New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, OCTOBER 4.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4536, 4 October 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, OCTOBER 4.

Mr. Bowen’s speech, when moving the second reading of the Representation Bill, furnishes the best of all reasons why it should not become law. It proceeds upon no principle ; it does not propose to redistribute the electoral districts . with a view to the better representation of the people ; it admittedly leaves everything unsettled, adding arbitrarily eight members to the number of the already too numerous House of Representatives. But worse still, it proposes to elect the new Parliament on the existing electoral rolls. These are objections which, to our mind, are fatal to the Bill. If the Bills for extending the franchise and preparing supplementary electoral rolls, with which Mr. Reynolds’ name was identified, and in the passing of which his colleagues took so little interest, had been passed, there would have been something like an expression of popular opiinion at the next general election. But these Bills were defeated; one was lost on a division, the other was withdrawn. And now we find a hasty and confessedly immature measure introduced, the only possible outcome of which, if it become law, would be to prevent anything like a fair distribution of seats in the future. Let us avoid this evil by any means. If the Government cannot give sufficient consideration to the preparation of a Representation Bill, notwithstanding their promise in the speech from the Throne, let them say so, and leave matters precisely as they are, although wo should be prepared to make special exceptions in the cases of Dunedin and the Thames, which are notoriously under-represented, as compared with the majority of electoral districts. But even these inequalities would be a lesser evil than those which the Government propose entailing upon the country. We have said that the Representation Bill is based upon no principle. This, however, is somewhat unfair to the Government. The Minister of Justice has hiid down the principle upon which the Representation Bill has been framed, and as it is perfectly unique, and such, as

never occurred to anybody of gentlemen styling themselves Responsible Ministers, in any country under Heaven possessing representative institutions, we deem it only right and proper to give it prominence in this place. And that principle, in brief, is this : the representation of a country should not be adjusted either on the basis of property or of numbers, but upon the dimensions of the chamber in which the representatives of the people usually meet ! Now, it happens that, owing to recent additions to the Assembly buildings eight more members may bo seated within its walls : wherefore, by virtue of the foregoing principle, which Mr. Bowen somehow derived from “the “ origin of representative Government,” the representation of the people should be increased by eight members. If the vacant space had been greater, then a greater addition should have been proposed, but as there was “only room to seat eighty-sax gentlemen in the chamber, then the House should consist of eighty-six members, for, said Mr. Bowen, “ this course would not mate- “ rially add to the expense, for all could “ meet within that room at no extraordi- “ nary cost. He took it that these limits “ were the only limits which should be “ imposed on the number of the repre- “ sentatives of the people.” But why, Mr, Bowek, should “ these limits ” be the only limits which should be imposed on the number of the representatives of the people ? Why not plill down the chamber and build one doable or treble its size 1. It is mainly of rotten timber, and would be well away. If that could not be done, why not throw in the galleries and lobbies, and Bellamy’s, and the corners and crannies of the building which are sadly in want of a glimpse of daylight and air, and free ventilation, and add other eighty-six members to the roll of the House of Representatives? To quote Mr. Bowen’s own words : “This course would not materially add to “ the expense, forallcouldmeetwithinthat “ [enlarged] room at no extraordinary “ cost. He took it that these limits were “ the only limits which should be im- “ posed on the number of the representa- “ tives of the people !” Was there ever such an absurd and ridiculous argument addressed to any legislative body in the world, by Ministers who profess to reflect the highest intelligence of Parliament 1 We venture to say, that amongst the weakest of all weak efforts daring the session, the speech of the Minister of Justice, in moving the second reading of the Representation Bill will be labelled “weakest and most inconsequent,” by the future Parliamentary historian of New Zealand. It is positively an insult to the intelligence of Parliament, and a mockery of the just expectations of the country, to propose such a measure, as even an approach towards the solution of the very difficult problem of a fair adjustment of the representation of the people. It exaggerates existing evils without possessing a single redeeming feature. Now, even admitting the advantage of increasing the number of representatives by eight, if we consider the proposals of the Government, they must adjudged unfair. It is quite true that the Government invite the House to propose further additions, but we have simply to deal with the proposition before us. This is to give an additional member to each of the following electoral districts : Thames One member Napier ditto Grey Valley ~ .. .. ditto Timaru ditto Hokitika ditto Waitaki ditto Christchurch ditto Dunedin .. .. - - .. ditto We shall take the electoral roll and the census returns as the test of comparison, because the column showing the “esti- “ mated population at date ” is manifestly unreliable. Mr. Bowen professes that population should be the recognised basis upon which the adjustment of the representation should proceed, and goes on to say that the Government did not propose to give a member to any district which had a less population than 8000 people. But in one notable case, Napier, having an area of 1,250,000 acres, or nearly half the province of Hawke’s Bay, and with a population of 5265 souls, counting in all 650 voters, the Government propose to give an additional member, for the reason that as all other large towns, being ports and capitals of “ provincial dis- “ tricts,” possessed representation, it was fair to place Napier on the same footing. This effectually gets rid of the population basis, and revives the ghost of provincialism, which the Government profess to lay. It is simply provincialism rampant. Then wo have a proposal, on a rough guess by the Grown Lands and Immigration departments, to give a second member for Timaru. Well, the House having done away with the 25 per cent, special endowment for Timaru, from the land fund of Canterbury, may compensate that district by giving it a second member. If the payment cannot bo made in meal it may be in malt. But from the only reliable data before the House, Timaru is not entitled to a second member. Its population by the last census was 5,958, and in September last its registered electors numbered 807 —who would return two members if the Government proposal should become law. The Thames, with an electoral roll of 3,921, and a population of 12,239 at the last census, is to have the same representation as Timaru or Napier, although it considerably exceeds their united population, and also exceeds, in its registered electors, the electors in the following districts, namely, Napier, Timaru, Clive, Egmont, New Plymouth, Gladstone, Wallace, Lyttelton, and Cheviot. Each of these districts returns one member, bat the Government propose to give two each to Napier and Timaru, and recommend the same representation to the Thames, as they recognise that, in its case at all events, population, based on the existing electoral roll, should be the basis of representation. We need not, we think, go further into this matter. The Government do not profess to be able to deal-with the question on any broad comprehensive principle this session. Then they had much better let it alone than proceed with the Bill before the House. The allusion by the Minister of Justice to the necessity for increased representation owing to the abolition of the provincial form of Government was hardly in good taste. The Government had no need for such an allusion to the recent abolition victory. It was of a sneering character, and may lead to the constitution of such a House, on the existing electoral rolls, as will be fatal to the Government oven should they succeed in gaining eight new votes by increasing the representation of favored districts.

