Mar, 22, The lively interest taken in the contest between thirteen candidates for the nine non-Chinese seats in the Shang-Municipal election taken to indicate the prospect of a heavier poll than usual, It is to be hoped that this view will be proved correct.
certainly ix most unsatisfactory that only 29.4 per cent. of the non-Japanese electorate thought it worth while to record votes last year. Special discussion seems to centre round the question of nomination, The position is curious and demands a dispassionate examination of the growth of el tion practice here. Quotation from the Feetham Report will help:
'The nine foreign members of the present Cornell include Gve two' American memo two Japanese
is, aft of the 'The' division of seats ong "candidates of different nationalities has for many years deen a matter of friendly ar-Fangement beforehand—among the leaders of the different national communities. There has deen what may be called an open 0 election for British candidates, when the number of such candidates has exceeded: the number of seats remaining available for British members, but the practice has been for the communities with a smaller voting strength to choose beforehand the candidates whom: they wish to see elected as their representatives, and the number of enndidates be. longing to such communities hes usually been restricted to. the number of seats allotted by agreement yo the community con. cerned, In point of fact the Japanese community, with that sense of discipline and civic cohesion wu which it is to be congratulated, has so well exercised the power fof the ballot box that it has been able to ensure a solid block in full support of its two candidates. Up to that point the aystem is communal but each Japanese voter possesses seven more votes. As the total Japanese vote last year was 682 out of poll of 1,472, the use of those votes in the open part of the election may easily be decisive. It will be plain that, while the Jemployment of the block vote to secure the return of two candidates may be laudable, its extension to other seats nominally /held by convention to belong to other nationalities is embarrass-jing although technically legitimate, As this journal pointed out on Monday, this is one of the disadvantages of a hybrid system which is partly communal and partly open. As British and other voters' can, if they wish, vote for Japanese candidates it would obviously be impracticable to argue that Japanese support should not be given to non-Japanese candidates. Apart from anything else Japanese partnership in the Settlement is highly valued by the other foreign nationalities and this Journal would refuse to endorse any a which tended to depreciate it. It must, however, be recognised that the system which, is so appropriate for ensuring Japanese solidarity in respect of the two Japanese seats accords but ill with the spirit of the contest for the other seats, Leaving out of account the two seats which, according to the extract noted above, but not according to the result of the last election, yo to Americans, the question boils itself down to the filling of the five seats for which there are nine British candidates. Except for brief biographical notices and, perhaps, brief statements through the ress, these candidates make no Public bid for support. 'They address no meetings; they make ho attempt to expound. their own policies and criticise their opponents' policies on the pli form. They are not in a position to answer questions which the voters may like to ask them in advance because there is no means of conveying those que tions to them. The questioner Jand the heckler even have their! Political values. On general grounds the election of any five fof the nine gentlemen nominated would be acceptable but it is pertinent to insist that, as the main purpose of their election is the representation of Bri interests, for the sake of int. national cohesion, the inevitable influence of non-British votes should be put upon as equitable basis as possible. Otherwise the case for a British primary [vote becomes irresistible.
'There is no suggestion that the Japanese necessarily select five names and apply to them the block vote. It is, however, It generally admitted that, by a graded distribution of the Japanese vote, a very definite und important' support is given to certain candidates. This perhaps cannot be helped. The Japanese havea perfect right to indicate their preference in their Jown way. Yet no one who is not wilfully blind can deny that it may easily carry to success 2 man unacceptable to his com munity. Whether it has yet achieved this feat cannot be said. Presumably it has not, but it may have eliminated men who otherwise would have been preferred by their fellow-nationals.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.