(To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."1
Six,—By his letter to the Times Lord Rosebery has for the moment focussed public attention on the important point that in the event of a General Election the most vital Constitu- tional question which has arisen within the last two centuries may be—one may say must be—so obscured and confused by minor issues as to leave the answer to the larger issue in- definite and ineffective. It is difficult to see any means by which, under the existing procedure, any of the minor factors can be eliminated from the general party issue. W hat is wanted is obviously some method of giving the electorate as a whole the means for returning a specific answer to the special issue,—in other words, a specific Referendum.
There is nothing unusual or startling in such a step. It has for long formed a part of the Constitution of Switzerhind It has recently been resorted to in ascertaining the mind of Natal as to confederation. It had previously been used to determine the question of union among the States which now form the Commonwealth of Australia. It may be put either at, or independently of, a General Election. At the General Election just concluded in the Commonwealth, it appears that special issues were put on two questions,—one as to the financial proposals for meeting the termination of what is known as "the Braddon blot" in the Federal Constitution; the other as to the proposed taking over the State Debts by the Federal body. One was carried, the other rejected. Had the opinion of the electors been left to be determined on the general party issue, the answer to both questions would have been doubtful. In New Zealand for a number of years special issues are at every General Election submitted to each constituency as to the retention, reduction, or refusal of licenses for the sale of liquor within such constituency.
In his earliest speech this Session on the relations between the Lords and the Commons the Prime Minister, while expressing a strong objection to the principle of a general power of Referendum on the initiative of a certain proportion of the electors (the Swiss system), was careful not to commit himself to a definite rejection of the idea of a Referendum pro hac vice ; and Mr. Balfour in one of his most recent speeches gave a plain indication that he thought it might be worth considering as a. solution of the present difficulty. In the absence of any measure which has received the consideration of both Houses there might be some difficulty in stating the issue, or issues, precisely; but such a difficulty cannot be insurmountable. The Resolutions of the Peers and Commons might make a satisfactory basis. Upon mere abstract Resolutions it might be inadvisable to make the result of such a Referendum mandatory, but a definite expression of the opinion of the electorate would give a useful basis for a settlement.
It is impossible to believe that the leaders of any party desire to precipitate the greatest Constitutional crisis of modern times upon general propositions which have not been, and under the present system cannot be, either definitely accepted or rejected by the country.—I am, Sir, &c., A COLONIST.
Previous page
