The Oamaru Mail WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 14 July 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 1880.

Although nothing of a positive nature is known of the provisions of the Readjustment of the Representation Bill promised by the Government; -sufficient has leaked out through various channels to enable us to form a tolerably reliable opinion of the measure. The Bill will, we are assured, aim directly at basing representation entirely upon population, one member being given in cities and towns for every 5000 of population,; while in the country the requisite number of I'esidents to entitle a. district to a member will be 4000. In this re-1 spect the Bill is an embodiment of the principles laid down by the last Ministrv in their measure for the re-adjust-ment of the representation, and it is therefore reasonable to suppose that in this particular it will meet with very little opposition, while that little will most assuredly spring from Nelson and other over-represented portions of the Colony. In another respect, though, the Bill will veiy probably meet with much stronger opposition. We allude to that part of it which determines the division of electorates at present returning two and three members into smaller electoral districts with one member each. If the information that has been obtained with reference to the measure is correct —and we see no reason for believing that it is not—one of the features of the measure will be that no electorate shall have more than one member. As this will in some measure affect the interests of large cities, it is tolerably certain to meet with some resistance, and that, too, not without good cause. In the case of districts like Waitaki, comprising town and country, subdivision is not only fail*, but desirable • but in the case of 'Dunedin many arguments may be brought against the proposal. First, then, on the score of extra expense, • we find that the new system will not be entirely satisfactory. Under the redistribution Dunedin will be entitled to four members, and instead of these four representatives being all returned at the same time, at the one cost to the country, and with only the one nomination and poll, four separate elections will have to be held, with the result that the cost "syjll be quadrupled. But this is not all. It is very probable that some of the candidates will not bo able to judge which of the divisions of the old electorate would be most likely to return them, and they may therefore contest two or even the whole four of the seats. It is equally possible that the same man mav be elected for two or even all four of the seats, for there are still a few popular men in the countiy; and what would be the result then 1 Why, the Colony would be put to additional expense, with, the general result that the electors of one portion of the old district would be annoyed because the member elected for two districts had chosen to desert them, and had clung to another sub-division. But there is a stronger argument in favor of the maintenance of populous cities intact as electoral districts. Under the present system, it is quite possible for a party in a minority, by putting forward one man, and sticking to him, to secure representation. This is in any country a very desirable consummation, but it is especially so in a young colony. Anything that would tend to give a minority a chance of having a, voice in Parliament—not to rale the country, but in order that opinions on all sides may be represented in the Council Chamber—should certainly be conserved, and any proposal that tends to withdraw that power should be watched with a jealous eye. Under the new arrangement, representation of minorities would be an impossibility. There is another and a stronger argument that may. be used against the proposal, and one upon which a stand is tolerably certain to be taken. The sub-division of large districts will place a very considerable amount of additional power in the hands of the propertied class, wlnle it will materially diminish the power of the poorer class. Take, for example, again the case of Dunedin. Under the proposed sub-division of the electorate, the elector Vho possesses only a residential qualification would be permitted to vote for only one member of the House, instead of for three as at present; while the man who chanced to own a small plot of land in each of the four sub-divisions would have the privilege of voting for four But this matter does not only affect the poorer classes, but others deserving of consideration may be injured by the proposed arrangement. We will suppose that a man engaged in a large business has the whole of his capital invested in one locality, possibly a building valued at tens of thousands of pounds, and that another man, a land jobber, has a small parcel of land in each of the four sub-divisions. Is it fair that the first man, who contributes more to the State, who adds more to the wealth of the Colony, and who possibly employs ten times the number of taxpayers than the other man, who merely holds his land for speculative purposes, should be robbed of two-thirds of his present lights as a citizen, while the second individual has his privileges increased by one-third 1 ? Looked sit in any w ay we like, the proposal is not satisfactory, unless, indeed, the; theory set up tliat it is not wise or judicious that any electorate should retum:more

than one member is carried to its natural and legitimate conclusion, that it is not wise or judicious that any elector should have th% ; .powsSr. of;J?ecording more than one Colony. If the Ministry ate : 'prepared to follow out their theory to its legitimate end, they will have our warmest support; if they do not do so, and still persist in establishing only so much of the principle as gives to freehold property a preponderance of elective power we shall raise our voice again and again in opposition to_so. unjust a proposal. Since: writing the above we have learned through our special at Wellington that the Re-adjustment of the Representation Bill is not likely to pass, this session ; that the Ministry are not agreed upon all its provisions; that those supporters who have been permitted to peruse the measure as sketched out are not entirely satisfied with it j and that the Bill is likely to ; undergo considerable amendment before being circulated amongst members.