AN EXPERIENCED PARLIAMENT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 343, 1 October 1875, Page 3

AN EXPERIENCED PARLIAMENT.

{' HANSARD ■ DEBATES—ME/ STOUT. ] Several honorable members have dwelt on the fact that this,is an experienced Parliament, and one honorable member went so far as to say that this was not only an experienced Parliament, but that it should do some great deed by which it might be known to posterity. The name, I suppose, by which he wishes it to be known is "the Abolition Parliament." I can only suppose that the fact.of their saying this is an experienced Parliament implies that the experienced men in it hold views so different from those of their constituents tnat they will not be returned at the next election. That must be the meaning of the phrase " experienced Parliament," for, if I tfikethenames of those Otago members who liave declared against the provinces, itmeans that the honorable member of Dunedin City, who opposes the wishes of his constituents, will not be :returned ; and that the honorable member for Dunstan, who opposes the wishes of his constituents, will not be returned. The honorable member for Mount Ida, who opposes the wishes of his constituents, will not be returned. The honorable member for Mount Ida says he will be returned. Then there must have been a change of opinion in either the mind of the honorable member or of his constituents. Honorable members are bound to represent the views of their constituents. Government supporters cry " Oh, oh!" I presume they came here not to represent the people but to represent themselves, and that perhaps accounts for the support some of them give the Government. Of course it would be a hard thingto ask them to assist in obtaining a dissolution, because this House will know them no more. But, I ask those honorable members who demand that this matter should be discussed and debated calmly and deliberately,' whether it is fair to themselves, as trustees of the public rights, to do—what? To be careless of the wishes of the people who sent them here, and to say, . " We don't care what your opinions, may be; we'll vote directly opposite to them." I ask, is that in accord with what is; right ? Would it be a proper thing for a trustee to;an estate to ignore all the clauses in the trust deed ? I grant that a member of Parliament, as Mill says, is not a mere delegate. I know .that some honorable members cling togthat as their only hope—that they arenot mere delegates; but I ask those honorable members who are not mere delegates, who hold the opinion that the people do not know what is good for themselves, to look at it in this way : .Granted they arenot mere delegates, as Mill puts it in his " Representative Governmentthat they are not bound to act according to the whims and humors of the people; ,still they are delegates in another sense. They have no right to vote against the wishes of their constituents. When they do so they are guilty of what I may term a fraud upon the constituents they are supposed to represent. And what will be the result of this if they vote against their constituents' wish ? The result will be, that we shall miss from the next Parliament the honorable member for Dunstan, the honorable member for Mount Ida, the honorable member for Wakatipu, the honorable member for Dunedin City. (Mr. Reynolds), and all those honorable members who vote against the wishes of their constituents. Mr. Mervyn defended himself thus :—-

Sir, ,in common with the honorable member who "has last spoken ~("MrT"Shepherdj, T had rio intention of taking part in this discussion, because I have already given my . reasons .for the vote . whiclv I shall give on this Abolition Bill": but I cannot sit quietly in my seat and permit the honorable member for Caversham to bring such a grave charge against me—namely, that of misrepresenting the opinio.; of my constituents—without giving so v e reply to that charge. - I think it is a gr. t piece of impertinence of the honorable member Mi*. Speaker.—Order. " Mr. Mervyn.—l will put it in this way: I think it is a great piece.of impertinence for any honorable member-—- v Mr. Speaker.—The honorable member cannot make use of such language Mr. Mervyn. —I say then that I con - sider it . wrong. for the honorable, member, or for any honorable member, to accuse another of misrepresenting the opinions of those he effects to represent, I think I;may' punf ih tlfat way. What' ' are the effects "of the case ? "We find an honorable member recently elected,, representing a suburban district accusing others of misrepresented their constituencies. . I say fearlessly, that, travel where you will through the interor. of . the Province ofOtago, you will find that ninety-nine out of every hundred are in favor of doing away with the Provincial form of Government. I think that cannot be denied. But what was/the reason why the motion at. the public meeting at Naseby, to which the honorable gentleman referred, was carried—a motion, by-the-by, not in favor of continuing the provincial system, but in favor of delay ? It was owing to this fact: -that one or two gentlemen, who tiake a leading part there in politics—inspired,_l. have, no hesitation in saying, by gentlemen.who have seats in this House—held a public meeting, and deliberately misrepresenting the principles of the' Bill. They stated that, if this Bill were carried, the effect would be th at, it would be impossible, for the taxation which is at present imposed on the rhining community to be remitted—that it--would be stereotyped ; and that therefore the inhabitants should take the earliest opportunity of protesting against that-been done. That was one of the statements made of a similar nature, and the. meeting. was led. away by these statements, and therefore a'small number of the inhabitants of that district asked that this House should delay in dealing with the question until they had been consulted. I state that, in common with the inhabitants of the rest of the Goldfields of Otago, ninety nine out of every hundred of the people of Mount Ida district are in favor of doing, away .with the provincial system of government., I say Sir, the Provincial ;<3ov.ernmen.t of. Otago -have utterly failed in their chief functions of colonisation with respect to the interior of that Province. Take'rfiy own district for example. I believe in .the whole area of Mount Ida district not |5, 000 acres have been thrown open for ,settlement, notwithstanding the repeated demands made for it during the last twelve years. There is no question on the Goldfields of Otago as re-, gards the propriety of doing away with provincial institutions. That! do not deny. But I say we'are.as competent to deal'with that question as the next " Parliament. We are riot to be told that we are misrepresenting the views of- our constituencies, simply because a public meeting in a part of the district was got " lip in" the way I have indicated. I have no intention of continuing the debate. It is ;very likely I shall have to refer to the financial part, of the question, when I have time to look over the figures which have been submitted to us by the Colonial Treasurer.