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No.
32. Eighth Year. June, 1915. |
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Representation |
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The
Journal of the Proportional Representation Society
of Great Britain and Ireland |
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The Secretary’s tour to
Australasia and America |
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SINCE
the outbreak of the War in August last the
propagandist activities of the Proportional
Representation Society have
necessarily been curtailed, the attention of the
nation and of its public men being absorbed in the
great struggle now taking place. In the
circumstances the Executive Committee took steps to
reduce the expenditure of the Society; two of the
three rooms used as offices were given up,
employment for two of the office staff was found
elsewhere, and the Secretary, Mr. John H. Humphreys,
became engaged temporarily in the work, directed by
the Local Government Board, of receiving and
distributing the refugees from Belgium arriving at Folkestone. The inquiries
upon methods of election that continued to reach the
offices of the Society, not only from the United
Kingdom but also from our Dominions overseas and
from the United States,
were dealt with by the Assistant Secretary, Mr.
Alfred J. Gray; Mr. Gray also carried through the
programme of autumn lectures arranged before the
declaration of the war. Meanwhile, a critical situation had
arisen in Tasmania, where a bill to substitute a list system
of proportional representation for the single
transferable vote has been introduced by the
Government, and is now (June, 1915) the subject of
inquiry by a Parliamentary Select Committee. Also
important developments have occurred in New Zealand
where (1) Parliament has passed an Act applying
proportional representation to the election of the
Legislative Council; (2) a similar bill for the
House of Representatives was lost by one vote only,
and (3) an Act has been passed making the use of
proportional representation optional in local
elections. In the case of the elections for the
Legislative Council the single transferable vote
will be applied under conditions of a difficulty
unprecedented in the history of this method. In
April, the Committee of the Society came to the
conclusion that it would be of the greatest
importance in the interests of the movement that the
Secretary should pay a visit to Australia and New
Zealand. The Committee in so deciding were
influenced by the recollection of the year 1909,
when Mr. Humphreys went to South Africa at the
request of the Government of the Transvaal and
materially assisted in preparing for the application
of proportional representation in the election of
the South African Senate, and of the Municipal
Councils of Johannesburg and Pretoria. They
considered that in the present conditions Mr. Humphreys should be
able on a similar visit to Australasia to place
evidence of the highest value before the
Tasmanian Committee and both to give
and to receive information in New Zealand on the
arrangements necessary to ensure the success of the
first elections under proportional representation.
His presence, moreover, would be an encouragement to
our friends in Australia to whose unremitting
efforts are due the promising movements in
practically all the States of the Commonwealth. It
is further intended that Mr. Humphreys shall return
by way of the United States and thus bring the
Society into more direct touch with those who are
responsible for reviving our cause in that country,
especially in connection with the present
wide-spread activity in the revision of State
constitutions and municipal charters. The adoption
in a few cities of a proportional method of electing
their executive councils might be the starting point
of a great movement in the United States. And,
finally, from our point of view at home, successful
developments in other parts of the English-speaking
world will be of the greatest practical importance
when the Irish question, and other problems of home
politics again come up for discussion. The Executive
Committee, fully convinced of the desirability of
this undertaking and of its opportuneness,
appealed to their subscribers for the necessary
financial assistance. The response justified the
hopes of the Committee and as a result Mr. Humphreys
is already on his way to Australia. The
Committee take this opportunity of thanking members
of the Society for their continued support at a
difficult time. Letters
to Mr. Humphreys (from the United Kingdom) may be
addressed as follows:- Up
to the end of June: c/o Mrs. Young, Drumcalpin, Victoria Avenue,
Rose Park, Adelaide. Up
to 15th July: c/o Chief Electoral Officer,
Wellington, New Zealand. Up to end
of October: c/o Mr. C. G. Hoag, Haverford, Pa. *
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