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| ' r;dg:Stme&:egn?.t bot:' tg:::t:ve'x'z;;: | section extended the 'j*nrhdlotion of the , | not believe that, Heproposedto give the Gov-- | So grtteoanp&d .'t':o%""?.'l'{f." m& Th:fie ' ; eroment power to allocate the sherif and ; TCSs who bed I I se . nor | no J and , dates who had been disqualified, though not regliatrar to either of the divisions of the | ally culpable, should be relieved to some | county, _ The Bill proposed to create addi-- . mot: t.y Bpow ' far this _ reliet should 4 | tlonal polling places in the district of Algoma, | ex"nd as a matter for the House to dis The law hitherto had been that the elections | | exd!é ox'l 'u He was of opinion thl?;; ' there should not tako place during the win-- f ces # he:e--p:l':;n h there hadp been extenu-- | ter, but he had added May and November to | C ibe o |tanocgl the judges had not bee x | the months when elections could now take | a ue io TA H tg h didat it place. _ He proposed that a potitlon sHoula able to take into ao«'finn --t :ei"m idates | y not be filed without a msonagfo verification, ! | ;:r}n:;e?onlly ceipable, serme rellef should | and also that there should be a deposit of | e s ] money, as provided by the Dominion Act Mr, MEREDITH held that the severity of Instead _ of _ secarlty .b bond, _ The the present election law, which had { Dominion _ Act _ prc ',-meg for _ $1,000, worked well, should not lightly be relaxed; | 3 but the Onterio Jaw required only $500, and se ut sn bax s es | sal to make the amount similar tothat in the ti. *Wn tixe smwallut .;n:l'ld C l::on;y Dominion, He also proposed that & trlal for """f,ith""; 1;1a 1': b e da d | shou!d be commenced within six months aftor o oys us h :n:'o t;d :1 is 'elvoryi $y ' the petiticn was presented, and should be p oo o oo o annge 2e bo o hopm CS ot w continued from day to day ;ailso that no trlal fudde to be d.eche .[s c 095 :;. %%ns;ii ute(% should take place during the seszion or with-- ie Haous buns ch "e'x'f ot.ed (9} ¥ of in fifteen days afterwards without the con:-- pwikir nb ce. Shesis ;1 th '.d o uppr | sent of the candidate, If six months elapsed | Aopent frows the Coolsiony o %]u o of the additions! securities should be provldog by 1 senenet non sumat . ing emant o ae / the parties. The 32nd r#ection provided & l gentlemen now suffering the penalties of the I very iroportant amendment, namely, that election law belonged to his (Mr. Mere. I where the question was 'one of' oor. dith's) party, he would sconer allow the law | , rugt practice, the trlal should bs by two ho. ioee e Soneke than rigk .hak!ng.th.e | judges, If a momber were found gullty confidence our people now bad in our jugi-- of corrupt practices the penalty was vely so clary, and in the mode of condacting vere; not only the loss of a seat But,disquall. the administration of justlce, Ho had no | fication for eight years from aitting in this o infow io Eorfor, alection .oncen a cnies, " House, or voting, or 'holding sny office in two judges instead of one, but he dldpb]oct | the gift of the Lieutenant C:overnor or any Po ho provision by which personn anloving | reunicipal office. In crfminal cases a man the income fn'nohlse should be obliged to pay | had the opportunity of being trlod by twelve their taxes before voting As he favoured a men, and he therofore thought there would nery lazge oxtension of franchise, and be. be an advant3ge in giving a man the benefit lieved in the inheront right of every citizon of two minds in these cases. _ There would, of the country to vote, he conld see no justi-- | he thought, bo no difficalty found in arran g fication for sach a provision, He favoured ing the sitting of the judges so that the pre: many things in the Bill, and hbe hoped that | | sent number would be suficient to try 'the it would be czonsidered entirely free from !! -- cases, At all events, the experionce which party ocnalderations, (Cheers ) | | weuld be gained between this and the next . Mr, HODGINS referred to some of the | general election would be sufficient to guide judgments in the Election Courts as showing *the House in future. Then, it bad bsen tho difficulty the judges had in deciding | found that members had been found guilty upon the culps\ility of candidates, and the | of corrupt practlces, rightly found gailty un. inconsistersy in their decisions, The House der the law, but of practloss committed by should therefore be chary of imposing upon them unknowingly, which might be desig-- the judges the additional difficulty of declding nated as trivia), and which had no effect , or apon the alleged corrupt practices of persons | | the result of the election: This had other than the candidates. He did not