than the sum of the i° lVen for t!loSe who failed- aglance atbhe majority ? sajttort 11 ■, member cannot claim HrTl? hal{ &* actual number of N|E P'^sonb system of election, 30^ distribution into S r*«»ftE n T C 0S lnPto localitv'thus !°% o! th^ ■ r shaU represent even the >» ev« n V n"abitailts- Theie is > of »> as a J?*? grantee that the y^A* c wiU represent the S^itSd?^- As a matter of SS" of etc; 80> beoau*e under any tobwSa! "ll come to the front! b^ec rlf^^tive system should £*? ISihi and, t0 make ifc as eas.v m bl?, thafcevery clectoi- s Iti. ■• ftanJr , manner which he 3 cf Kw Zealand con- C>o£- aml L -loin in choosing 0110^ or must vote >t^«»eylike little in order ey like less.

what reason is there that the principle of voluntary association should not be allowed to come into political life ? When it is ascer tained that there is to be one member of Parliament, corresponding to every 1,600 electors, why should not any set of 1,600 be allowed to join for the purpose of choosing their representative ? The object of Hare's system is to embody the principle of volun tary association in a practical manner. The principle of local representation need not be given up, and the difference will bo that every n;an elected will be the choice of the whole 1,600 electors, and not of a mere majority, while every elector who does not find a local candidate to his taste can send Ins vote to help the success of someone in another constituency whom he favours more. The main featured of Hare's system may be summarised as follows :—

"Thefirstpointwhich requires to be deter mined before a general election is the num ber of votes which should be required for each successful candidate. Several ways may be suggested for effecting this deter mination. The doctoral rolls, by a process of simple addition, give the total number of votes in the country. If it were permis nable to assume that all who Avere entitled to exercise the franchise would actually do so, the division of this aggregate by the number of members would give the proper quota. As a matter of fact, the number of votes recorded is always leas than the pos sible total, and, except in times of political excitement, very much less. To fix the necessary quota too high wnuld needlessly diminish the number of candidates who could get it, while for the success of the plan it is absolutely necessary not to iix it so low that more than the required number of members should be apparently entitled to election. A simple and probably a safe way of avoiding both evils would be to take off from the quota obtained as above, a certain percentage, derived from comparison of the numbers actually polled in previous elections with the total number on the rolls. A more certainly effi cacious method, though involving the delay of a day or two in ascertaining the result, would be to form the quota after the elec tion by taking the aggi-ogate, cither of all the votes given throughout the country, or the aggregate of the votes given for so many'candidates highest on the polls aa are sufficient to fill the House, and dividing this aggregate by the number of members required. In one or other of these ways it would not be difficult to find a practically satisfactory solution of the problem. " A constituency will then consiatof a num ber of electors equal to this quota who may agree to join in electing a representative. There will be thus no opportunity for dis putation as to the boundaries of electoral districts, or for quarrelling about the ntim ber of representatives to be allotted to this town or to that. Electoral districts there must be, and a successful candidate will nominally be member for any place which gives him the whole or the greater portion of the required quota of votes. Any town or county or village which feels itself en titled to the privilege may, without en croaching on the rights of others, apply to be constituted an electoral centre and enjoy the honour of possessing and paying for a local returning officer. In New Zealand, practically, no alteration need be made in present arrangements, except that districts must be subdivided, and more polling booths provided, as population grows. '' Neither would any great change be re

quired in the manner of announcing his candidature on the part of anyone desirous of becoming a member of Parliament. The great majority of such persons would be, as they arc now, men chieily known in some one locality, and they would appeal chieily to the inhabitants of their own district for support. All the regulations about nomina tors, pecuniary guarantees, Ike, could re main unaltered. In addition, however, to tie means now adopted, the candidate, or his nominator, would be required to send his name and description, as well as that of the place which he desired to represent, to &ome central authority appointed for bhik purpose, whose duty it should be to print and publish the names in an official gazette, which should be circulated throughout the colony before the day of election.

