The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 21 December 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1880.

It is contemplated to hold a meeting of ( settlers at Otepopo to discuss the merits of the proposals of the Government regarding the electw/tl divisions of this district under the Representation Act, whicli will be discussed and become law for tijo purposes of the general election to take place after next session. We are not in a" position to announce the date on which this meeting is to take place, as information to that effect has not yet reached us, but we understand that there is to be no delay in adopting this means of eliciting the views of those concerned in regard to the somewhat radical changes proposed by the Government. We need scarcely counsel settjers who are displaying such praiseworthy energy in this important matter that it is of paramount importance that, in dealing with it, they should be in possession of the fullest particulars in connection therewith. We premise that the principle tiVttS lUt" tilts utattii/b XLtsi&x - giving two to the country and one to the town, meets with no opposition. Bat it is held by the Government that the population pf the Waitaki electoral district is inadequate to admit of its being divided into three smaller districts, with a member for each. We are no advocate for an increase of representation. That would mean an increase in the expense of government, which is already too heavy. But, if the Government had had to deal with an electoral district similarly circumstanced as regards population and configuration, but the representatives for which were more orthodox, they would have devised a means whereby the political tone of that district, in its segregated form, would remain inviolate. Pains would be taken to see that the atoms were each representative of the whole. In our case, however, they have solved the difficulty by including Palmerston in the southern electoral district, thus comprising, according to their idea, sufficient population to entitle the newly-formed district to a representative. It is only natural that the settlers north of the Horse Range should view with suspicion such an arrangement made by such a Government. Palmerston has ever been faithful to Conservatism, and we have carefully to guard against a possible attempt to swamp the votes of the electors of the southern portion of the Waitaki district by those of the electors that it is proposed to add from the Waikouaiti district. We have carefully considered this posibility by the aid of the last census, which was taken in March, 187 S. We find, according to this test, that, of the new district of Moeraki—for that is the name which it is proposed to give the district, which would extend from the southern, or more properly the right, bank of the Kakanui to the town of Palmerston—that part taken from the Waitaki electoral district would provide 2177, whilst that part taken from the Waikouaiti district would provide 17S1, electors. It appears, therefore that there would be a majority, of 296 electors in that portion of the Waitaki district which would be included in the new district over that portion which would be taken from the Waikouaiti district. But we have good reason to believe that the majority would be even greater than this on account of the fact that there was, and is I now, we presume, a larger proportion of | males in the Waitaki than in the Waikouaiti district, and, therefore, our voting power would be appreciably greater than that of Waikouaiti. The settlers of the southern portion of the Waitaki district are, however, averse to their inclusion with the electors of a portion of the Waikouaiti district, and we are inclined to think that, even if they could count upon being able to secure and maintain political ascendancy over the electors

on the other side of the Horse Range, they p would still object. Palmerston is situated about mid-way between Oamaru and Dunedin. There would be nothing particularly significant in this fact, were it not that a great natnral barrier separates ns from that . town, and that its people are commercially " wedded to the metropolis. There would, too, be a danger of coalition between the electors of Palmerston and a number of the electors of the Waitaki portion of the new electorate sufficiently strong to ewamp the votes of a large majority of the last-men-tioned electors. It appears to us, after a careful consideration of the subject, aided by the light of such figures as are available, that there is not the least necessity to interfere with the southern boundary of the Waitaki district. There was, when the census was taken in 1878, a population in the riding 3 from Ohau to Moeraki of G,608. We have every reaspn to expect that jßince tjiep tlje number has

been increased to at least SOOO, a number which would, according to the proposals of the Government, entitle two electoral districts created out of these ridings and those which lay between them to two members. We find, however, that although the Government proposes that 4000 shall be as nearly as possible the population of a country electorate, the following divisions as proposed by them, have less:— Rodney, 3120; Mongonui, 3132 ; "Waitemata, 35G6 ; Egmont, 2962 ; Hutt, 3410;. Wairarapa North, 3518; Cheviot, 3390; and Waimea, 2852. There are many other districts with similar numbers. But we have cited enough, to show, that the Goverment does not adhere, with anything like cast-iron firmness, to the rule that there should be a population of 4000 in country districts. Therefore, on the basis of the last census, and even if the population of our country districts had not increased, we | would be entitled to two members. But we contend that the Hakateramea Valley, which is, according to the Government proj posals, included in the Gladstone electorate, set down as having a population of 4269, should be included in the Waitaki electorate. The interests pf that valley are bound up with those of Oamaru more than ever since the construction of the DuntroonHakateramea line. The question of re-, adjustment of representation will create no small amount of discussion during the next session, and it is fortunate that members will have later census returns to them;