INCREASED REPRESENTATION.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2029, 6 July 1875, Page 2

INCREASED REPRESENTATION.

PUBLIC MEETING.

A public meeting was held lpst evening in the Academy: of Music for the purpose of adopting a petition to :the ; General Assembly for increased representation for the Thames district.••, The attendance was moderate, many persons having been prevented from attending by. the inclement state of the. weather. Mr? W. Davies, Mayor, was elected to the chair on ths motion of Mr A. Brodie. ' The Chairman read the advertisement Galling the meeting, from, the •Evening; Star; and made a few introductory remarks, in which he: referred to the necessity for an increase in the number of representatives for the Thames district, and the long period, of time during which that necessity had been felt. It had been intended to obtain the signatures of a number .of. the inhabitants, but as the time was so limited, they had determined to call a. public meeting for authorize the Chairmen of the various Highway Boards, the Members of the Pro- ) vincial Council, and the Chairman of the ' meeting to sign the petition on behalf of the Thames public. The Chairman then introduced the mover of the first resolution, Mr Wm; Eowe. - ;

Mr Rowe first read the memorial setting forth the prayer of the petitioners, having done which he said he was. glad that the nature of the subject did not require that they should make long speeches, as he believed there f was a perfect unanimity of feeling regarding ihe necessity of an increased representation for the Thames, They were acquainted with the position of the district, with the number of its inhabitants,,with its products and future prospects; and he thought no man who. considered these things word doubt that the Thames had been treated unfairly hitherto. At the present time, when the Parliament of. the country was about to meet and when there would in all probability be an entire readjustment of the representation of the

colony, it was their duty to seek by every means in their power to obtain such a share as they were entitled to. (Mr TJowe then proceeded to give a few figures regarding tho representation ;of several districts in the colony, as showing the great inequality which existed.) The Thames district, according to the last census, had a population of 12,239 inhabitants, which had, since then, increased considerably. He believed the population wouldainounttoover 13000. Andforl3GGo. inhabitants we had one representative. (A. voice: "No ! we have none.") He knew at least that we had a considerable amount of flesh and blood in the Assembly. (Laughter.) Taranaki had a population of 5,465, and they had three representatives; Wellington, 29,790, with eight representatives ; Marlborough, 6,439, with two members; Westland, 19000, with four membei s, and they thought they were not sufficiently represented, and were agitating for an increase. Taranaki and Marlborough together only numbered 11,904, not nearly as much as the Thames district alone, and, yet they.had five members. He would then compare the Thames with other portions of; the Auckland province. The total number of the population in the several districts , was 12.324, having five members ; : while > the Thames, according to the last census had 12,239, and had only* one member. These 1 matters proved thafcO the Thames was most inadequately represented, and he believed that if the matter was fairly placed before the ; Colonial Parliament ab fits next session, their rights would be ceded to them. He would,' however, go further than this. He believed that the Thames, shouldhave some one to represent the interests of the people in the Legislative Council. -(Hear.) It was necessary for the good government of the country that there should; be, an Upper as well as.a Lower House, but he advocated that the Upper House should -be -also elective, with higher qualifications both on the partf of * the electors and the elected. Mr Howe concluded by saying that they wanted independent and honest : men- to . represent them; men who would recognise their own interests as being identical with, those whom they represented ; men who werel acquainted '■■'• with -the wants of the district, and who would exert them-selves-to the: utmost of their power' to secure a response to those!'wanfs; He their read the resolution ;jas follows :-r- ---" Ist. That;' the ..petition now read be adopted, and signed by the Major and Councillors of the Borough, the members igf Provincial Council, the' chairman and members of the Waiotahi, Kauwaeranga, and Parawai District Boards, and the chairman of this-meeting." The reason: why it was proposed thus to sign the petition was, that there was a very short time for getting signatures, and what they wanted to show was that the people were still unanimous on the subject, and that the prayer of the former petition should be carried into effect. (Cheers.)