"As regards tho act of voting, the chief difference Y>-oulcl be that instead of being provided with a paper containing two or three names, of whbh he has to erase those of whom he does no approve, in some cases all, the elector would receive a blank sheet with a series of numbered empty spaces for the reception of the names of such persons as he prefers. In the first of these spaces he must insert the name of the man whom most of all in the official list he desires to represent him. It would be entirely at his option whether he nil up any of the remain ing spaces or not. If he were voting for sonic one who was not likely to command more than the quota, if as much, the voter would pro bably be content with the insertion of one name. If, on the other hand, his first choice were a man widely known and generally popular,this particular vote would probably not be required to make up the quota. To insure that in this case the vote should not be Avasted, tho elector would in sert a second name in fche second space, and co on if lie chose to any extent. Tho vote would, however, only ccunt for one man, the second vote only coming into play if the first is not needed,the third only if both the first and second votes are given to candi dates whose success is secured without rhein.

" When all the votes liavtS been deposited in the ballot boxes the Returning Officer at each place must count them over, having regard in the first in stance merely to the first; choices of the electors. If in this country any anndidate were discovered to have obtained the quota, the voting papers so appropriated should be set aside, and the candidate in question would be declared duly elected as a mem ber of the House of Representatives. If any more first votes were found given to the same candidate, his u&//i« would be cancelled on all papers -which contained a second name, and these appropriated to the second person. " It would be then the. duty of the local Returning Officer to send the r«naincler,or; in case no one had locally obtained the quota, the whole of tho .contents of the bnllofc boxes to some central office, lie must also fend a list of the names voted for, and the number of suffrages given for each.

"At headquarters the number of votes which each candidate had obtained at dif ferent places would be added together, taking first those given at the town or in the county for which he had declared himself a candidate, and then* in order of geographical proximity, those given at other places As sooir as anyone had attained the quota, the voting papers corresponding would be set aside, and, he being thus elected, his name would

bo cancelled on all others, if any, on which it occupied the first place. "Thus a large proportion of tho required number of members would be elected, each i being the free choice of a quota of electors. There would remain a quantity of unappro priated votes, and some vacancies in the allotted number of scats. In view of the present circumstances of our country, the matter might advantageously be left in this state, find no further steps taken to com plete the roll of members. Every interest and every locality sufficiently powerful and xmited to bring a quota of votes to bear on the election, would have its representative, and those'which were left out would be so because they were either too weak to be en titled to one, or too disunited to bo able to agi-ce in their choice. There is no mflffio in any special number of members of Parlia ment, and there would be, by common con fession, grave advantages in the reduction of the size of the present House or Repre sentatives. Especially would this be the case in a reduction effected, as by the above process, so as to eleminate persons who do not command a .sullioiency of public support, while leaving in all those who obtain the requisite auota of suffrages. I do not in tend, tlierefore,to enter into a discussion of the various means by which Hare and others have proposed to select tho remainder of the members required to fill the House. Suffice it to say that it can bo done with full security that each member has beon freely chosen by a larger number of persons than desired the return of any of tho candi dates who are left out. Will anyone affirm that the present system gives anything ap proaching to this security that the repre sentatives shall really represent the will of the people ? "The method of election thus sketched out would not in any way over-ride local repre sentation. Whenever any district of suffi cient size to furnish the quota, of votes had special wants sufficiently pressing to cause the inhabitants to unite, they would be perfectly free to do so, and could send their messenger to plead their cause in the National Assembly, with no fear that Ma pleading could be rejected or sneered at on the ground that he only spoke for a section or a°cliquc. Even if there were not the re quired quota of votes in the district, by selecting a man from among themselves who was also well known and respected elsewhere, there would be a great pro bability that the quota would be thus sup; plied, and the desired object secured. The greater or less amount ot local representa tion in different places would depend almost entirely on thcamount of good fellowship and similarity ot sentiment—assuming, of course, a sufficient population to give a tiuota of votes, and thus to be entitled to a member. " On the other hand, this method would deal a very heavy blow to that exaggerated form of local patriotism which wakes the procuring of a road, a bridge, a school, or a big pump for the candidate's own con stituency of more importance than sound views on legislation or morality. A mem ber owing His election chiefly to Auckland votes would still be bound dqyrn heavily enough to defer to Auckland opinion. There are cases, however, when local desires come into conflict with natural necessities, and it is important for national well-being that the latter shall carry the day. Under tho present system,failure to procure the longed for bridge means probable loss of tho seat at the next election. Under the system proposed, any member who from really

