THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1870.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 96, 16 December 1870, Page 2

THE Mount Ida Chronicle. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1870.

Mb, Jas. Macassey, barrister-at-law, ,one of the new candidates for the representation of Duuedin in the G-ene-.ral Assembly at the forthcoming election, in 4 a speech recently delivered by 'hiin at a monster meeting in the Masonic Kail, stated, as one of the reasons why the G oldfields interest in this Province had been neglected, that four of th 6 present members for the "Qjtago "G-oldfields had been absent from cthe Province foi*.a period of two years, uduring whyjh time:they 'had not taken •the' trouble, either to visit ...or...consult their c6s?jatu,encies upon the various patters connected with i.their districts. '(j| these 'four honorable memoers, two "had ! b'een iri business in .Auckland' as 'stock and' share brokers, .one' had held .'the ;offi.ce of Provincial ISngineer for the J?rpvmce of A.uckljiud! and the other had been the proprietor of the leadino--Auckland paper! .With facts such as "these, : before them,, the miners .through;o at th e Prov i nee- cannot fail toperceive "tiiat they have been.' themselves "sold, £ and that their best interests liave been sacrificed to the personal aggrandiseof their very weU to, say that; an absentee member'may" represenlTa constituency as

well as. .-one whose interests lie in the] district'which he represents, and who spends his time. Avhen unemployed upon ! his Parliamentary duties,"among his constituents. For our part, we "hold that a many-be > -he who or w.hat he may, jnusfcbg; _anoV.is -to a very- great extent, -guided in his opinions and actions by self interest, and; thai, therefore, where , his interest lies there will also his inclinations and : his proclivities be found; Nor is this to be wondered at. Qn the contrary, it is the natural resujt of thatselfish frailty with.■which ajl humanity is to g, greater or lesser extent imbued. If, what we advance be-true, and personal interest and considerations in every ease more orlees predominate, it'should tend to teach the ' constituencies that, if they dbsire to have their | wants and requirements „ attended to, land their grievances . redressed, they I must seek put men as representatives whose feehngs and ppinions are tlje same as their own, and whose interest it is, by immediate and local connec•:tion/< to exert themselves for the district which they .represent. /

We will take one case which we think will ,be applicable tq all. Suppose that k member who has been elected to represent one mining district has' bis interest, whether mining or other, 1 |; situate in another, district," should the j time ebme when tiie interest o.f- the I district in which his interests lie .clash [with those, of the district which he was to represent, for which- is it tobe pxpeeted that his voice would be heard and his vote: recorded 1 ? : '}lt : is" ! absurd for a moment to imagine that a man living.in a distant Province,.,and L attached to- that Province- by all the ties of personal association and local interests or predilections, should bestow that care and attention upon his distant constituents which his position as their representative demands. Even were he so disposed, it is utterly impossible that he should fully understand what the wants and necessities of his constituents might be, or what their opinions and feelings pn the various i topics and subject's of the day., as well | general as local. ; , For ? instance, the Land Laws,...and the "Rules and Begulati|pns of Otago.;and AuckI land are in Yery many essential points | very different in-feature.and in charac- | ter. Is it, then, to be for one moment ! imagined ijhat a member for the Otasro Groldfields, if .".reside \\t m Auckland, could vote for the introduction of Land or otherjaws which, however adva.nta- | geouH to Otago, would be but ill-suited to Auckland, in which his personal and local interest lie ? We say no. Nor can. we blame any person for actin": as any member under such circumstances would feel necessitated to do. But we do saijr that, when any gentleman has : been ■by a constituency to represent a particular district in a particular Proyince, ahcl 'private affairs, or personal considerations \ call him to another,.' Province or another district, apd causehim to associate himself with other interests, the ordinary dictates of ' honor should induce him at once, to state his altered circumstances'to his constituents, a,nd resign into their hands the position in which they had plaeed him and the trust which -they ha.d reposed in him. Our readers "cannot fail. to remember that-, with regard t.a two. if not -three of our Goldfields members, a : very different line of conduct was puiv sued, on a not very recent occasion. We allude to the memorial which'was. largely signed in this and other districts, immediately before the meeting of the,. General A ssembly in July last, calling upon Messrs. Voo-el and O'Neiir sign their seats, in consequence.of their having left this Province*ahd located themselves in that of-Auckland—a Province whose interests have ever been and ever will he essentially different from, if not entirely antagonistic to, those of this Province and of 1 the con-

iStituency~wlioni these gentlemen elected to represent. So far, however, as we Lave heard, neither of. those' gentlemen deigned to youchsafe any reply to the extensively.,signed memorial presented to them They chose rather to retain their seats for the Otago Goldfields, with the "sweets and emoluments of office," although it was forcibly pointed out to them that the electors had lost all' confidence in them as their representatives. A s a mpmber for the Otago Grold.nel.ds, the present Colonial Treasurer, Postmaster-General, and Commissionerof Telegraphs and Stamps introduced and passed thro ugh the Assembly, during the recent session, seyefal measures of which we feel sure a vast majority of the electors-of the

this Province emphatically dis^proye—-mea-|?Urs|>^^cl>% .£qen to the deliberate judgment of tlie ■of the constituencies of- New. iZealaud .before feeing, as "-they were,' hurrjed through all their stages by a Moribund, Parliament. Let the electors tear" .these things in mind when the new elections, take place, and—remembering (from the fact of which we have just reminded them) that though Can make members they are powerless, to unmalte them —exact a pledge from all candidates, to resign their, seats whenever called n ; pon by a 'majority of their constituents so to, do.' 'Sqch' a. pledge no honest, faithful, or. upright representative woulol tor a moment'hesitate in giving.