MR. MACANDREW AND THE DUNEDIN ELECTORS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1039, 19 August 1879, Page 2

MR. MACANDREW AND THE DUNEDIN ELECTORS.

o Dcjnedist, August 18. Mr. Macandrew has published a long address to the electors of Dunedin. After deploring the abolition of the provinces, he states that Centralism has fostered extravagance, which it is hopeless to attempt to curb under the present system of Government. Had the Constitution Act, as drafted by Sir George Grey, been adopted, the Legislative Council, instead of undermining the constitution, would have been its greatest bulwark. It would have consisted of men elected by various Provincial Councils, in which case it is his belief that the Colonial Legislature would have confined itself to its own proper functions, as specified in the Constitution Act. After referring to the desirableness of triennial Parliaments and equality of representation, he says one of the first acts of the new Parliament should be to reinstate that section of the Immigration and Public 'Wvrks Act which provided that in respect of all railways constructed by the Colony which after completion did not yield sufficient profit to cover interest on their cost, the Province in which they are situated should be liable to make up the deficiency. He then says:—"lt "behoves all who desii'e to make New Zealand a prosperous home for themselves and those who are to succeed them, to see well to it that no man is returned to the next Parliament who cannot be thoroughly relied upon as prepared to sacrifice personal predelictions to public policy, and who is not a determined advocate —first, of an equitable re-adjustment of representation upon the basis laid down in the Constitution Act ; second, of manhood suffrage that is, that every man untainted with crime who is subject to the law of his country and contributes to its burdens shall, after liaviug resided for a given time in New Zealand, have a voice in the making of its laws ai:H in the disposal of its revenue ; third, ths there shall be a new Parliament once in every three years. These are the three cardinal points, the keystone of the arch of the policy which the present Government has submitted, but which the Legislature has regarded as mere matters of secondary consideration as compared with the personal question of who is to occupy the Treasury Benches."