Mr Wm, Carpenter, M.P.C., came forward to second the proposition of Mr Howe. He did not_, however^ know how far they were justified ;in anticipating that the General Assembly would recognise their right -to an increased representation. It was well known that there existed a strong feeling against any increase in the representation as it at present existed. The number of representatives for the Colony was 74, out of which the North Island had 30 members; the South 44. Iv 1860, about the time -that the re-adjustment took, 1 place, Auckland had the principal power in the Assembly. . But as the population of the South increased the North endeavoured' as far as possible to mete out justice to the South, and gave the representation required, till the numbers came to be. as he had just pointed out. Mr Carpenter then" pointed out that the .matter.: .should be argued fairly in the Assembly, not dealt with as it had been on a previous, occasion, when it was referred to a committee. He agreed with the first speaker as to the anomaly of their position, and. proceeded to show the injustice under which the Thames labors by, / approximating the representation of 'the country and the- population. He : calculated ; that there was one representative for every 810 electors, if which was admitted the I Thames was" entitled to at least four or |;;fivfc members; They might plead that a large : population, say 18,000, would be [likely to gather on this coast, but the Assembly met that by designating'-them | as a shifting population. In answer to that, however, he might give them the argument brought forward by* Mr Vogel in ; 1872, when.it/was contemplated to reduce the representation of Taranaki in the General Assembly. He said it would be unfair to take away one of |heir members as there was a probability of the: population increasing. If that argument would apply to Taranaki at that time, it would obviously apply; to the Thames now. '• But they should hot supplicate on, their knees, they should demand it as a right, and should not, rest until.;they obtained it. Every man who was not a rogue or a felon was entitled to a voice in the Government of the country? and why should" they be shut out from this by having only one representative, and he very little good to them. He considered it Would be their own fault this time if they did' "not secure for themselves an ' adequate' share of representation; They 'should take a stand and force their rights from the Government. (Cheers).. v I Mr McGowan asked the Chairman whether, in the memorial, cogniazhce had been taken of the amount of duty paid in Auckland on goods consumed at, the Thames. • ! . ■"'

The Chairman said they all knew that the greater part of the duty on goods consumed here was paid in Auckland, bu fc it had been thought better to be, under than over |he mark. ; _ ! The Chairman 1 then put the motion, which was carried unanimously.

Dr Kilgour moved the second resolution—" That the petition be forwarded to Charles : O'Neill Jsq., for presentation, and that letters be sent to his Honor the Superintendent, Mr Stafford, and other members of the Assembly favorable to the' prayer of the [petition, asking their sup-; port." There could be no doubt that it. was good policy to secure as much support as possible ; and as the policy of the Government was to abolish the .provinces, and as they inqsj; be perfectly aware of the feeling' which peryaded the Thames on the subject, he failed to see on what grounds they could refuse the petition. It seemed to him that the Government were as much interested in regarding th,e petition, favorably as it was possible for them to be, One or two matters had occurred to him which, be though!:, had not been touched upon by the previous speakers. He then referred to the theory of conferring the franchise upon all as

having been broken through [in> a most remarkable manner, the Thames standing alone a unique specimen of 13,000 people sending one member to the Parliament, while other places with populations of five orsix-thousand had three members. Another matter was the loss this district had sustained by ; tbe want ;Ofjgood men and true to represent ,the disfricj;., > Had the district been properly repfesented\ ifc would not have taken seven years, to open Ohinemuri, confining them within;?the \ Kauaeranga stream, and a vast k*exl;eht of fertile.land would not haTe-laid unoccupied till the present day. He enumerated other advantages they had lost, aad_,concluded by hoping that the Assembly would this time be induced to reflect on their duty regarding this district instead of being amused at- the bulk of.- their petition

Mr Bagnall, in seconding the motion, said they were all unanimous as to the petition, but when it reached Wellington there would be many persons who would be inclined to let matters rest as they were—a class of persons who were fond of " letting well alone," and this was the class they had to contend against.. He^rfurther alluded to the ignorance of some members of the Assembly regarding the wants and even.the characteristics of a mining population, as illustrating whicb.^ ho related a little anecdote regarding an^P occasion in the house when "protection" was asked for, the members thinking that tho miners wanted the protection of a man-o'-war, or something of that kind. He thought that in asking for four members they were asking for no more than they were entitled to, but that—in view of what he had said before—they should on this occasion give out a more certain sound.

Mr Speight said he did not know whether it was necessary or deiirable to send the petition through Mr Charles O'Neill. He supposed it was the proper thing to do. But this he did know—that if ever a constituency had a right to complain of their representative, it was the Thames of Mr O'Neill. He (Mr Speight) could understand' why the Government had neglected the Thames, and had been amused at their petitions. The reason was that they had only one representative, and they had chosen in him a person who was of no earthly use whatever. (Laughter.) - The Government had always found in Mr O'Neill a useful vote, and they desired to keep him, as they could not find another.such. He (Mr Speight) considered they had themselves to blame if they had not received justice before. They should in th,e first'instance have sent a man to the Assembly who would have insured respect for all requests from -the district. With regard to what Mr Eowe had said about the Upper House, He (Mr Speight) thought also that the district should be represented there, and further that if gone about in the right way it could be brought about. He did not think the present Government would always rule, and hoped they wouldn't. Mr Speight then referred, to Dr Pollen as a specimen member of the Upper House in very hard terms. He said that Dr Pollen, although having at the - present time the entire rule of the Colony would not dare to face any constituency in the country. They had not as aristocracy here as in the South," but he thought men could be picked oat from their midst who would ably' and honestly represent the district. The motion was put and carried. Mr Eowe moved a • vote of thanks to the Chairman, which terminated tho meeting.