patriotic motives voted for that which was to the national advantage would still retain the support of the more honourable portion of his present constituents, and the defection of certain lewd fellows of the baser sort would probably be made up for by the accession of votes from other places : votes attracted by the statesmanlike behaviour which had given local temporary offence.

"In the present plan of representation, it is often possible for a very ismall number of electors, acting together for some special object of no great public interest, to turn the elections, or at least to exercise an influence on its decision altogether beyond that to which the numbers or their character entitle them. In a constituency of 1,600, nearly equally divided into two different camps, a compact body of 50 electors, or fewer, can sometimes determine the result by voting on one side or the othei 1. Thus the candidate with the most flexible principles may get in by promising to take up a measure for which ninety per cent, of the electors do not care a straw, or which perhaps they even' dislike. Under Hare's system the party of fifty would be able to add just fifty towards tho quota of their favoured candidate, but could not pos:<ibLy exercise tho critical influence at present in their hands.

" There are persons who desire to become members of Parliament. Under present; | arrangements any such person on taking active steps to procure the fulfilment of his desire becomes at once the object of attack, and frequently of very gross abuse, from the supporters of other people who Want the seat for which he declares himself a candidate. It happens, for instance, that A. and B. have been already selected by the party managers as candidates in two in terests for a certain constituency. C, a man of similar opinions, on the whole, to A., is preferred to the latter by many of the constituents. Under present arrange-1 ments, if C. is brought forward, the result probably will be that A.'s votes will be re duced to a smaller number than B.s, and thus B. will be elected through C.'s candi dature, even though some of the votes B. would otherwise have had may go to C. Party managers and those who are lucky or clever enough to gain their support, strain every nerve to keep what arc called inde pendent candidates out of the field, and are generally not very particular as to the means they cidopt. " A method of representation freed from the shackles of local restriction would do away with much of this personal rivalry. In the case above supposed C'.'s candida ture might take away some votes from A., if an v of the electors thought him a better man than the latter, but would not contri bute at all to the election of -8., for the latter would in any ca;?o be elected ir he ivs ceived tho quota Of votes and not otherwise, while if A. were all that his supporters wished to make out, he would probably re ceive as much additional help from outside as would make up for the votes lost through C. The system proposed would make it much easier for individual men to come forward without entailing the risk to tho interests of party br principles which unauthorised candidatures now are supposed to involve. The choice of the electors would not be narrowed down, as at present, to the man most likely to get a majority over someono elso in a small locality ; but they would be able to vote ior the best man they knew. " Such a system finally would give an

almost perfect guarantee that men of states manlike character, who had done good work for the country, would not be ejected from Parliament at the mere caprice of one little borough. Their constituency would be New ZealaM; and their supporters men in all districts who valued the services al ready rendered., " This method of election is not only adapted to the case of a national Parlia ment, but is, perhaps, peculiarly suitable to the choice of a City' Council!, where all voters live within a short distance of one another. In such a case there would be very little, if any, necessity for the alterna tive vote. Each voter would place on his paper the name of the candidate he pre ferred. The voting papers could be counted while the election was going on, and as soon as any candidate had obtained the quota the result would be telegraphed to all the polling booths, and those who had intended to support Mm could give their voices in favour of some other man. The plan might be tested in some such way as this, and the public familiarised with its details. Success on a small scale would lead to its adoption on a larger, and the trial would perhaps suggest some points in which the details might be better arranged with regard to our special circumstances. "To the principle advocated in this paper it may be claimed that, in the first place it is more likely than any other plan yet pro posed to represent all section^ of the com munity proportionally to their numbers and cohesion; that, secondly, i 6 leaves the greatest possible amount of freedom, of choice to the electors, and presents the fewest hindrances to the candidature of the really best men ; that, while leaving to every man's vote its fair value, it takes away the Artificial monopoly' value which a few votes sometimes have in a really equally-divided constituency, and thus strikes a heavy blow at whatever of bribery may have survived the ballot; that it does away with the necessity for repeated adjustment of boundaries and of the balance of representation between different districts; and that, finally, it would free the chosen members from the unfair pressure of local claims, and give them full liberty to follow out their views of right without fear of the

