THE POLITICAL POSITION OF WESTLAND.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 152, 3 January 1867, Page 3

THE POLITICAL POSITION OF WESTLAND.

(From the Wast Coast Times.) ■ The, history of the present session of the Provincial Council forces some very serious thoughts upon us. Of what practical utility has been the increase iv the number of our representatives? We have sent live gentlemen to Christcliurcli. They have not been idle members. What .they have done in the Provincial Council is no actual gnsujo of their efforts to serve the interests of Westland. We know that very many .matters have been discussed bet-weon the members for the district and jthe Superintendent and his. ministers. But wo can speak openly only of what has openly transpired. And we have the plain 'indisputable fact before us that the Provincial. Council, down to the tenth week of its' sitting, has not been moved t<> .any decisive action whatever on ;tny single point affecting our interests. Our members have proved themselves a power iv the State, so far as regards the direction of the current of general politics. They havo,sh<iwjUhoniselves to be an iniporhmtr'element In tlie '■frjws that make and unmake BuTflieif^osiv-.: tion in the House is manifestly a most anomalous one. aro not numerous enough to be a party in themselves. Hitherto they have been the dominating power by which the fate of parties has been decided. But what does sucli a political position imply ? They must act inconcn't always; miist abandon independence of individual judgment ; must vote as a live-men power iv tlie House or they are powerless altogether. But it is plain that so long as they find themselves constructed to matntiiin this political attitude as the only means by which thuy can hope to effect the maintenance in office of a Government whose general policy is favorable to the interests of the district the)' specially represent, so long tliey necessarily remain exposed to the imputation of being a compact " vote" in the Council, acting as a dead-weight on one side or the other, and influencing the single issue— what Ministry shall be in and what out. We confess that to our mind this is a very unnatural and unsatisfactory position for any body of men to hold. Unsa'tisfactofy to themselves, still more unsatisfactory to the constituents they represent. By .uniformly supporting a Government on the ground of its being favorably disposed to West Coast interests 'they at once -stultify themselves as independent members of the Council, and at the same time excite against themselves and their district a strong antagonism. As representing a .distinct interest in the Council, our five representatives are either too many or too few. They are too few to be a party, and are exposed to the suspicion of being a faction. They are too many to "constitute a mere Westland delegation. If the members for this district — or rather for the several electorates comprised within it— are to be a part and parcel of the Council, and act on. general and broad and independent principles — notvs a " compact vote" madj one by the bond of a special interest- — the representation must assume dimensions corresponding with that of the other side. Tlie " special interest" must be extinguished. Until that be done, and our members find themselves released from tlie necessity of making " common cause" on behalf of their constituents, it is a suggestion worth consideration whether it would not be better to abandon representation, and fall back upon delegation ; to give up the idea of "constituents" and accept in its stead that of " clients, " sending some one to plead their cause, with brief in hand, at the bar of the House. The present position of the representative question is most illogical ; and if any further illustration of the fact were wanting, it is surely furnished by the point which has lately been mooted of the expediency of having one of the Westland members in the Executive Council. When many mouths ago Mr Moorhouse promised that he would act upon that idea, we pointed out that, however popular it might be, such a pledge was'scarcely consonant with the principles upon which the system of constitutional government was based. We reminded our readers that ministries were unities ; and that few men would consent to accept the command to "form an administration" bound by the pledge of the Superintendent to select one of his two* or three colleagues from amongst any particular" section of five members.. The rule wonltl be ( altogether unworkable, and, as putting a ' man into office simply as a West Coast member, it would have the undesirable effect of giving to the Government to which he- belonged the support of the ".compact vote" of his colleagues in the representation of the district, on all matters of general policy.'' That Westland has a claim to be represented in tlie Executive Council, is a position that no oiie can -dispute. It is not disputed on the other side. Looking at ihe magnitude of the interests to be dealt wi|;h, nothing could exceed the anomaly of a system which excludes altogether the clement of local rhsponsibility in the management of our affairs and the expenditure of our funds. ' But if this responsibility is to be secured by the introduction of a Westland minister into the Cabinet, it is a condition precedent of such an arrangement that the' representation of the district shall be' enlarged, and. that its members shall cease to be a distinguishable sectional element in' the House. XTntil that be done, we must be content. with some other form of embodiment of the responsible principles; and we look with hope to the appointment of the proposed Commission to point a way out of the difficulty. In difficulty the whole subject is involved. Even the question of an enlarged representation has its difficulties. After the exrerience of the present session, how many of our present members will be disposed to return to their profitless task ? Time will tell. But, .meanwhile, we can make a very safe gues3 that there is not one who does not feel that he, has sacrificed too much in the hope, of doing some good, to make the prospect pleasant of paving to sacrifice so much again. Increased representation without the proper m'eh, willing to fill the additional seats, woiilil be a bane rather than a blessing. I It l}|||sy,es us all to think earnestly, and to spgpfc openly arid freely upon the poliJlllV situation and necessities of the distoc|.i .-_':.■ ■""■-;. : ' ,