South Canterbury Times. MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 1881.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2621, 15 August 1881, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 1881.

SECOND EDITION

In another column we publish a list of the proposed electoral districts in the Ministerial measure now before Parliament. Mr Hall, in moving the second reading of the Bill, judging from the telegraphic summary of his speech, spoke well and to the point. In our opinion the measure is based on the soundest of principles, that is, representation-according to population. Why should a citizen of that “ Sleepy Hollow ” called Nelson have a larger voice in the conduct of public affairs than a citizen of energetic and increasing Dunedin? On what fair principle should the fourteen thousand people of Taranaki who exist mainly on disbursements of colonial money send as many members to Parliament as the twenty-two thousand settlers of South Canterbury who are taxed to contribute a goodly portion of that money ? Why should the ten thousand in stationary Marlborough have as much power in the direction of public affairs as twice the population in progressive South Canterbury? It is no use of members discussing the Bill. The arguments are all on one side. It is local interest against justice, and all the talk in the world will not influence a single vote. The bulk of the members of the House are local delegates, and everyone of them will stand by the geographical idea of representation. To hear people talk one would imagine that New Zealand was an immense continent, inhabited by conflicting races, that each race was confined to a particular part of the colony, and that to keep the discordant, elements together it is necessary to humor the most troublesome by granting them an inordinate share of power. The real truth is that there is not a more homogenuous people on the face of the earth than the inhabitants of New Zealand. How slight the dissimilarity between an Auckland settler and an Otago settler compared to the difference between a Cornishman and a Yorkslrroman? No matter how diverse the elements which go into the colonial mill, the assimilation is very rapid. A few years experience and there is a wonderful affinity between all colonists, no matter where located. I.t is not their opinions but their interests which differ widely. Public works expenditure is, without doubt, the most prominent feature in the government of the colony. How much a district can obtain from the public purse depends upon the amount of political pressure which can be brought to bear upon the Ministry of the day, and such pressure is proportionate to the number of votes. But all public expenditure comes out of the pockets of every individual in the colony, or if out ol loan all are equally liable for the payment of interest. That taxation and representation should go together was the cardinal principle of political economy before the existence of New Zealand as a British colony. No part of the colony is subjected to exceptional taxation, and hence it is most unjust that any place should have exceptional representation.