The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 79

Single Electorates a Bar

Single Electorates a Bar.

For many years past in England [ unclear: and] elsewhere efforts have been made get over or to minimise the [ unclear: gross] Justice of the present system. [ unclear: Various] devices have been adopted, which [ unclear: I] not now pause to describe; but all, [ unclear: so] have proved failures, In New [ unclear: Zealand] almost the first thing we did, [ unclear: when] "Democracy came in to its [ unclear: own,"] to establish the "single [ unclear: constituen] device, from which it was [ unclear: hoped] results in the direction of true [ unclear: report] sentation would follow. In [ unclear: reality,] more conservative measure, or [ unclear: one] ter calculated to create, [ unclear: foster,] perpetuate individual [ unclear: selfishness] petty local feeling, utterly destructive the building up of a great [ unclear: nation.] which the people should govern, [ unclear: in] govern with purity, has ever [ unclear: been] upon our statute books. As [ unclear: long] single electorates are [ unclear: continued,] a non-national spirit cultivated, [ unclear: the] best men in the community—the [ unclear: this] ing workers—must continue to find [ unclear: then] selves as voters nearly always [ unclear: be] on the poll, and numbers of the [ unclear: most] capable candidates who are [ unclear: willing] serve their country must continue [ unclear: to] ostracised from "Parliament. [ unclear: The] who "sees visions and dreams [ unclear: dream] for the benefaction of his [ unclear: country] at large must continue on the [ unclear: police] day to go down before the [ unclear: stuning] beggar who is willing to proceed [ unclear: on] annual foraging expedition to [ unclear: the] of government for the [ unclear: aggrandisement] the few who have chosen him for [ unclear: him] venality or his stupidity, An [ unclear: exemption] of the electoral returns of [ unclear: as] general election will go far to [ unclear: person] that the doctrine that this [ unclear: county] is worked electorally under a law [ unclear: while] provides for its government being moulded by or bused upon the will of he people is absolutely delusive; and will further convince that to believe or [ unclear: promulgate] such as 'statement is to practice an arrant self-deceit or to seek to palm off a huge imposition upon a credulous public mind too ignorant or too indifferent to discover or challenge the fraud.