think | alflected all partles Some slight action . there would be much additional protection | which no one anticipated would be a corrupt to 'GBFO"-d"t' in requiring an affidavit, He practice had been beld to fall within the was glad that agents would be made,to a cor-- | | terms of the Act. It had seemed to the Go-- tain extent, Hable tor their own corrupt acts, / * vernment extremely just that if a candidate for under the present law not a sin-- f' committed any act which was technically a {319 »gent had been punished for his corrupt practice without corrupt intent, and legal practi¢es. Ho thought that the | with an ignorance which was involuntary, notises of the varions polling plases | and where the evidence showed that he had in elections should be distributed to the same honestly desired to have a pure election, and extent and inmuch the same way as tho voters' that the act in question did not materially lists now were, and should, inaddition, be pub-- affect the reault, the election should not be lished in one newspaper in the constituency, held to be vold and the csndidate should not He thought, too, that the rsturning--officer be disqualified, It was necsssary to be cau-- should have the power of counting the bal-- tious not to let in the corruption which it lots in cases where deputy--returning--officers was desired to keep out, and he had thers-- were charged with improperly receiving or fore made the condition to which he had re-- rejecting ballots, h'r:l:d'h! He 't:o:gh; l:he House woul(}l agrene In reply to Mr Lauder, wi m that this section was so hedged {[ r F 2 \ ns ds t tnen mm ies io k a ; er a _ seoure one to -- have » j | He thought the public sentiment required :{:2; d?.?fied"'!f,';fi'm t teleotéonf 01.1';6: | that they should deal even mors liberally with the jndgment ogw :; C aeo q hi abmh:d | with carea in which the act was that of an subst: uen]fl '{:2:,, decid 3 Mee Wal | agent, He did not propore to aiter the law i * D s s | of the agenoy, but where an agent did an act Mr. SQOTI'_ objected to bringing Into "bh of a trivial character without the knowledgs House discussiona as to the moral culpabliity | of the candidate it ought not to vold the of dirqualifiec candidates, _ He was of opin: election, He thought the late elections bad fon that the present law had worked admir-- ; been a great credit to the conntrv. No ably well; it was mot too atringent. The | general election bad been beld in Oatarlo effect of the 35th sectlon of this Bill would | which bad been avything like a» free from | be to say to the poople, "You can do a little | | corrupt practices as the Jast. . There had | more now in the way of corruption than you | been a gocd many trials, aud . several I could, but you must be caroful that it may | | ' persors had been unsested, and in almost not be found out." A Bill which would have | | every cage this arose from some trivial thing, ' the effect of relaxing the severisty of the | \ and not from what the common sense or the | present law came rather strangely from the | ' conscience of the community regarded as cor. | party of hon. gentlemen opposite, and was an | rupt, or from snything which bad any result | acknowledgment that the present law had l ' ' on the election. He thought election trials | , fallen with groater severity "Sm their own \ ' ahould not be discouraged, They should than upon the other political party, He rather encourage the investigation of corru pt thought that provision should be made practices, and _ therefore ~ they proposed whereby the petitioner might havo the power | [ 10 far to leave the corts "to _ be of examining not ouly the respondent, but | ' | disposed of as If _ these provistons his agents and prominent supporters, -- As | | were not Introduced _ into the _ law. to income f¥anchise voters, it was pos-- | | The 38th section provided that persons, other sible that the writ might be jissued at a | than candidates, found guilty of corrupt period of the year when the taxes could not \ acts resulting in diequalification, though not have been paid FHe would refor to other } worally culpable, could be relloved mt tho watters in Committeo, | option of the judge before whom the trial | Mr, BRODER ssid the present law had \ took place on their making application to worked well, He was in tavour of some of | him, -- The 30th clause imposed the psyment | the provisions of this Bill and opposed to | of corts upon agents found guilty of corrupt | others, . The small number of disqualifica-- } practices, and the two following clauses were | tions which had taken place showed that it ' U obiefly connected with this matter. Another | wes possible to carry out the pressat law. | { | . m I M *-_J £ . BV : i