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Dunstan Times, Issue 409, 18 February 1870, Page 2

As the end of March will be the last opportunity that persona will have of placing their names upon the Electoral Roll, we strongly advise ah those who are unrcghti red, or the nature of whose qualification has altered, to lose 1.0 time in placing tin mselves in the position, of electors. This is a matter of considerable importance, as, at tlie present moment, the gol Helds may he said to he practically unrepresented. In the General Assembly our interests aie mainly in the hands of Auckland readouts, and, notwithstanding that one absent, members cannot wa ch over our interests, they have not the courtesy to resign and allow ns to quit some one 01.-e in their places. With respect to Mr. Vogel we may possibly make an exception He never was resident among us or expected to ho such. It was for his powerful and successful advocacy of the miner’s cause that we elected him. Mr. Vogel always fully appreciated the value of the mining interest, and in the House of Representatives his position and 'influence have done ns good service, and we have every reason to congratulate ourselves upon his election Rumor has it that what remains to ns purposes to take wings and fly to Iho modern Eldorado, when we shall be destitute of hj eal representation. In the Provincial Council our position is near’y a-; had, and wore it not for the advocacy of Messrs Brown and Hughes nothing at all

would be known about us. No other constituency but that of a goldfields would ever content itself under circumstances of such wilful and studied ue lect of its iutere-ts, and to a stranger it must appear by our umoucoruedness that it matters little whether we are represented or not. Such apathy is positively criminal. G del mining is one of the most v.aluab'e interests of the province, and wo may include with it the whole of new Zealand. ]t has made Otago what it is, it has filled its imnecuneous pockets with gold, and it has raised it from the position of a sheep walk and fishing station to the dignity of the fourth meicantile emporium in the Southern Waters, The strong arm of the miner has converted a grovelling <li-ly village into a well-built and comely-look-ingeity, changed Imxtering-hopkcepcrs into well-to-do merchants,extended the benefits of the printing press into what was considered impenetrable wilds, bridged rivers and made roads over mountains, and caused poor men to become rich who never before possessed the advantage of improving their condition in life by their honest labor The miner lias likewise conferred no end of other benefits upon mankind, and, what is more, by Ids own unaided exertions he produced out of the bowels of mother earth all tlm gold 10 do it with ; in fact, he was compelled to fight Ids way, as everything was opposed to him, but he did so and conquered. He had to overciitie the bigoted narrow-mindedness and ignorant selfishness of a class who, had they been left to themselves, would have degenerated until they morally would have been little better than the aborigines whom he came to supplant, and, having accomplished so much, his political existence must not be igpored The mining interest

must exert its influence and make its

presence felt in (he councils of the » State. The goldfields contain a pro- ! grcssive community, and its interests | require to he carefully watched and j tended, To be unrepresented is to | make a retrograde movement. fl ur independence will be sacrificed, our labor will be for the benefit of others, and we shall degenerate into hewers of wood and drawers of water. The business of mining Tor gold has now become a settled occupation, and, as so many of ns have made Otago onr home, it is high time that we ceased to be made a step]ling-stone to place or a convenience for legislative aspirants. For the future we must endeavor to elect our representatives from among ourselves. A local residence and the possession of intensts common with others, must be c nsidered as indispensable. To find persons to serv ns for the pure love of doing so is beyond human nature. Surely we can procure men on. the gohltie'ds possessing sufficient abi ity and whose interests necessitate a local residence to become our representatives, who will faithfully serve ns, instead of electing shiftless itinerants, whose only recommendation is a piofusioii of trashy promises, and who a-o ready to throw ns overboard the moment we have ceased to be useful to them.