Page:Thomas Hare - The Election of Representatives, parliamentary and municipal.djvu/375

Rh was the best that we could adopt, and with the ballot the elections had been the most satisfactory that had taken place in the colony.

Mr. and Mr. addressed the House, and on a division the second reading was carried by a majority of 24 against 20.—Sydney Morning Herald, Friday, November 14th, 1862.

Soon after the debate the Ministry resigned, and the measure proceeded no farther.

In a Bill for the Amendment of the Electoral Law of the Colony, it was proposed to allow any voter of a constituency entitled to elect more than two members, to vote for all the candidates which the constituency could elect, or cumulate such votes on one or more of the candidates. The discussion on this clause is fully reported in the (Melbourne) Argus, Thursday, March 5, 1863, and somewhat more briefly in the (Melbourne) Age of the same day.

Mr., to raise the discussion on the question, moved an amendment rejecting the clause for cumulative voting, but without therefore pledging himself to vote against it. He thought that if the clause passed, as it stood, it would be an instance of too rapid legislation in so young a colony. He should like to see the principle first accepted elsewhere. He had not heard of its introduction into the elections of members of the House of Commons. The proposal of Lord John Russell had not been adopted. It was scarcely adapted to a constituency returning less than three members, and was inapplicable to a constituency returning only one. In such a constituency the successful candidate might receive 1,100 votes, and the next on the poll might have 1,095. Where, under this clause, would these 1,095 voters find representation? This led him to think that the clause did not go far enough, or, that it failed to provide a perfect mode of representing minorities. He should be glad to hear arguments which would justify the Parliament of Victoria in being the pioneer in such a legislative experiment.

The said the question had been left an open one by the Government. When he introduced the bill the matter had not been fully considered. Hare's book, with the commentaries upon it, had arrived in the colony while the bill was being draughted. In the legislature of New