The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 1884. THE COMING ELECTION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1160, 3 April 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 1884. THE COMING ELECTION.

Mr Tuunbull in his recent* address to his constituents in Timaru said that persons who neglected to register thenvotes were guilty of a crime, and that those who did not record their votes at election time, deserved to be banished from the colony. We do not always agree with Mr Turnbull's views, but in this instance we must say he was to a certain extent right. No doubt to rank a negligent elector who does not care who represents him in Parliament as a criminal deserving of banishment from

the colony is too extravagant, as a good many of Mr TurnbulPs utterances are ; but at the same time we think that it will b a , admitted on all sides that any such indifference is morally wrong. To assist in putting such men into Parliament as will faithfully represent the people is a duty we owe to ourselves, our neighbors, and our country, and though to neglect the performance of that duty may not amount to crime, it is certainly wrong. Every man entitled to vote ought to do so, and those who neglect this duty deserve to be disfranchised. We make these remarks because we are on the very threshold of a general election, In a few weeks Parliament will meet, and in all probability the first week of it will see the present Ministry defeated. This, if we mistake, not, will lead to an immediate dissolutioa of Parliament, and a general election, for the Governor will hardly refuse to grant a dissolution to the present Ministry. It would be liis duty to refuse, because of the fact that the general election takes place in December, next at any rate ; but Major Atkinson has held the reins of Government so long that he may be able to induce the Governor to believe that he still possesses the confidence of the country. But supposing this does not occur, we are still within a few months of a general election, and it is time we began to think about who shall represent us in the next Parliament. Things have reached such a state in this Colony at present that ought to make us all look around us to ascertain what has led to the great depression which appears to increase year after year. We live in one of the finest and most productive countries on the face of the earth, we have a better climate and a more productive soil by about 50 per cent, than any of the other Australian colonies, and. yet, notwithstanding these advantages we are far behind the sister colonies in the race of progress. Here we are, a population of about half a million—which is less than some thirdrate cities at Home—while we possess territory almost equal in extent to Great Britain and Ireland, and yet the country is in a fearfully depressed state, and there are hundreds of able-bodied men who cannot find employment for even half the year. There must be something wrong when such is the condition of things under such extremely favorable circumstances, and the sooner we apply ourselves to the discovery of the cause which has yielded this effect the better. There can be no doubt but that bad legislation is primely the cause of it, and consequently .- uiink that people ought to look more closely than they do into the way the affairs of the colony are being managed. No one - should think himself too humble to take an interest in the affairs of the State. The man who earns his living by his- daily labor ought to watch politics more keenly than Mr Readymoney Robinson, because the one has his " pile" to make, while the other has his " pile" made. If the country** becomes prosperous the working man will have a better chance of getting on well, but prosperous or otherwise Mr Robinson will have more than enough. The working man should not therefore neglect his duty. Let him feel certain that Mr Robinson will give as many votes as he possesses, and use every means in his power to secure the election of such representatives as will carry out his own views. He will do his duty, and if the working man neglects his part he will not be represented in Parliament. The present Parliament is the worst we have had, and the present Government the most incapable and corrupt of any of its predecessors. A change is absolutely necessary. The country will be ruined if the present Ministry continue borrowing money, only to spend it in buying political support, in free immigration, in the construction of railways which will not pay expenses, in taxing industry, and in doing many other mischievous things. Their recent conduct betrayed too plainly their political leaning. They allowed the wool season to pass without making any change m the railway tariff ; they would not of course think of taxing their own friends, but when the poor former's industrial product came to pass to market they did not consider the bad harvest and the low prices ; not a bit of it. They raised the freight at once, and no remonstrance would make them alter it. The Ministry guilty of this deserve to bo ousted from, office, and we hope we shall soon see them defeated . But let the people remember that they are strong, and that none of their supporters will neglect to vote for them. It behoves the people now to register their votes at once, and use them when the time comes, for unless some change

takes place in the administration of the affairs of this colony its prospects are very gloomy.