INCREASED REPRESENTATION OF WESTLAND.

West Coast Times, Issue 307, 17 September 1866, Page 2

INCREASED REPRESENTATION OF WESTLAND.

PUBLIC MEETING AT THE-COURT

HOUSE.

The meeting convened by Mr Sale, for last Saturday afternoon, notice of which was given to the public in the local papers, duly came off at. the time appointed, and although the attendance at first was rather scanty, owing to the sudden and somewhat unusual announcement, a large number of the leading citizens assembled in time to take part in the proceedings, and to give their hearty support to the movement.

Mr Commissioner Sale opened the meeting by stating that he had called it, riot with' the desire or intention of officiating* as chairman, but merely to make known the authority under which he had acted in calling it, .and that done it, would rest wjth the gentlemen assembled whether they would take any further steps in the matter. On the preceding day he had received a . telegram from Mr Moorhouse, the of which.was : That, in accordance with the -promises made by him during his late visit to Ilokitika, he had been doing his utmost to obtain for Westland increased representation in the General Assembly. To that end he had introduced a bill, which Bad met with such opposition that it was nearly thrown out on the first reading; and as the second reading was appointed for the middle of next (this) week, he was fearful the bill' would not reach committee unless some decided demonstration .was made by the people of Westland to strengthen his hands. He recommended that a petition should be drawn up and forwarded, but as it could not reach Wellington in time to influence the House, the Westland public should advise him by telegram of their opinion on the course he had adopted, and whether they proposed to support him. Mr Sale furthermore added thatj as this bill which promised such advantages to Westland would be again before the House in so short a time, he was induced to call the present meeting, feeling .confident that if anything was to be done it must be done forthwith. It might be thought strange that he had so much departed from ordinary official routine, but as there was no time to be lost, prompt and decisive action was imperative. ■ He should now retire and leave further proceedings in the hands of those assembled.

On the motion of Mr Sprot, seconded by Mr Button, Mr Bright, M.P.C., was unanimously voted to the chair. He said that he much regretted Mr Sale had left the meeting, as he (the chairnian) had aremark to make which he would have rather^ made in his presence. It was to bexegretted that the information made known by Mr Sale had not been placed before the public through the medium of the local press, as a much larger attendance would do'ibtless have ' been the result. The " Grey^ River Argus " was duly advised by a telegram from Mr Moorhouse of that Mr Sale had communicated to * the meeting, and he thought it was a pity the same course was not adopted towards the Hokitika press, a*> the subject was of such vital importance to the district. Mr Sale was, however, to be thanked for his prompt action in the matter, which, if followed by decided measures on the part of ithe public, would in all probability gain the ends desired to be attained. The' meeting could not fail to appreciate the subject before it, as well as the zeal displayed by Mr Moorhouse in attendingto the interests of the district he represented in the Assembly; and he (the chairman) suggested that a petition should at once be framed and forwarded to Wellington. He called upon some gentleman s to move the first resolution.

Mr Button, in responding, said that as the meeting had been called so suddenly,, there had been no time to prepare resolutions in the manner usual on such occasions. He thought the first should embody a desireon the part of 'the people of Westland to secure increased representation in the Assembly, and he should, therefore, move the following : — "That Westland, having become one of the most important districts in the^ whole of New Zealand, is justly, and fairly entitled to increased representation." Mr Button," in speaking to the resolution, said that he should be able to prove, by the New Zealandcensus statistics of 1864 the undoubted right of Westland to return mpre than one member to the* Assembly.*- Since that census was tacen, many districts therein enumerated had lost immensely in population through the great attraction of the unexpected gold discoveries in Westland, and yet, notwithstanding this decrease, they still sent to the House one, two, or three members, as the case might be — whilst Western Canterbury, with a large and increasing population, was confined to one only. He should, by permission of the meeting, quote from the census table* before him, and to which he had above alluded ; and he had no doubt that by so doing the raonstrous^injustice Westland was suffering would be better understood by those present. , Beginning with the North Island, the Bay of Islands district, with a population out of which only[l39 males arequalifiedtovbte, returned 1 member; City of Auckland, with 1719 electors, 3 members ; New Plyuouth. with 178 electors, 1 member; Omata,with 99 electors, 1 , member ; Wanganui, iwith 2579 males, 1 member; City of Wellington, with 8747, three members ; | The-Hutt district, with 467 electors, two members. Crossing Cook's Straits into the Nejson Province, it would be found that Nelson city, with 751 electors, returned, three members ; Picton, 316 electors, one member; Kaiapoi, 1890 males, one member. In the Canterbury ProSince, the Ellesraere or Mount Herbert district, with sixty-nine electors,. returrfed one member ; City of Christchurch, 3,836 electors, one member ; Lyttelton, 295 electors, one member ; Akaroa, 192 electors, one member. The Province of Otago returned eleven members to* the Assembly, including two for the goldfields —the number of electors being 4818. and the whole ofjNew Zealand, with a male population of 100,000, out of which number 19,552 were qualified to vote, returned fiftyseven members. Now, in addition to that 100,0C0, 'it might be safely calculated that 30,000maleswerelocatedmWe8tland which contained the two large commercial centres — Hokitika and Greymouth, and yet returned but one member to the House. This was perfectly monstrous, and demanded remedy.' In Victoria, steps had been taken to secure the repre^

