The Southland Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1873.

Southland Times, Issue 1713, 11 March 1873, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 1873.

The allotted period for recording claims to Tote has now nearly expired for the current year, and there is reason to believe that up to the present time Terr few additional names have been sent in for registration in the Southland district. It is equally certain that there is still a very considerable number of persons resident in the district, who possess the necessary qualification, but whose names are not to be found upon any electoral roll. To judge from the experience of the past, the 31st of March will once more pass away, and with it the opportunity for registration for another year without witnessing any material change in this state of aflairß. People will not be at the trouble to fill up a simple form of claim to vote, and send it to the Begistration Officer. The time occupied in the process from first to last, would, in roost cases, be less than half an bour, and the expense would only amount to the cost of the stationery and postage It is a fair conclusion that those who decline, or forget, to take this trouble at the proper time, attach very little value to the privilege which the fratichise confers. On no other theory can the utter indifference displayed in the matter by large number* of otherwise active and intelligent colonists be explained. The right to vote is not generally appreciated. Tbe average business man will go to a good deal of trouble, in letter writing and otherwise, to recover a debt of twenty or thirty shillings. The laboring ! man will work bard, sometimes, for a whole day for eight shillings. But, in hundreds of cases, neither the one nor the other will be at the trouble to spend half an hour in getting his name placed on the registry, that he may be enabled to exercise his right of taking part in the government of the country in which he lives. This indifference is certainly remarkable, when one considers the importance theoretically ascribed to liberal representative institutions by Englishmen generally, both at home and abroad. New Zealand, thanks to the framers of the Constitution, possesses such institutions in a very advanced condition, and one might almost say in a profusion in excess of her requirements. Electoral machinery of the simplest kind, and on the broadest basis, has been provided for the representation of the community, ro that if public affairs are not managed exactly to their liking, the fault mu*t lie quite as much at the doors of the people themselves as of their elected rulers. It is just possible that the boon of selfgovernment — for with all its drawbacks and imperfections, it is a boon — is not appreciated in New Zealand, because it has been attained so easily. After tho fierce struggle which preceded the passing of the English Reform Act of 1832, there were few indeed qualified to vote by tbe new franchise who did not haiten to enrol their name*. Here we know nothing of the eagerness with which, in older countries, the masses covet the possession of so much political power as is implied in the right to vote in Parliamentary elections. Our Constitution was prepared in the Colonial Ofßce, passed by the Imperial Parliament, and sent out from home, at a time when the great majority of the present inhabitants of the Colony knew very little about New Zealand, and probably cared less. To tbe colonists of that period, chafing under the incapacity, neglect, and favoritism of the original bureaucratic Government, the new privileges were no matters of indifference, and the right of self-government was eagerly j welcomed and actively exercised. Now, all such rights are taken for granted. The franchise is so liberal as practically to amount to manhood suffrage. The form of registration is as simple as can well be df vised, and at elections the votes are taken by ballot. Yet a large proportion of the community have of late years habitually stood aloof, and declined even to take any share in tbe management of their own affairs. This state of things, however it may be accounted for, is far from creditable, and cannot but lead to injurious results. Another reason for the general apathy which prevails in New Zealand regarding matters political is the circumstance that hitherto we have been able to raise our revenue without resorting to direct taxation. When the tax gatherer appears upon the scene, and demands a contribution from each citizen in bard cash the tax-payer bethinks him of his vote, and doe* not long forget to place his name upon the roll. So long as the money required for public purposes is raised by the less obtrusive plan of customs duties, to say nothing of land sales and borrowing, people think less about it. However unreasonable it may appear, it cannot be denied that this is actually the case in New Zealand at the present time. No rational being, who considered the matter for a moment, would offer such a reason as an excuse for neglecting bis duty as a citizen. But the evil is that while this state of things continues, hundreds will not conaider the matter at all. It is a curious

thing too, that manv who will not be at | the trouble to qualify as active members of the body politic, are nevertheless loud and habitual grumblers at everything which the Government does or neglects to do. They do not seem to be aware that in bo doing they are proclaiming themselves arrant fools. The government, under representative institutions, is the work of tbe people themselves, and those who neglect to perform their share of political duties, are precisely those, of all others, who are chiefly responsible for its ■hortcomings. In the present state of public affairs, whan political changes of the highest importance are spoken of from day to day, and when it is far from improbable that a general election may take place before the recurrence of the next opportunity for registration, it is more than ever incumbent upon evtry qualified person, as a duty which he owes to himself and to others, to record his name on the list of electors, in order that, when the time comes, he may be able to take his part in the choice of representatives, and discharge tbe trust which has been placed in his hands as a citizen of a free state.