POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 11 August 1880, Page 2

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

. (by telegraph.) ! (from our. own correspondent.) 1 Wellington, August 10. The Oamaru Waterworks Loan Bill, to enable the Council to borrow LIO,OOO more to complete the works, was finally passed by the Legislative Council this afternoon. Efforts will be made to obtain the assent of the Governor to the Bill without delay. August 11. In reply to Mr. Jones, the Minister for Public Works said that cattle yards, &c., would be erected at Ngapara. He also said that an enquiry would be made into the necessity for the same accommodation at Peebles. The Minister for Public Works stated last night that a deficit of over LIOO,OOO had been discovered by the ComptrollerGeneral in the stores department in connection with the railway. The value of the stores since 1871 had been L 1,600,000. The Minister said he had only just heard ofc the deficiency, and he would give further particulars as soon as possible. The announcement created considerable sensation in the House. There is likely to be a fight over the schedule to the Representation Bill. Although the Government profess to regard representation according to population as "one of the principles of the measure, there are some most flagrant departures from the rule. For instance, Wanganui, in the case of which, for some unexplained reason, an exception to the rule of only one member for a constituency is made, with a population of only 7215 is to have two members, while one of the Wellington City electoral districts has only one member for 7546 of a population. Then, again, there are nine other constituencies with 6000 and over, while ! the three constituencies in Taranaki have one member each, notwithstanding that the total inhabitants of the three districts only shows 9450. In Oamnru there is one member for 4927, while New Plymouth has a member for only 2680. Comparing the three electorates in North Otago against those in favored Taranaki, the land of the Atkinsons, it will be seen that the former has a population of 13,217, and the latter only 9450, while both have equal representation. These are by no means the only discrepancies. There are no less than eight electorates with less ; than 3200 inhabitants, and of these four. : are in each island.