CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1753, 5 August 1884, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor. Sir,—The constituencies have certainly returned a fairly effective House of Representatives. If there is still a minority of men who have any pretenoe to an acquaintance with the science of politics or the art of Government, there is at nny rate also a minority of the absolutely ignorant and noisy Provincialists who gloried in the shame of personal selfishness and local jobbery. There is more of broad New Zealandism in the present House, and there are the materials of a real Government, and, of what is equally important, an intelligent and substantial Opposition. The constituenciea have to consider what measures they need eppect from this House apart from the pressing questions of finance, which inoludes taxation and public works, and apart from the almost equally pressing subject of the discouragement of the abuse of alcoholic drinks. It seems to me that we cannot too early make up our minds on the reforms needed in our electoral law. The sound condition of this is of high imports,nces There are undoubted grave anomalie. and inconyeniencies at present, The first objection arises jn the fact that a dual 'vote is given to the owner of land, Now, I am quite at loss'to see that any just ground exists for maintaining this privilege to the owner of land, It is not pretended that as landowner he bears a larger proportion of the colonial taxation than the shipowner, tjie backer, the merchant, or the workman j indeed, it appears to me that it would be more just to give a man a dual vote in respect of a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle, or a coastal steamer, than for land, for while the sheep cattle, or steamer would imply, active contribution to the wealth of the colony, the possession of the land might simply, as it often does, imply the monopolising and closing up from the rest of the colonists of an area of land against alj profit, improvement or settlement. It seems impossible, if ! this claim to vote in respect of land is ' impartially examined, to maintain any argument in its favor. No ' doubt-it ia. regarded with fondness)]

by tho Conservative instincts, but these instincts are often rather those of dumb animals than the sound opinion of reasoning and sentient beings, It hardly, perhaps, occurs to those who cherish it, that it might be plausibly used as a reason for a special tax on the land. That its existence is one of those electoral irritants which are always the results of privileges when obtruded on the popular mind; and that, so far from securing the land system of the colony, by bolstering it with an inequality of right you practically threaten it. At the present election it appeared in its worst form, and was made more glaringly objectionable by carrying on its already deformed shoulders tho further grotesque burden of tho Maori vote. No one who wishes well to the colony will regret this, because it has made the wrong so glaring that probably not twenty men in the Wairarapa will be prepared any longer to defend it. The day may arrive when the Maori may become., equal in intelligence and judgment and political knowledge to the European. When that day comes his separate, representation will be abolished. Until that day arrives, it is intolerable that he should control a double repressntation, that he should send Maori representatives, and any number of Europeans also to the House. It is clear that the colony having adopted democratic government, it is the duty and the wisdom of all colonists honestly to accept the position. To attempt to filch from its entirety by such poor tricks as the dual vote, only gives a very poor idea to working men of the character of the privileged class. Government by the " best and fittest" is what all reasonable thinking men of all classes with any pretension to honesty of purpose must desire. It matters not from what class those "best and fittest" spring. There is nothing in the fact of a man possessing land and sheep' to cause working men to mistrust him, but, if he is found to be trying to counterpoise their weight by loading the scale with the dual vote, and poor shifls of a like nature, they will justly think his professed confidence in them is only assumed to hide his tear, aud will suspect him accordingly. It is to be hoped that substantial action will be taken at an early date to obtain a reform on this point, In a future letter I propose to touch upon the evils of the present system of registration of electors, i I am, (fee., .Robert S, Hawkins.