THE GREAT CHARTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5506, 19 November 1878, Page 3

THE GREAT CHARTER.

(From the Timaru Herald , November 14.) We are nob surprised to find that the abandonment of the Electoral Bill by the Government because they could not secure the dual Maori vote, is creating a unfavorable impression throughout the country, now that it is coming to be clearly understood. This could hardly be otherwise, considering that the Government had rested their claims to the confidence of the country mainly on their determination to carry out electoral reform. Tho disillusion of those who believed ebat the Ministers really cared for the principles which they so loudly advocated, i’s scarcely yet complete, because the dropping of the Electoral Bill was effected very quietly during the last hours of tho session; but it is spreading fast. It is interesting to observe the quandary in which tho thick and thin supporters of the Government have been placed by this shocking lapse on the part of their idols.. They are utterly at a loss to know what to say to it. Defence or justification is out of the question, and all th 'y are able to do to smooth over the - difficulty, is to suggest that, when the proper time comes, Sir George Grey will be able to show good reasons for the voluntary abandonment of his much vaunted electoral policy. The proper time, every unprejudiced person knows, never will come, nor will Sir George Grey, with all his serpentine cu#nin.r, bo able to show any good reason for a proceeding which was altogether unreasonable. In order fully to comprehend the extent to which the ‘iovernraent have belied all their professions of electoral reform, it is - necessary to bear in mind that the amendment made bv the Legislative Council iu the Bill, affecting Maori voting, did nothing more than restore the clause as’it was originally introduced by the Government themselves. The Council proposed no novelty. The charges brought against them of having attempted arbitrarily to deprive the poor Maori of - his rights, are pure moonshine. They attempted nothing of the kind. . They merely erased from the Bill provisions which had been inserted as amendments by a bare majority of the House of Representatives under irresistible pressure from the Government; provisions which manifestly and avowedly inflicted a detestable tyranny upon the European inhabitants of the North Island; and inserted in their stead verbatim ct literatim, the provision which had appeared in the Bill when it was first brought down by Ministers. Yet on that account alone Ministers abandoned the -whole Bill. Many of our readers probably will scarcely believe that this was actually the case. They will say that there must,be some mistake as to what'took place, that it is incredible that any Government, no matter how unscrupulous or demoralised, could deliberately drop their most important political measure, merely because the Upper House insisted on restoring one detail of it to the shape in which the Government had originally proposed it. # Such, nevertheless, is the simple fact; 'and, without further explanation, it would certainly be well nigh incredible. Wo are, fortunately, in a position to afford the necessary explanation, which, however, can only have the effect of displaying the conduct of the Government in a worse light if possible, than it has hitherto appeared in. It is this. The Electoral Bill was drafted by the AttorneyGeneral, Mr. Stout, and its details were actually never considered by the Cabinet before it was introduced to the House. -This is au odd way, of course, of conducting responsible government, but it is the way in which responsible government wider Sir George Grey is carried on, and wo need not stop to discuss the- mere modus quo. The fact is as we have stated it. As the Bill was framed by Mr. Stout, Maoris were placed on an equal footing with Europeans, as regarded the property qualification. They were to have a vote only pro-, vided they paid rates. This, however, did not at all suit the views of the Premier or the Native Minister, who were thunderstruck when they read the Bill which their colleague had brought iu. A pretty little domestic squabble thon ensued, the result being that the Premier and the Native -Minister had their way, and the Bill was amended in committee in accordance with their wishes. Under the* new provisions, every Maori having any interest, no matter how small, in property—practically every Maori—was to be entitled to vote without being liable to taxation at all. The undisguised intention of this was to swamp the rolls with Maoris, in two-thirds of the electoral districts in tho North Island. This alteration in tho Bill, though cautiously introduced, and supported by the most Jesuitical arguments, was only carried, as wo have said, by the barest possible majority, and under the most extraordinary pressure by the Government The Legislative Council, who considered that Mr. Stout’s original clause provided an extremely liberal franchise to tho Maoris, in addition to their special representation, undid what had been done by the casting vote of the chairman in committee of the House of Representatives, and restored Mr. Stout’s clause. They made several other amendments iu the Bill, but on learning that its passing was likely to be imperilled by thorn, they gave way on them all, and only asked the Government to consent to tho restoration of tho Maori clause as originally brought in by themselves. This they refused to do, and abandoned the whole Bill, “ manhood suffrage,” residential qualification and all, rather than allow tho European inhabitants of tho North Island to enjoy unfettered the privileges ©f representative institutions, The particular contretemps arose, as we have seen, through a split in the Cabinet, or rather through a misunderstanding among Ministers as to what tho Maori franchise was to be. The real cause of the abandonment of the Electoral Bill, however, should be clearly understood and well borne in mind. It was the obstinate determination of the premier aqd the Native Minister to retain in their hands the control of tho North Island seats, by a system of Maori voting which is wholly incompatible with electoral reform. Sir George Grey has been declaiming throughout tho whole country against what h’o calls “rottenboroughs,” by which term ho means small b«.t perfectly independent constituencies like New Plymouth, Oollingwoodj or Cheviot. The moment, however, that, his' own essentially rotten boroughs in the native districts of tho North Island lire iu danger, ho changes his tone, and denies any electoral reform to tho country, which menaces bis own personal power and influence. There never was a more flagitious thing done by any Government than tho abandonment of the Electoral Bill for tho sake of saving tho double Maori representation.