Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-28

ID 81 81: a: ;:
/ and another chamber which is
| the most truly responsible to public
1 opinion of all the legislatures in the
/ world The house of commons is not
an ideally democratic institution, but it
! is most sensitive to the public will, and
| it is chosen under conditions of politi-
cal purity not approached in any other
| country.
The suffrage in England is not what
! Americans would consider democratic,
since a complicated system of property
4 qualifications, varying in different sec
! tions, is imposed; and since land
! holders may vote in every constituency
where they own property. The limited
| suffrage which shuts out the very poor
and the plural suffrage which gives the
| very rich many votes, as well as the
| fact that the constituencies are ar
| ranged without due regard to pOpula
J ton, constitute the chief faults of the
British parliamentary electoral system.
] But the corruption and indecent poll
tics which disgraces the elections in
| many other countries and in many
| parts of the United States is almost en-
! tirely unknown here. This purity OF
elections is secured by what is known
as the corrupt practices act, an out
growth of the reform bill of 1882, which
was placed on the statute books in 1888
and which has been made even more
stringent by subsequent amendments.
The machinery by which the British
house of commons is elected differs al
together from the political and cleo
toral machinery of the United States,
but the means taken to prevent cor
ruption might be employed even in
America.
The go members of the house of COM
mons are elected from constituencies of
various populations-coun boroughs,
cities and universities When a parlia-
ment dissolyes by limitation at the ex
piration of seven years, or when a dis
solution is brought about by the death
of the sovereign or by some extraor-
binary political crisis in which an zap
peal to the country" forces an election,
the queer mixture of ancient usage and
modern methods composing the British
election system is set to work.
The king issues q proclamation on
the day the ministry tells him to do So
ordering Writs for the election of new
parliament and fixing a day for the
meeting of the new Legislature. All theI
essentials are attended to by the minis
try, but the proclamation declares SOL
EMMY that the king has decided he
needs a new parliament, that he has
managed the whole business on his
own Volition. When this proclamation
is signed writs are Immediately dis
patched to the sheriffs, mayors and re-
turning officers who are to hold the
elections in the various constituencies.
Candidates have been actively en-
gagged in the campaign for several
weeks, usually, when the writs are is
ued, but they are technically known
only as prospective candidates" A
member of parliament does not have to
live in the constituency which he rep
resents, and, indeed, the majority of
the members "sit" for some district
where they do not reside. Nevertheless
there is more and more talk about the
"carpetbaggers' in England all the
time, that phrase having been bor-
rowed from America. The political par
ty organization in the United States, |
by which precinct committees build up
to the all powerful state and national |
committees, is wholly unknown here. |
English politicians have nothing but |
scorn for the American SYSTEM, which, |
they say, binds the local committee as
a slave to the national organization. |
Yet in England the local committees
ask the national committee to select a
candidate for them! Imagine the DEM |
ocratic congressional committee of the |
Third district of Arkansas asking a
national committee for a congressional
candidate, and then tamely accepting
an atediluvian New Hampshire Demo- |
crat brought out of the museum for
that purpose. That is what the Eng |
fish politicians call local freedom of
party action.
When the writs are issued each sher-
if of a county, mayor of borough
or returning officer of a division APP |
points a day for nominations and an
other day for polling. This may be
any time after five days and before |
twenty days from the time of receiv- |
ing the writ Each candidate must be
nominated by proposer a seconder
and eight assentors, all ten of whom |
must be registered voters in the con- |
stituency. on the day of nominations I
a meeting is held, attended by the can
didates The sheriff or returning Off |
Ger asks for nominations. If only one |
name is presented and the nomination
is in proper form the sheriff declares
that nominee to be duly elected a mem
= rlio this FASHION MT, |