fieciew of Jieciews, 2/»/0G^ 



7 he Tasmanian Elections. 



455 



improvements, and thereby force unoccupied land 

 into use, and do away "ivith that artificial scarcity of 

 land which is directly responsible for the housing 

 problem as it exists in Hobart and throughout the 

 Commonwjalth to-day. 



THE ACT OF GOVERNING OURSELVES. 



Among the reprehensible characteristics of the elec- 

 tion were the canvassing of electors in their homes, 

 a pernicious novelty which was very warmly de- 

 nounced, and the driving of electors to the poll, an 

 ancient custom which, as the Mercury pointed out, 

 is quite as much bribery- as standing a glass of beer. 

 Among the noteworthy incidents was the remark- 

 able success achieved by Ben Watkins, a mere youth 

 b.it with the Labour Party at his back, who was 

 pitted againit one of the most experienced men in 

 the House, ex-Minister Bird, and ran him very close. 

 The two most sensational incidents were the victory 

 of Mr. Herbert Nicholls, the acting leader of the 

 Opposition, over Sir Elliott Lewis, Vice-Chancellor 

 of the University, and ex-Presid^Mii of the State, and 

 the defeat of the Hon. Crosby Gilmore, the At- 

 torney-General. But these incidents, sensational as 

 they were at the time, have been recently eclipsed 

 bv the acceptance of the vacant portfolio of At- 

 torney-General by the Hon. W. B. Propsting, 

 M.L.C., the late Premier, into whose political shoes 

 tiie present Premier stepped, and who recently de- 

 serted the Lower for the Upprr Chamber, the very^ 

 existence of which he had previously deno'Unced. 

 His conduct was considered at the time extremely 

 significant, and it was broadly hinted that he in- 

 tended to accept the position of Chief Secretary in 

 place of Hon. William Moore, M.L.C., who was 

 likely soon to retire on account of old age. Mr. 

 Propsting's acceptance of office under his former 

 rival points to a lack of any real dividing line be- 

 tween the two parties in the States, not less than 

 to a want of proper spirit in a poUtician who could 

 so easilv sink political differences for private ends. 

 From the present turmoil of party feeling one 

 thing at any rate must result, die education of the 

 people in the art of governing themselves. That 

 they will govern themselves in the right way at first 

 would be contrary to all that historv teaches in the 

 past. But out of their very failures success will be 

 ultimately snatched, and from now henceforth both 

 electors and elected will be making experiments in 

 the noble art with more vigour than was ever the 

 rase in the past. 



.\ WORD FOR THE HARE SYSTEM. 



Before closing, I would like to draw^ attention to 

 the significant facts that nearly half of the people 

 who were called upon to vote w'here contested elec- 

 tions were held — 30,273 out of 70,635 — neglected 

 their duty, thus allowing the House of Assembly to 

 be chosen without taking any part in it one wax 

 or the other; and that in not less than eight out of 

 27 contested seats candidates were returned by a 

 minority vote, the proportion ranging from 41.76 

 per cent, to as low as 21.12 per cent, of the pos- 

 sible votes. This minority representation, which if 

 such a noteworthy feature in all our Australian Par- 

 liaments, is yet another illustration of the need of 

 the Hare system of proportional representation or 

 of some such method ol voting as was so forciblv 

 advocated by Professor Nanson in the January num- 

 ber of '■ The Review of Reviews." If the political 

 leagues would give occasional object-lessons of the 

 different systems of voting, and show how a inajority 

 representation could easily be secured by simply 

 voting for the candidates in the order of prefer- 

 ence, this great reform would soon be brought 

 about. 



THE RECONSTRUCTED MINISTRY. 



The new Ministry, the reconstruction of which 

 was officiallv announced on May i, is as follows: — 



Premier and Chief Secretary, and Minister of 

 Education, Hon. J. W. Evans. 



Attorney-General and leader in the Council, Hon. 

 W. B. Propsting. 



Minister of Lands, Works, Mines, Railways and 

 Agriculture, Hon. Alex. Hean. 



Treasurer, Hon. D. C. Urquhart. 



Without portfolio, Hon. W. Moore. 



Both the Opposition and the L;ibour members 

 are indignant at the complete somersault turned 

 by Messrs. Propsting and Urquhart. The latter, 

 though not a Labour member, was largely returned 

 on the Labour ticket, and during the recent cam- 

 paign denounced the Premier and all his works. 

 The latter is, perhaps, congratulating himself on the 

 success of a very astute political move, which trans- 

 formed two opponents into supporters and friends, 

 but defection may break out at any moment in his 

 own ranks, which,' combined with a junction between 

 the Opposition and the Labour Partv, may bring 

 the park r)f cards which he has so ingeniously 

 reared in ruin about his head. 



