An Irish correspondent writes : " The Irish Free State
Senate election has been a test of P. R., and of the Free State constitution ; and it has thrown some light on the state of political opinion. The twenty-six counties were treated as one constituency, with seventy-six candidates for nineteen seats, and every adult over the age of thirty could vote. Only 25 per cent. of the elector- ate voted, and the proportion was far lower in the rural districts. .Despite the complexity of the voting paper, spoilt votes averaged barely 1 per cent., and were chiefly due to the marking of two 'first preferences.' Where the, system failed, and the intention of the constitution was thwarted, was in the ' plumping ' for local men. This may be attributed to the extreme paucity of men of national standing among the candidates, but some critics hold that a different system must be devised for future Senate elections. The 'first preferences' were headed by Mr. Toal, a respectable Monaghan Nationalist. Of his 14,000 odd votes, almost all came from his native and the neighbouring counties. In several other counties he received only one, two or three votes. His case was typical. Most of the leaders among the candidates similarly drew from 75 to 90 per cent, of their suffrages from their home districts, and seemed to be unknown in more remote parts of the State-wide constituency. They arc, in fact, suitable men for the Dail, rather than for the Senate. They are steady, old-fashioned men of a rural conservative type. The reason that they have succeeded for the Senate while politicians of a louder sort enter the Dail is that in the Senate election the political organizations took no part. There was no machinery of votes, and the mood of the electorate, uninfluenced by party manipulation, was expressed."
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