PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
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4PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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into an association by deed to become regular bodies) and, in the end, election in the second degree would get mixed up with direct election.
The sub-committee considers that you should elect between two systems only: 1. election in the second degree with a uniform body of electors and a franchise applying to each elector individually, and with a second body of electors chosen by the first; or 2, direct election with a definite franchise.
Those who uphold election in the second degree, think that it elevates the arena of the contest, and neutralises local influences, and they readily cite the election of 1688 in France which brought to Versailles the élite of the French nation of that time, and they also cite the example of the present Senate of the same country; but the sub- committee is against election in the second degree, 1, because it is inconsistent with the habits of England and of the English Colonies, and 2, because it estimates that it is open to very serious objections.
These objections have been clearly summed up by a statesman who must be acknowledged to be a man of great practical common sense, whatever opinion may be entertained of him in other respects, and who cannot, at any rate, be charged with We allude to Prince excessive liberalism-it is on this account that we quote him. Bismark.
On the 29th March 1867, in the Parliament of the North German Confederacy, the celebrated Chancellor spoke as follows concerning the federal law:
"I am convinced that indirect suffrage perverts both the election and the opinion of the nation. This can be demonstrated by a simple calculation which I presented twenty years ago, and which I now lay again before you. Admitting that, at each degree of the election, one half of the electors plus one are a sufficient majority, the elector of the second degree represents only one voter more than half the electoral body, and the member elected represents only one half plus one of the electors of the second degree, who themselves represent little more than half the electors. Thus, each deputy represents only one-fourth of the electors; and the majority of the Chamber, when taking, I admit, an extreme hypothesis, that of the election of deputies by very small majorities, would end by representing only one-eighth of the electoral body. By direct suffrage, we completely remove one of the causes of this fractioning. think we shall bring into this Chamber men of higher intelligence by direct suffrage than by election in the second degree.
"In order to be chosen by direct suffrage, a man must enjoy greater credit within a greater radius, for then the weight of local patronage no longer rests so heavily on the extended circle of electors.'
We add that election in the second degree would offer a wider field for intrigue and afford greater facility for its success.
Here, as with everything else, the simplest solutions are the best. Once we have made up our minds to introduce an elective element into the Council of Government, we have simply to adopt the system of direct election, and to confine our attention to determining the electoral franchise.
We think we shall find a suitable franchise by following the example of one of the We have taken as Colonies which have preceded us in the path of political reforms. a guide the jury law, considering that the qualifications required of a juror-the qualification as to knowledge of the English language excepted-should also suffice for an elector.
Every British subject residing in this Colony, and who has resided in it for a full year, may sit on the jury, provided he possesses one or other of the following qualifications:
1. If he is the owner of immoveable property of an annual value of at least Rs. 500. 2. If he possesses moveable property of the value of at least Rs. 5,000.
3. If he pays an annual rent of at least Rs. 480, or Rs. 40 a month.
4. If he is entitled to a salary or to an income of Rs. 960 per annum, or Rs. 80 a
month.
By fixing the suffrage according to the same conditions, we would have the great advantage of proceeding upon data which are not new, but which already exist in our laws and which form the basis of one of our most important institutions. Surely, all those who are considered fit to sit as jurymen in cases where the life or liberty of the subject is at stake, may be considered fit to be electors.
Let it not be said that this reasoning is fallacious, because the jury law, in addition to the guarantees we have enumerated, requires a knowledge of the English language. A knowledge of the English language is not, properly speaking, a guarantee the proceedings being conducted in English, it is indispensable that the jurymen should
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understand that language; it is only a question of relative incapacity since a knowledge of the English language can be acquired, and then the incapacity disappears.
However this may be, the sub-committee is firmly convinced that the above franchise will prove an excellent one in every respect. It is neither too high nor too low; it will maintain the right of voting on a level where it will run no serious risk of being perverted or of becoming a source of disorder.
It will be remarked that that franchise is higher than that fixed by the Municipal law; but you will easily understand that the election of members for a Legislature is a far more delicate and serious matter than that of the members of a Municipal Corporation. Moreover, if the sub-committee is willing to admit, as it has admitted, that it does not share the distrust with which certain persons view the Municipal electors, yet it is our duty to use our utmost endeavours to reassure those who do not think quite as we do; we must also bear in mind that, while the ratepayers of our city have proved their fitness as electors, it is not so with regard to the inhabitants of the rural districts, and this last circumstance alone justifies the difference we establish between the Municipal franchise and that which your sub-committee has adopted.
It has been suggested that the franchise should be so regulated as to secure to the agricultural and commercial interests a greater share of representation than those of other sections of the community. Even if we were disposed to approve of this idea, we should be at a loss to find a precise and tangible form under which to introduce it into the law; but the sub-committee fails to see any good reason in support of it. Agriculture and commerce are the soul of this Colony, and the Legislature need not treat them with special favour to enable them to exercise a powerful influence on the votes; the natural play of the forces, which the elections will set in motion, will suffice to bring about that result. Apart from the elections, it is also probable that the head of the Colony will choose the unofficial members mainly from among the distinguished representatives of agriculture and of commerce.
To sum up, we cannot press too strongly upon the attention of those who are inclined to think the franchise proposed by us too low, the consideration that the constitution of the Council, as we conceive it, offers per se so much security, that there is no necessity for showing too much severity as to the question of suffrage, nor can we press too strongly upon the attention of those who fall into the opposite extreme, this other important consideration, that the franchise can always be lowered, whereas it is very difficult to deprive a man of the right to vote, once it has been given to him.
All those who possess one or other of the qualifications required by the jury law shall be entitled to vote. It is of course well understood that they must be in possession of their civil rights and fall under the category of persons considered capable by our laws. They must be British subjects and naturalized, and must have resided in the Colony for at least one year.
Should we require of the electors that they should know how to read and to write, and, if so, in what language?
There are eminent men who maintain that the elector should have a certain amount of education and should at least know how to read and to write. In some countries a written vote is required; but such not the law of England nor of of her Colonies.
any
In Mauritius, this delicate matter would be more complicated than elsewhere. In what language should the elector know how to read or write? In the official language? In either the official or French language? Or, again, in any language which is spoken in any part of the British empire, and is also spoken in Mauritius?
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It will be at once seen that these questions open the door to much controversy. It is here that we must show tact and political sense, and that we must take care not to jeopardize the essential parts of our scheme of reform by a question which should be considered of secondary importance. With a franchise such as that which your committee suggests, electors who may happen not to know how to read or to write in the English or French language, will exercise so little influence on the general result of the votes, that there is not the least ground for fearing that any harm may be caused by their participating in the elections.
Let us, then, be prudent and reasonable, and far from making this question a condition sine qud non of the introduction of the elective principle into the political constitution of Mauritius, let us simply ask that it be settled by the electoral law, at the same time as the question whether the voting is to be secret or not.
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