In our last issue we published a report on the Wellington Lunatic Asylum, with which the Government had been furnished by Mr. W. T. L. Travers, the visiting inspector, and which had been laid upon the table. The report in question has attracted 'a great deal of attention, for without reservation it damns the new Lunatic Asylum as utterly useless for tho purpose for which it was built, and not a little of discussion has been evoked as to the

correctness of the report. That the report in its main features is correct cannot for a moment be disputed, but that it is free from Ws;h coloring is not so blear, and we have not the slightest hesitation in saying that a stranger whose first impressions were gained from a perusal of the document would be agreeably disappointed on visiting the asylum. The facts are simply these: —The building was constructed to accommodate fifty persons, but the number of inmates having been increased nearly fifty per cent, beyond the original limit, the overcrowding has resulted in much inconvenience. Perfect classification—for we cannot admit that no means exists for classifying —is rendered impossible, and day accommodation is not of so convenient a nature as it should be, owing to workshops having to be fitted up as rooms ; though, when the inspector declares it to be wretchedly bad,” he lays on just a little too much paint, seeing that, whilst in the large English asylums from 809 to 1000 cubic feet is considered sufficient capacity, these apartments contain over 800. Then again, the yards are said to be cold and damp, but this is rather the result of bad weather: than of defective designs. In summer time the yards are perfectly free from dampness, and the warmth of the sun has free access. AVith respect to laundry work being done in the dayroom, that is another result of the overcrowding, for the rooms originally intended for this purpose are utilised in accommodating the less quiet patients, and therefore cannot properly be charged against “ defects in design and erection.” The heating apparatus, we regret to state, has been found to be worthless, but in respect to ventilation, the building is no worse off than many others of a similar character, and the best test of sanitary defects, such as want of classification, bad day and night accommodation, damp yards, want of air, &c., is the table of admissions, discharges, and deaths. From this we learn that during the two years the Asylum has been built 77 patients have been admitted, of whom 23 have been discharged, and 11 have died. Most of these latter were at the time of admission hopelessly incurable—in fact, merely brought in to die—as may be gathered from the following return of causes ot death Paresis, 5 ; serous apoplexy, 1 ; exhaustion, 1 ; accident, 2; old age, 1; mesenteric disease, 1. This is not an unfavorable result for any institution, and should be conclusive proof that the Mount View Asylum is not such a wretched place after all. We do not assert that the building is all that could be desired, nor attempt to deny that alteration and enlargement are necessary, but in justice to those who have taken so much interest in the institution, and have raised the present building in place of the old Karori dungeon, it is scarcely fair that their efforts should be condemned without qualification. On the other hand, Mr. Travers's endeavor to get the evils remedied should be met by the Government at once talcing the work in hand—indeed, had the abolition question not come up, we believe the provincial authorities would have done something before now, which would have been but just, seeing that a revenue of £7OO or £BOO a year has been received on account of private patients. .