A ROTTEN" BOROUGH.

Kumara Times, Issue 1144, 29 May 1880, Page 2

A ROTTEN" BOROUGH.

Addressing his constituents at Leestoi on the 21st inst., the Hon. John Hdl, the Premier, is reported to have said, in reply to Sir George Grey’s assertion, that “One of the peers who thinks he can make a party in the Assembly resigns ha peerage, and he sits to r some' rotten - 50 * rough iri the other House”:—l do

I should have referred to this if Sir George had ‘contented himself with a reference to irio ■personally, but he called this constituency a rotten borough. Now, what is a rotten borough 1 So far as I recollect of What a rotten borough Was consider#) m England, I should say it is a small constituency-, comprising a very small number of electors, who are almost ■entirely dependent upon some powerful individual, and are compelled to vote as he wishes th£m to vote, and who generally •get certain benefits in return. And he calls you, electors of Selwyn, electors for a totten borough. But that is not all. {Laughter.] You seem to have occupied his thoughts to a considerable extent. He makes a speech in Auckland, in which he says, “These gentlemen sit for some small places that ought not to return a member at all.” Then he comes nearer to us, and speaks at Christchurch; and there he is kind enough to refer to me again. He says—“ The timte has come when men who are to rule their fellow men should speak to great communities of their fellow men. It is no time when the Minister of a great and rising community like this should sneak away to some obscure country village. ’ ’ T 1 icreforo, gentlemen, you are a rotten borough, you ought not to elect a member, and you are a few Wall farmers in an obscure country village. [Laughter.] Now, gentlemen, Sir George Grey represents the Thames district. Comparisons, they say, are odious; but they arc very useful sometimes, nevertheless. Well, it became my duty once in the House of Representatives to throw some little light upon an electoral roll for the Thames. I then Jjtated the facts, which I shall state now have never been contradicted, and cannot be contradicted. The electoral roll of the Thames at the time I speak of comprised 4446 electors, being more than the whole of the male population of the district. But, of these people who were on that roll 52 were dead, were twice on the roll, 118 were three times on the roll, 699 absent, 400 could not be found out by the gentleman who sent me this, and who knows the place thoroughly—[laughter] —850 were not thoroughly qualified, had no qualification at all, 16 Natives were twice oh the roll, 6 Native women were on the roll, and 12 Natives whose names appeared on the roll were dead. [Laughter and applause.] Now, gentlemen, . 1 think if one of us represented a rotten borough it is not myself. [Cheers.] We are'further told that the Premier “ sneaks to an obscure country village.” I could not for the life of me for a considerable time understand what was meant by this term, that is, what difference there was betweeii the manner in which I travelled, and that in which Sir George Grey travelled, to account for such term. But it, occurred to me at last. When Sir George Grey travelled as Premier, he did so in a Government steamer, and by special train, and made the country pay accordingly. When 1 travel by sea, I do so its an ordinary passenger. When I use a special train I pay . for it myself. Gentlemen, I shall continue when I come to see you to sneak down here in that way [laughter and applause],, and 1 hope Parliament will never allow Ministers to do anything else, if to pay one’s own expenses for travelling when special trains are used can be called sneaking. —[Applau se. ]