86 



"kind has been distributed, it may be found that fresh surpluses 

 have been crea'ed. How are these to be distributed P We have 

 supposed a case in which, as a result of the distribution of X's 

 surplus. 500 voting papers go to Y. If Y only requires 400 to 

 complete his quota, what is to bs d >ne with the excess ? Is the 

 returning officer to take the 100 papers on the top of Y's lot and 

 distribute them according to third preferences ? Thi9 would 

 leave too mach to chance, or to the discretion of the returning 

 officer. In pursuance of a principle already illustrated, the Act 

 requires the distribution of the l'O excess votes in a proportion 

 determined by reference to third preferences on the whole 500 

 papers taken from the box of X. 



If as the result of the foregoing counts, an insufficient 

 number of candidates have obtained a quota, the candidate who 

 has secured the lowest number of votes is excluded from the poll ; 

 and his ballot papers are then transferred to the candidates whom 

 the electors have chosen in substitution, Whenever the next 

 preference of the voter is a candidate already elected, the name 

 is cancelled and the papers are passed on to a later preference 

 If any candidate gain a surplus as a result of this distr.bution, 

 it is to be redistributed in a p-oportion determined by reference to 

 the next preferences on the whole of the ballot papers previously 

 transferred to him. The process of elimination, occasionally 

 alternated with the distribution of a surplus, is continued until 

 the nnmber of candidates does not exceed the number of vacancies. 



Ihe principles underlying the Tasmanian Electoral Act have 

 been explained with studious brevity. The courtesy of my 

 audience may excuse, if their curiosity does not solicit, an 

 account of the election held under its provisions. It will be suffi- 

 cient to speak of the district of Hobart. Consistently with the 

 anticipations of the Legislature, the occasion was honored by a 

 display of interest equally remarkable for its diffusion and its 

 •nsity. For ten hours the crowd barred the approaches to the 

 polling booth. The proceedings were enlivened by the usual 

 humours of the election day : such phrases as "fiabid on the Hare 

 rated alluring opportunities for distinction, requiring 



e intelligence in the wit and less in the auditors. The mode 

 of distributing the surplus afforded endless occasion for discussion 

 and mi- tanding, and for that humour which, as it was un- 



conscious, we mny perhaps impute to genius. "It all comes to this," 

 said ODe elector, " when Clark has all the votes he needs, any other 

 vote for him goes to the next man on the list who needs it most." 

 One dialogue deserved to be specially recorded. ''The practical 

 commo-??nse men tell me the old system is the best." " But I 

 expect the practical commonsense men of whom you speak do 

 no understand tne Hare System." ' That's so ; tliey said as much; 

 but still they are practical commonsense men, and that is sufficient 

 for me." Such remarks illustrate, with admirable felicity, the 

 character of the most serious opposition which the advocate of 

 the Ha rm mist encounter. They further illustrate the 



folly of efforts to instruct the electors in the minutise of a Bill 

 with whose general principles they are unfamiliar. As Mr Hare 

 remarked in his treatise, a passenger is satisfied to travel by 

 the express though ignorant of the details of the steam engine. 

 The justice of the parallel is admirable, and it is a matter for 



