THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1872.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 189, 17 May 1872, Page 2

THE Thames Guardian AND MINING RECORD. FRIDAY , MAY 17, 1872.

The time is fast approaching when the New Zealand Parliament will be again in session. So far as this district is concerned, it’s only representative is absent in Australia, and unless lie returns very soon his constituents will have no opportunity of hearing the account of his stewardship for the past session, which he promised to give them, nor of laying, their wants and wishes before him as to the forthcoming Parliamentary campaign, in which many questions will have to be. fought affecting the welfare of the Thames. Since the election of the honourable member he lias only paid us flying visits. One reason for the support which was given him was that he is a practical engineer, with the reputation of being skilled in waterworks, and as these are very important items in the Thames requirements, it was thought his professional skill would have been of service. So far very little has been done to give to the Thames an adequate water supply. The present service is altogether insufficient,

and we do not Believe it is the intention of the Government to do much more unless pressure is brought to bear upon them in the legislature. We have certainly been honoured with a visit from the Under Secretary of Public Works, to whom was submitted a plan, which will j reliably be laid lufoie the Executive, but it is highly probable it will get no further unless it is supported in the House, We should have liked to have seen our representative present in the district, so that this matter could have been brought prominently before him, together with other questions of importance. If Mr O’Neill’s business or pleasure necessitates his being so much away from the district he is supposed to represent, we think he would be consulting the interests of his constituents by resigning and allowing some one resident on the spot to take his place. The Thames is a very large and very important district. It is most inadequately represented in Parliament, having only one representative. It ought to have at least two, and the rising importance of Coromandel demands that the latter should be cut off from the Thames proper, and should have a member of its own. As it is so inadequately represented it becomes more than ever necessary that it’s only member should reside in the locality, except when the House is in session. A great many residents not unnaturally complain that their member is treating them with neglect, and certainly his

long and frequent absence from the place is a very natural ground for complaint. The Thames cannot afford to be unrepresented. There will be a precious scramble next session after the loaves and fishes, and as they are to be scrambled for the Thames should have its fair share in the way of subsidies and grants for public works. Few, if any, districts in the colony contribute more to the revenue in proportion to population than the Thames. Certainly none have done more to raise the country from its depression, and to enable it to hear the heavy burdens imposed upon it in the shape of taxation. The Thames, as regards its Parliamentary representation, is weak, and as the weakest usually goes to the wall, we shall not be surprised if our neighbours at the South get the lion’s share of the revenue, and distribute but small crumbs to the North. On the fullest development and encouragement of this goldfield depends in a great measure the prosperity of the whole colonv, but unless the fact is pretty frequently repeated it will he very apt to be forgotten in the Assembly of

collective wisdom of Wellington, where so many conflicting interests will be at stake. The next promises to be a very important session, and the mining interests will require to he well looked after. There is every probability of a much larger area of auriferous country being opened up than there is at present, and liberal rewards and every encouragement should bo held out to the prospector. The question of education again is one of deep importance to the whole colony, and especially to the Thames, with its large and increasing population. Upon this and all other subjects affecting the welfare of the place,' it would be well for the constituents and their members to meet and consult before the House reassembles, but the time is so short, and the distance which our member is away from us is so long that there will probably be no opportunity for the constituency to bring these matters forward and hear what their member lias to say. In the Upper House, as well as the Lower, the Thames comes badly off. There is scarcely a member of the Legislative Council who is locally connected with the place. The great majority of them belong to the squatting interest, which has taken as much out of the country and done as little for it, as any body of men collectively could do. They own large areas of country, have immense profits from sheep and wool, and pay scarcely any taxes, and many of them doubtless coincide with the opinion that New Zealand would have been better without a goldfield at all. There was a rumour circulated some time ago that the Government did intend to call to the Upper House a gentleman connected with the Thames, hut we have heard nothing of the matter since, ancl possibly the rumour had no foundation. It would, however, be a graceful thing to do, as well as an act of justice to a very important and much neglected district, if His Excellency’s responsible advisers would recommend him to nominate some ane from the Thames as a member of the Legislative Council. We hope also that some redistribution of seats will take place. A plan which was suggested, to take one member from Auckland and give one seat to the Thames would, we think, be a very fair and equitable destribution. At all events, it is very clear that the Thames is altogether inadequately represented; that its only member pays us flying visits, — few and far between, —and that his absence in Australia at the present moment, when so many important questions have to he discussed, is, to say the least of it, most inopportune.