sentation of minorities, and yet here was an enormous majority almost unrepresented. The speaker again alluded to. the injustice of allotting so many members to these districts, with scant and decreasing populations, and only one to Westland, and urged' the necessity of getting up a petition to back Mr Moor.^puse in the stand taken by him. Mr Button concluded by * again reading the resolution. Mr J. R. Anderson had much pleasure in seconding it. The Chairman, in putting the resolution, which was carried nem eon., remarked that if Mr Button could. - always succeed in making out as strong a case for his clients as he had that day done for the people of Westland, they would have but little cause for dissatisfaction. Mr South said that he quite agreed with Mr Button in the view he had taken of the census statistics, and could not understand why the^ Assembly should offer such strong" opposition to the very just measure introduced ' by Mr Moorhouse. It was, however, clearly the duty of the Westland people to follow up and support that measure ; and he, therefore, " would suggest that a petition to the House be drawn up, and copies of it forwarded for signature to the chief public places and houses of business in town. He • should move— v u That a committee of sixteen or seventeen gentlemen be at once formed.'' Mr Hawkes, M.P.C., thought Mr South was rather premature in moving the above, and, with his permission, he would first propose another resolution, which- would - be more in place if followed, instead of preceded, by one for the appointment of committee.

Mr South waived his right, and Mr Hawkes then moved—'* That, in the opinion of this meeting, -three additional members, should be given to Westland, viz., one for, Hokitika, one for Greymouth, and one , additional member for the _ district." Mr Hawkes said that, although this was his proposition, he did not for one moment believe they^ would get three members, and might » consider 'themselves lucky if two were granted them. At the same time, he could not see why the Assembly should object tp such an increase, unless it was anticipated that the population of Westland being migratory might, in a year 6r two, desert it for other and more attractive localities, in which case the district would be overrepresented. - y Mr Sprot quite understood why the Assembly objected to the increase of members folr Westland. The present Stafford Ministry succeeded in carrying their measures through the House by a bare majority only, and -if more men from Westland were sent in to strengthen Mr Moorhouse, ' their (the Ministry's) position would be ' materially altered for the worse. It was, however, the imperative duty of the Westland people 'to obtain a stronger footing in the Assembly, and he should, therefore, very heartily second Ihe proposition of Mr Hawkes. The Chairman said that an incident had occurred some weeks ago \thot he had, not had an opportunity of making known before, but which might be deemed of im- / portance as bearing upon the question in hand. Mr Voge), one of the goldfields' 'members for Otago, had written to him, expressing his belief that Westland was insufficiently represented in the Assembly, andrequesting advice as to the expediency of hia visiting the district for the purpose of making himself acquainted- with its re-- ' quirements, so as' to place him in a better position to advocate its interests in the house* He requested that an answer should be addressed to him at -Nelson, but from some unexplained cause he (the chairman) had heard nothing further of the matter. The resolution of Mr Hawkeg was then put to the meeting, and carried unanimously. ~ ' Mr South moved the third resolution — v "That ar committee be appointed to frame a petition to Parliament, embodying . the views and wishes of this meeting, \oonsisting of the following gentlemen : — Messrs Hawkes, Bright, Barff, South, Taggart, Anderson, Bartlett, Rees, Mowat, Eicke, Shaw, Button, Cleve, Ecclesfield, and Craig." Mr Barff, M.P.C., seconded Mr Souths resolution. He felt sure plenty of volunteers would be forthcoming. He for oneishould be Kappy to devote two or three days to the cause. It was absolutely imperative • that Westland should return more than one.mem« ber, as Mr' Moorhouse was overworked, and needed support. It was extraordinary that the measure introduced by him should have met with such opposition as so early a stage as tho discussion upon Bills was generally reserved for the second reading, or some other stage prior to the third. The animus thus "displayed should, however, incite them to forward to the House, as soon as possible, a numerously^ signed" petition supporting Mr Moorhouse. , The Chairman then put the resolution^ which was carried, without dissent. Mr Sprot proposed an immediate collection of 'funds to defray current expenses, *• leading off with 55., followed, by Mr Hawkes with the same amount, and in the course of a few minutes nearly L 7 was subscribed.