consequences." Some discussion ensued, in which Pro fessor ThomaSj Drs. Purchas and Erson, Messrs W. Speight, S. Vaila and others took part, and the system advocated by Professor Aldis was most favourably com mented upon. A suggestion was eleo made that, the paper should be printed and dis tributed.

Prosecute the Swindlers!!

If when you call for American Hop Bitters (see green twig of Hops on the. white label and Dr. Soidr's name bloicn iii the boltle) the vendor hands out anything but American Hop Bitters. refuse it. and shun that vendor as yon would a viper: and if ho has taken your money for a/ity thing pise indict him for the fraud and ano him for damages for the swindle, and we will pay you liberally for the conviction.

Wickedfou Clergymen.— "I believoib to bo all wroug and even wicked for clergymen or other publ'r men to be led into giving testi monials to quack doctors for vile scuffs called medicines, but when areallr meritorious article is made up of common valuable remedies known to all, and that all physicians use and trust in daily, we should freely commend it. I therefore cheerfully and heartily commend Hop Bitters for the good they have dono mo and my friends, flrruly believing they have no cquul for family use, I will .not be without thsCs.''«--JKcv, , Washliytton, D*C,U.S.A. " **

THE AUCKLAND EVENING _ STAR, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1887.

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"i tha -P DsQCniinf onall Pure hasesofgs. and upwards at the DIRECT |g|Jl_E!^y IMPORTING COMPANY'S CLEARANCE SALE. In order to clear the balance of our "Winter Stock, we give a further discount of 3s. in the £, which, together with direct reduction of prices already made;" will give the public an advantage of goods at HALF PRICE, Bs, m the £ returned for FOURTEEN DAYS only, Q I Q CSLfiSiCiSL BulldinQ'Q OliPPil MESSRS. E. PORTER & CO. have just unpacked their Season's Shipment of Cricket and Lawn Tennis Goods,, all of which are of the latest and most approved patterns. Having.been purchased direct from the manufacturers they can offer them at the very lowest prices. LAWN TENNIS LAWN TENNiS CRICKET j Wicket Keeping J^^SBJ^X^^Sk Bowling Green The "PREMIER" |||IP LAWN TEN ~ I I CRICKET BALLS. i ~ CRICKET BAGS. iVw««l and' Nickel Plated "wSrfV TvTTTTQ 1 I I " it SCORING BOOKS. ' \^^r . |i I I .p-.^m Jr 001 i3ALil_«b. The I LAWN TENNIS J I | STUMPS. CRICKET flit/? {l|_LL g" S " "endymion" POLES- 1 1 I T if W Boxing Gloves, • ENUYMIUIN ill CRICKET NETS. |g BELTS. Wn/ \W&mF — ___ | Lawn Tennis I' I I h^n /tfWm croquet sets. rvu arATiTPA" k 11 I CRICKET BAGS. x Q ';// /A///I I The GALATEA h g^ I I || QOLF QETa "{J |||| ~ £ , I I I Batting Gloves. q§ R ... n . , DUMB BELLS. X lawn tennis [I 1 I la . Batting Gloves and ;_ Other Varieties. F MARKERS. W "W 'if LEG GUARDS. RACQUETS. Wicket-keeping Gloves. '' QUOITS. / ■'■"''' pu^isrisHiiisra- jlistd general iBOKMoirGEBs QUEEN AND HIGH STEEETS, ALSO, iNnETW'TOIsr, isnETW^JLA-EEIET S^Z"IwrO3SrJ3S STEBIT.



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