West Coast Times. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1866.

West Coast Times, Issue 334, 18 October 1866, Page 2

West Coast Times. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1866.

Ii 1 is to be hoped the Municipal Council will not persist in the course it has jidopted, of vote by ballot. We were sorry to see such a confusion ofideas as * to the system of ballot, as prevailed on Tuesday evening. Secret voting is a device for the protection of the elector against undue influences that threaten -to compromise his independence. It was never invented for the purpose ot screening representatives from responsibility for the public acts they perform, and ttiemanner in which they perform them. Of the moral cowardice implied in the adoption of a system of secret voting by a representative body, we shall say nothing. But we must maintain that they have no right to conceal • their actions and their votes from their constituents, under any screen whatever. A seat at the Council Board is a position of public responsibility, and all the functions pertaining to ,it should be exercised in the broad light of day. In what sense is- a representative of the people responsible to his constituents, if he is allowed to protect himself under the shelter of the ballot ? Surely, every member of the Council may be called on by the electors who have sent him there, to justify every vote he has given ; aad ho>v can he be called on to do so if his vote has been given in secret ? The use of the ballot by a responsible representative body, is altogether incompatible with the philosophy of representative government. We are sorry to see the Council guilty of so grave a mistake at the outset of its career, and feel bound to demand, in behalf of the public, that the attempt which has been made to initiate the system of secrecy shall not be pushed any further. We assure the Council

that tht-y are committing a fatal blunder — ono that will inevitably destroy not only their prestige and popularity, but their usefulness. We can see no sub<tantiil reason for the adoption of the motion of which Councillor Williams has given notice, that all officers 'of the Corporation shall be elected by ballot, unless member's of the Council are desirous of the opportunity of voting for one candidate and against another, for reasons that they would not care to be called on to justify to their constituents. It is not. the Councillors who have any claim to be protected by M a system of secret voting. It is the public — the future ratepayers— who have a right to have their interests protected by a system of open voting. In no one direction is the system of secrecy so much to be deprecated as in the exercise of patronage. It is hero that private influences of a most objectionable character are .brought to bear, against the force of - which the people have no security but in the system, of open voting. It is in the corrupt exercise of the power of patronage that the radical weakness of municipal bodies has always lain. For this reason especially, the public have a right to know for whom every man votes, and by what motives his vote is regulated — whether by private solicitation, by considerations of fitness, by weak submission tq pressure, or" by a simple and honest desire to put the right man in the right place We do not desire to press upon the Municipal Council too hardly in. con- v nection with this matter, which we believe to have »been an inadvertent blunder. But they may take our hint as a warning. They have entered office under favorable and promising auspices. But nothing is an easier task in public life than to turn back the tide of popularity. There were not wanting indications on Tuesday night of the popular feeling. We ask them to be lieve that we tender sound advice when we recommend them to eschew closed doors and the ballot box.

We at last learn the fate of Mr Moorhouse's Bill for the enlargement of the representation' of Westland in the General Assembly. The " Wellington Independent" of the sth inst., in reporting the proceedings .of the House of Representatives on October 4 says :—: — " This Bill was withdrawn* for the present session, on the assurance of the Government that next session action would be taken in the matter to promote the objects of the Bill, so that members could take their seats in about two or three weeks after the Assembly should meet. ' The previous action, taken in the matter is thus reported in the '• Advertiser " of the 3rd inst. : —

"WESTLAND REBRESENTATION BILL*

Mr Moorhouse presented petitions from Westland, praying for increased representation.

Mr Moorhouße, after making a short speech, sho.wiug how inadequately Westland was represented, considering it contained one fifth of the population of the Colony and contributed more than one-filth of the revenue, yet only had one- seventieth, of the representation, moved the second, reading of tne~Bill. He wanted one member for Hokitika and one for Cobden and Greymouth.

Mr J. Hull said that it was a serious objection to the Bill th/ifc it was not yet printed nor circulated. The hon. member then argued that it . was so important a question that it could not properly be considered this session, and contended /that Westland was represented by other members in the House besides Mr Moorhouse ; for instance, the Otago members representing the mining interests. He thought this question should be deferred for the present. ~

Mr I). Bell and. Mr C. Wilson supported the Bill.

The second reading was then agreed to, and the bill was ordered to be committed next day.