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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 797, 20 June 1870, Page 2

Most of our readers ape probably aware that under what is called the New Provinces Act the Superintendent is elected in a way which differs materially from that pursued under the Constitution Act in the original Provinces. Under that Act the Superintendent is elected directly by the constituency, while under the New Provinces Act he is elected by the members of the Provincial Council. It has fortunately happened for this Province that circumstances have hitherto seemed to combine to prevent the ill effects of the system under which our Superintendent is elected from being felt by the electors, but this lias not been the case in the other new Provinces. Marlborough, for instance, has had it brought home to her, and we perceive that the electors there have taken action in the matter, in order, if possible, to have it remedied. A petition is about to be brought befoie the Gene pal Assembly, praying that in thisrespect Marlborough may be placed in the same position as the original Provinces. It is very possible that the same person may be elected to the office of Superintendent by the Council, who would have been chosen if the electors had a direct voice in his election—it is quite possible that such has hitherto been the case in Hawke's Bay, though we doubt the fact; but even if this be admitted, it in no way lessens the contingent evils of the system by which the electors of the Province are deprived of one of the most important of '.heir constitutional rights. It sometimes happens that the Superintendency ajone is made the question on which the several members of Council are elected, and other questions of vital importance to a constituency are ignored, to the detriment of the public. In the original Provinces the Superintendent is more truly the representative of the whole body of the electors than are the members of the Council, although at first sight it may seem that they are elected by

the same constituency. The fact is, however, that there is a difference. In the case of the Superintendent, the electors are placed on an equal footing, while in that of the Council this is not the case. A person having property in several, or it may be all, of the electoral districts of the Province, would have a vote for many, or perhaps the whole, of the members of the Gounoil; while another elector may have but a solitary vote—hence it will appear that the Superintendent is the representative of the constituency, while the Ooun. cil to a certain extent is the representative of- property. It happened some years ago in a neighboring province, that a dead-lock occurred, owing to an opposition on some point between the Superintendent and the Provincial Council, In that case the Superintendent was well aware that he had the confidence of the constituency, and in that confidence resigned and appealed to il; the consequence was his triumphant return to office, and the ultimate yielding of the Council to the voice of the electors, as expressed through him. Under the other system this could not have occurred, and the interests of the public must have suffered.