THE ;atu £tmes. " Words are things, §a^ tlrpp <\t ml( falling like de\7 nppq »v'fchqiigh't procinres th"t -which makes thousands, peri.ap=, uiilhoua think." SA TURD AY, ..NOV. 8, 1879. A OF TWOS].

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 90, 8 November 1879, Page 2

THE ; atu £ tmes. " Words are things, §a^ tlrpp <\t ml( falling like de\7 nppq »v 'fchqiigh't procinres th" t -which makes thousands, peri.ap=, uiilhoua think." SA TURD AY, ..NOV. 8, 1879. A OF TWOS].

A flag of trube has been held out, an armistice has been proclaimed, and the dead lock is at an end. Satisfactory as suoh a result will be to' the Colony at large, the pleasure will be considerably damped by the knowledge that the Ship oj State h*vs been abandoned to such a thoroughly unscrupulous and piratical crew. Although at the very best' of times we question if th j gime is worth the pa. i idle., or that the good Qf- the colony effected by the effervescing eloquence of Mr. Wujtaiceh, junior-, be wqrth. the £30 per hour paid for the luxury ; still a cessation from the disgraceful recrimination and mutual dirt-th rawing, is m itself a pleasiug change. Notwithstanding that Mr. Hall has been permitted to sheer. <tff from the lee shore upon which his Administration had been threatened with wreck, the danger- is by no, means qver, and if any faith can be placed iv the political -barometer, his voyage will be neither a prosperous nor a lengthy one. Dropping metaphor, and descending to facts, we find that the Liberal policy stolen from, the Grey G/over-nment has been so mutilated tha.t even its own authors might be excused for failing to recognise it. An Electoral Qualification Bill has beeu introduced, which aims a blow at the liberties o,f the people, and m the Conservative character of its provisions out-Herods Herod. It proposes to give holders of freehold property of the value of £25 a vojfce, but it gqes farther, and m the extreme Uoer-ality (?) of its concessions lies its greatest danger, as for ,every £25 of freehold property tha possessor will .obtain a vote. Such a measure would be nothing more nor less than a counterpoise to neutralise the democratic effects of the ' lodger and residential clauses. It I would be a monstrous thing to allow capitalists who might be interested to the extent of £25 m a dozen p,r a score of constituencies a vote, \n each,. By suon a step ma.nho.od; or. or any other, suffrage could be easily swamped, for by the outlay of £^1000, no less than forty votes could b,e. p,ur--1 chased. Notwithstanding that the Hali, Government when, ft took office seemed quite wUUp.# to - .adopt the Liberal programme of their* preTdec^Biaorß, they have since made the l ni^t despßrate efforts to wriggle out Fofthe Redistribution of Seats Bill. I Fortunately, however, the unam- * tnbufi Yoicft of the} House was with the wi^upe and by a majority of sixty th^y have been compelled to •DTOfflige jtotf .$&. BJI Vf^ be a§p

with this Session. This measure is one great importance to the constituency, inasmuch as that there cannot be the slightest doubt that when it becomes law Manawatu will have double We trust, therefore, tha.fr the compromise which has ""been entered into betweenjthe Government and the Opposition will be continued "land respected by bofh parties until the Redistribution Bill; and other measures of almost similar importance he placed upon the Statute Book.