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South Canterbury Times, Issue 2339, 15 September 1880, Page 2

The first electoral rolls under the new Registration of Voters Act have been compiled all over the colony, and are now in process of publication. The result, according to I)r Pollen is not likely to be very gratifying to the advocates of manhood suffrage. It is alleged that while the old rolls have been purged of the dead, the departed, and the imprisoned, the number of new and lire applicants falls far short of the predictions of our electoral prophets. We trust that no such implication of political apathy will be allowed to apply to Timaru. With unfeigned pleasure we arc led to believe that the roll for this district is filling up wonderfully. So great is the rush of applicants that the electoral registrar, even with the aid of a special assistant, has been quite unable, up to the present, to overtake the task before him. The electors of Timaru have therefore the opportunity, by making immediate application, of getting their names inserted on the roll

'which is about to be printed. Need we impress on every mule unit who aspires to the dignity of true manhood the advisability of at once registering ? The privilege of the franchise is one that should not be slighted or undervalued. it is a boon that lias been fought for and agitated for unceasingly by British subjects in every part of the world. An elector is a component part of the political structure, —an important fragment of the machinery of (iovernment. A man without a vote is a cipher—a lish without a tail—a dumb dog. Let us have no dumb dogs in Timarn. If Titnarn is to grow it must be by its political activity. Taranaki is the recipient of all kinds of favors, — the spoiled child of the present and past governments —and why ? Because every white man there, takes care to be an elector. Timarn of late has been partially blotted out from the political map. Its share on the estimates has been swallowed up by miserable insignificant places that contribute little or nothing to the consolidated revenue. If this district is not going to continue to be a milcii cow for the barren spots of Xew Zealand, its residents must be alive to the necessity of adjusting their political armor. livery man who has resided in the locality for six months has the privilege by applying to the registration officer —Mr Allen, at the Courthouse —of demanding that bis name shall be inserted on the roll. Practically there is no reason why half-a-dozen adult males in Timarn should be dead heads when the next election conies round. We trust that every resident for the sake of himself, his family, the district, and the future of the colony, will sec that he is registered.