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To say that the direct method of voting was unsatisfac;ory was "rais-- ing bogeys equally applicable to tak-- ing a vote by proxy." When the Active Service Election Act was drawn up, Col. Drew said, he not only did not approve, but strenu-- ously opposed the suggested way of laking the ballots. The best way to take the vote was in the ballot box, he declared. This brought from Col. Drew the retort that it would not be safe to aAssume that armies of occupation would be in those countries within the term of the proposed extension of one year. No Traces of Neglect. Assurance was given by Premier Conant that there had been no neg-- lect in the matter of providing for soldiers' votes, and that within a comparatively short time proxy ap-- pointment forms would be in the hands of appointed agents through-- out Canada and overseas for distri-- bution to the men in the armed forces. The Premier read a mem-- nrandum signed by Major Alex C. Leowis, chief election officer, and W. B. Common, assistant chief election officer, setting forth the position with regard to the machinery setup. In the opinion of these officials, to undertake amendments to the act in any important particular would result in delay which would make H practically impossible to protect the soldiers' vote in any election during 1943. Col. Drew insisted that the balln! taken by direct vote was the only proper method. It had been done in the last war, and had been done in this war, too, by the Dominion and at least one Provincial Government. With distances dissipated by air travel, he saw no reason why bal-- lots could not be flown to Ontario troops in Tunisia or wherever else they happened to be. The discussion was featured by Premier Conant's statement that i was altogether likely "that by the time we have a general election in Ontario, our troops will be in Italy as an army of occupstion, in Ger-- many and quite possibly in Japan." This brought from Col. Drew the retort that it would not be safe to The practice of holding *"snap" #lections must be discarded in order that the men on active service nverseas may have full opportunity of recording their vote, Leopold Macaulay (Prog,. Con., South York), told the House. An Opposition motion to have the Active Service Election Act reforred to a select committee of the House for reconsideration was defeaited in the Legislature following prolonged «debate in which Government policy in the matter was criticized. The motion was sponsored by Leslie M. Frost (Prog. Con., Victoria). The practice of holding *"snap" COmpposition Leader George Drew and members of his Progressive Con-- servative group urged the Govern-- ment last night to substitute the direct ballot for the proxy method of taking the vote of soldiers overseas. Bid for Direct Ballot By Opposition Crushed In Soldier Vote Debate Keep Proxy Method; Liberals Are Warned Against Snap Election APRL "Suppose the men were in Ger-- many or Italy or Japan. Today it's only 48 hours from here to Tunisia, pight hours to cross the Atlantic," said Col. Drew. "You can be in Tokyo in less than 48 hours by one of the rervices now operating. Election officers could go to those countries and there might still be enough metal left there to make ballot boxes. Or they could be made of wood." Must Arrange for Votes. The men's vote could be taken by ; arrangement with commanding offi-- | cors, by the system so long recog--| nized "as the very earmark of our | daemocracy. Troops were in cohesive | contact with headquarters and could | be reached. Yet the Government | would authorize some one in London | in the Canadian Chamber of Com--| merce to distribute the proxies.| How could he contact them?" | "With all the objections about taking the vote in the last war, they weren't so serious after all," Col. Drew pointed out. In the last war, he said, as high a percentage of sol-- diers voted as would by proxy, and the chance of getting the vote would be better if a man were sent out to contact them. He recalled his suggestion made & year ago, when he pressed the Government to provide for direct voting and quoted from The Globe Eand Mail of April 14. 1942. He agreed that if proxies were sent out, the men wouldn't even know who they were voting for. Ballots could be flown to troops between nomination and election day. The Dominion would doubtiess make flyinz facilities available. Premier Conant said in reply that no Government would consider a general election without ample pro-- vision to take the soldiers' vote, and added: "The regulations of pro-- cedure were on my desk two weeks ago. The Order--in--Council was signed yesterday." An -- Ontario election in June would result in 175,000 soldiers over-- geas being disfranchised, said Mr. Frost in opening debate on his motion. Me asserted that it would take five months from the present time to hold an election if it was proposed to take the soldiers' vote. He criticized the act as un-- workable and charged the Gov-- ernment with having done nothing to implement it since a year ago when the Legislature passed the bill. "If this Government {feels it would like to have a quick election and get the agony over with, and sur-- render the seals of office, then 4ens of thousands of Ontario sol-- diers overseas will get no vote," said Mr. Frost. "As far as the value of the act is concerned, it might