New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4585, 30 November 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30.

We took occasion, in a recent issue, to state our conviction, from general indications in the provincial Press, that the issue at the coming election will be Separation. Since then, events have borne out the accuracy of our opinion. Under the guise of “Federation,” the Opposition are preparing the public mind for the disruption of the colony ; and it is the duty of the Press to make their designs publicly known. The strength of the Opposition lies in the two extremes of the colony : it rests, therefore, with the central provinces to return no member who is not pledged to vote against the political severance of the colony. The Otago Daily Times, on the 22nd instant, published a leading article on the subject, in which the political issue is stated without equivocation, and Mr. Macahdrew is praised for his “ address “ to the people of Otago.” Our Dunedin contemporary says;—“The concluding “ paragraph of his Honor’s address is “ devoted to purely electioneering questions. . . We must congratulate the “ Superintendent upon . having kept well “ within the line, and while discharging “ a duty that sits gracefully upon him as “ the elected head of the province, avoid- “ ing very successfully anything and “ everything that might be construed by “ malice into dictation. Very wisely and “ well, in consideration of the gravity of 1! the political situation, does he point “ out the paramount necessity of the “ Federal or Local Government party “ not allowing their ranks to be broken “ into by two candidates contesting the “ same seat. Considering the impor- “ tance of the question, we hope his ad- “ vice will be taken, at the cost of some “ self-sacrifice possibly. Wc, indeed, “ who have all along contended for “ the right of the people to express “ their opinion, are sincerely desirous “ that the Centralists should gain “ no seats through the fact of the “ Federalists running two candidates, “and so weakening their side by split- “ ting votes. Nothing is more uneatis- “ factory in an election, say in a consti- ‘ ‘ tuoncy of three thousand available “ voteis, than to find A winning a seat “ with twelve hundred votes upon one “political side, and B and C upon the “ other polling one thousand and eight “ hundred each. This, or anything like “ this, means that the majority of the “constituency is altogether unrepre- “ aented. It is veiy hard, and some- “ times it is quite impossible, to avoid “ tho difficulty; but, considering the “ importance of the issues, .a strong “effort in tho true interests _ of tho I “ country should bo made to give each

“ constituency the opportunity of ranging “ itself on the one side or the other. “ Let this one question be the question “ put North and South : Do you vote for “ a central administration in Wellington, “ with Road Boards and Shire Councils ; “ or do you support one Government in “ each Island, with all the necessary “ machinery for thorough decentralisa- “ tion ? It would be well to eliminate “ the personal element as much as pos- ‘ ‘ sible, and look to measures, not men. “ While we are strongly of opinion that “ the electors almost to a man are of one “ mind in the question, we should like “ to see it put beyond .all doubt and “ cavil in every electoral district by “ simplifying the issues as much as may “ be. In order to ensure this, however, “it is necessary not only to have more “ than two candidates for each seat, but “ that each candidate should express his ‘ ‘ views with unmistakeable clearness, and “ not reason one way and vote the “ other.” This is sound political advice, and it is as applicable to the anti-provincial party as to the Opposition. In Wellington, we have five candidates for two seats, and as might be expected they are all opposed to Separation ; but Messrs. Gisborne and Travers, who are manifestly Opposition candidates, go as far, in their addresses towards the Federal scheme as it would be at all prudent to do in a candidature for this city. Indeed, they are very much in the same position as Sir F. D. Bell, that of belonging to neither side, but being content to bide their time and avail themselves of chances as these may happen to turn up. The Daily Times, however, very properly invites Sir Francis to declare himself, or retire from the field. “Will Sir Dillon Bell,” it asks, “understand that since the con- “ solidation of the provincial loans it is “ infinitely easier to arrange for financial “ separation than ever it was before, “ waive his difficulties [on this point] and c ‘ support Insular Separation? If not, “ will ho declare himself a Centralist ? ‘ 1 Either position is easily to be under- “ stood, but the third position he takes “up we cannot reproduce or describe, “ and we very much doubt whether it “ has produced any distinct image upon “ his own mental retina.” So far as we are able to judge this is very much the case with at least two of the candidates for Wellington city, and it is for Mr. Travers and Mr. Gisborne to explain themselves fully upon this point before going further in the contest. At all events, there can be no difficulty in fixing the position of the four more prominent candidates. Messrs. Hunter and Pearce are declared supporters of the Government; Messrs. Gisborne and Travers have made no such declaration, and their addresses unmistakeably point to Opposition. If elected, therefore, they must join the Separationists under Sir George Grey’s banner, or they will not readily attain to office, to which both gentlemen properly enough aspire. Now, we put it whether the electors of Wellington have anything to expect from the party towards which Messrs. Gisborne and Travers aie gravitating. The speech of the latter gentleman at the public meeting in the Odd Fellows’ Hall on the Abolition of Provinces Bill fixed his political opinions ; and Mr. Gisborne’s printed address is strongly hostile to the Government. This is no doubt reducing the question to one of mere local self-interest; but after all, this is precisely the point on which the elections will turn. The cry of Separation or Federation is the outcome of this very feeling in the remote provinces, who think they would enjoy more material: advantages by weakening the Central Colonial administration and strengthening local administration. And the electors of Wellington should look at it from precisely the same standpoint. To do otherwise would be an act of supreme folly which the community would have cause to rue for many long years.