In France, it was stated in the debates on electoral reform in 1909, for 20 years, under second ballots, only once had a majority outside been represented by a majority inside the Chamber, and the average representation for the two decades had amounted to only 45 per cent. of the voters.  Writing to me after the New Zealand elections in 1909, the Hon. George Fowlds (Minister of Education), who has long supported effective voting, said, “The only result of the second ballot system in New Zealand has been to strengthen the movement in favour of proportional representation.”  And Mr. Paul, a Labour member in the Dominion, is making every effort to have effective voting included in the platform of the New Zealand Labour Party.  Further encouragement to continue our work came when Belgium adopted the principle of proportional representation in 1898.

The closing year of the century found the Effective Voting League in the thick of its first election campaign.  There is little doubt that the best time for advancing a political reform is during an election, and it was interesting to note how many candidates came to our support.  We had an interesting meeting at Parliament House for members just about that time.  An opponent of the reform, who was present, complained that we were late in beginning our meeting.  “We always begin punctually under the present system,” he remarked.  “Yes,” some one replied, “but we always finish so badly.”  “Oh, I always finish well enough,” was the pert rejoinder; “I generally come out on top.”  “Ah,” retorted the other, “I was thinking of the electors.”  But the doubter did not come out on top at a subsequent election, and his defeat was probably the means of his discovering defects in the old system that no number of successes would have led him into acknowledging.  From the two or three members who had supported Mr. Glynn in the previous Parliament we increased our advocates in the Assembly during the campaign to 14.  The agitation had been very persistent among the electors, and their approval of the reform was reflected in the minds of their representatives.  We inaugurated during that year the series of citizens’ meetings convened by the Mayors of the city and suburbs, which has been so successful a feature of our long campaign for electoral justice, and at the present time very few of the mayoral chairs are occupied by men who are not keen supporters of effective voting.

The Hon. Theodore Bruce’s connection with the reform dates from that year, when he presided at a meeting in the Adelaide Town Hall during the temporary absence of the Mayor.  A consistent supporter of effective voting from that time, it was only natural that when in May, 1909, the candidature of Mr. Bruce (who was then and is now a Vice-President of the league). for a seat in the Legislative Council, gave us an opportunity for working for his return, against a candidate who had stated that he was not satisfied with the working of the system of effective voting, we availed