§ Mr. Woollamasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will give comparative sales figures for recent years of definitive Colonial stamps on sale over the period in question, either for the Colonies in total or for selected territories.
§ Mr. J. AmeryThe total sales shown in Annual Reports for five representative territories selected at random were as follows:
respect to the property qualification for the second vote in the reform of the franchise in the Bahama Islands and, in particular, with respect to the entitlement of a voter having a business stake in a constituency in which he did not reside to vote in that constituency by virtue of that qualification; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. J. AmeryYes. In the statement made at the conclusion of my right hon. Friend's visit to the Bahamas last April he proposed the following changes in the franchise:
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- (i) the introduction of universal adult male suffrage;
- (ii) the abolition of the company vote;
- (iii) the abolition of the present arrangement under which one voter may have a vote in every constituency. Instead, the plural vote should be limited to two, the second vote requiring a property qualification in another constituency.
In proposing that there should be a vote for a property qualification in another constituency he had in mind the special geographical and historical circumstances associated with suffrage in the Colony. A property qualification means the possession, i.e., ownership or tenancy, of real property whether land or buildings. These may be possessed by a private individual, a farmer or business man, but where possessed by a company no suffrage would attach. Suitable minimum values for the property so possessed would have to be prescribed by legislation. No person should have more than one vote in addition to his residential vote and it would be necessary to ensure by suitable provision in the legislation that the second vote was not obtainable purely for purposes of voting.