A hearty vote of thanks was awarded Mr Commissioner Sale for so promptly bringing such an important matter before the public, and another vote to the chair, which was no less warmly responded to. This terminated the proceedings. ,

Immediately after the close of the public meeting, the committee held a sitting. . The following was the form of petition resolved upon : — To the Honorable the House of Representa- - tives of New Zealand, in Parliament assembled. Tho Humble Petition of the undersigned inhabitants of Hokitika, Greymouth, and the Westland District, respectfully sheweth : — That the District of Westland is at present' one of the most flourishing in the whole of New Zealand ; and, with its exceedingly rich goldfields and increasing population, presents unmistakeable tqkens of permanent prosperity. That the adult male population of Westland your petitioners firmly believe to exceed I thirty thousand, *• ' That Hokitika and Greymouth are the great commercial centres of this important * diatrict. That your petitioners respectfully invite tho attention of youv Honorable House to the heavy yield of" the Westland goldfields, as* shewn by the expert returns, 4rad the ve*y considerable sum contributed to the general revenue of the colony in the shape of Customs duties. «* , • That the commercial 1 , mining, and other important interests of this .district have as*

sum'ed a magnitude which renders it , impos sible for any single representative in the I Q-eneral Assembly to adequately represent, them. 'that your petitioners desire, further, respectfully to draw tlfe attention of, your Honorable House to tbe circumstance that the District of Westland has nb^epresenta^ tion in the Legislative Council, and has thus to rely exclusively uponNhe' services of such members* as may be granted to it m tbe

House of Eepre3entative9. y Wherefore jour, petitioners humbly pray that your Honorable House will take this petition into your favorable consideration, and grant an increase in the representation of Westlaud, by allotting one member to the itown of Hokitika, one member to the town of Greymouth, and one additional member to the Westland District. And your petitioners will ever pray, &c, &c. «The chairman was instructed to telegraph to Mr Moorhouse, that afternoon, in order to satisfy him that, the people^f the West Coast were quite prepared to " strengthen his hands." This was done within ten minutes after the public meeting had 'closed, and the representative for Westland was" assumed that the people were determined to. take energetic and prompt action, and that he might rely on receiving intimation on Tuesday of the number of names attached to the petition. • A telegram was also forwarded to Mr Harriscm, the editor of the '.' Grey River v Argus," for public information in that district as to the course adopted here. During Saturday evening members of • the committee were engaged to a late hour in securing lona fide signatures to the petition, copies, of wnich had been left at the Prince of Wales' Opera House, and the ptincipal hotels in town. We are not ' in a position at this moment to state the number of signatures appended, but kn^Ow that they amounted to a very large number. Yesterday the petition lay fcr signature "at the Roman Catholic ,Church by the permission of the Rev. Mr M'Girr— so important to the in -\csts,of the district did that gentleman consider the matter to j be. Upwards of two hundred signatures were attached there. At tbe Piince of Wales Theatre the number of names amounted to some hundreds. We regret to have to mention an incident of a very discreditable nature in connection with this movement. Amongst other leading hotels in town, the Cafe de Paris was selected by the committee as a most eligible place for the deposit of the .petition-slips.. By the courtesy of Mr Solomon, the slips were placed in the bar, but, although a large number of bonafide signatures had been attached to them, . they have been rendered by the ill-timed facetiousness by some of the "fast gents" about town, who have thought it a highly gentlemanly achieve^ ment to put fictitious, r'd'culous, and in lome instances, very offensive signatures. A similar insult was paid by some of the habituis of the same establishment to the Dobson Memorial Committee— in ,that instance a heartless as well as an excessively silly joke.