THE BURGEES ROLL.

Kumara Times, Issue 893, 11 August 1879, Page 2

THE BURGEES ROLL.

[xo XHB EDITOR, j . " ‘t Sift—As additional. news, .to Mi? Wylde om 1 Town .Cleric, allow,, me through the .coluins .of your valuable journal to inform' miners add the J>urgesaea of this town that dlncfyiodemale persons of the.full age of years have been disfranchised, at’ft time most important in the history of thfe‘colony. True there are thirty-four qf the burgesses., away ; yet My-seren persons csanriot exercise their civil rights Amongst'them, are some of opt .most substantial an,dßeading citizCfis’ IttClflding,a jpember of parliament ft diiriisfer of ] tjhq gospel, ijyo bankers, and a-' such, .j, state of things should exist jnlist pomi out the absolute ndbdssity of ft change in the electoral laVirft. In the qase of any; jingle person being,oh. jected to who l|as lodged an bttKdftry clftirii he receives public notifidfttlotf bf such objection, and can therefore protect himself. But here .we have the.whole' l sale slaughter of ninety-due Mectqta, and . not a word about it. True thero is a penalty attached; butwhatsatis- .. faction would there he, in impbsing same • that would 1 not gnte.the r ‘people their rights. We haVd artdthel*'' instance also of ; tKe absurdity ofthe electoralAcfci the list must be compiled between the Ist April each' year and the 7th signed by the Chairman, in the case of a ’Road 'Board, and by the Mayor in the case,ofa-Borough. Now supposing the Mayor as Chairman bd absent, then' the- per Sons qiialified to; be elector are' deprived of their rights. Aft att ? instance of this, it >BO happened that Mr Seddon,- the Chaiiman of the District 'Road Bpard, was absent in the North islaiid at the above-mentioned; date?, ~ Secretary sent down the list, with a memo ,attached, informing the Revising dl&qer of the fact, and hqW, It Coald- pot, under . the oircurastftnces, be : completed according to the. Act. .‘‘,Thcown out; informal Y’ said KiftgLee.;' .And’ ’ so the Arahura. ratepayers,shaped ijie - same fate as, the burgesses. T oi‘ KumaraNow, Mr Editor, under, -aU .these ,disadvantages, one would arrive, at the conclusion that we as a community would simply have to take ;da candi-, dates or representatives whoidsoever the West Coast 'Jfhues and electors of Hokitika chose to send us,‘and go on onr marrow bones and bless them for ' tbeir loving-kindncss, . &C. , '&c/' ! But ‘ with all-our drawbacks we still 1 hold' the reiils of voting power, as-the fob lowing analysis of the present electoral,... roll will.showKomara and Dill-, man’s, 7*72 voters; Stafford-and, Golds- - borough, 208, or a total between the river's Avfthura add TevethakaU of 980 votes- To this idust he added "ft- Targe number who can vote on a sis:-months’ miner's right, though’ not dlt the roll*. Number of voters—Hokitika, -.570.) Kanieri, 273 ;• total, ,813. giving a maj u-ity to this district of 137 votes, exclusive of miners’ rights. True there may be a few miners right votes at ’ Kanieri; hut seeing this is a new goldfield, and the several rushes , that have taken place recently’ have caused a - large influx ,of ; persona holding.righta from other places, I should sfty that for every miner’s right in the and Kanieri district, ;tho Kumara district should poll three. , ’ In conclusion, Mr Editor, in, assisting your joucnal to be the first* to give Hokitika the .news, I do ad dot. with a view nf setting district agaiiist ‘district ; being pari of the whole; it is * to, be hoped that those ; electors who have; the privilege of exercising. then'' franchise will do so, and return. tHe ' h&fi. then, whereyer they tnay hail frd'm. ;‘ all’ appearance ’-there will" be dp -lack of candidates as regard fqjj_ quality, you must refer to the West Coast Times, as being better able to judge than the electors; and T Would suggest that the electors of the Hokitika electoral district surrender their birthright and save all the turmoil of an election by duly authorising the editor of the Times to select out

has recently ensconced that journal Would soon be unveiled, and K. C. field could then add th'6 talistuauic letters to this name of M. it.fi. For the other toember if the editor could hot find A fiaronet let him take X. Y.Z.j or your hilmble servant* Audacity. • - ■■rfrawwM. * ' ' For remainder of news see last page.