The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1889.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2661, 1 August 1889, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1889.

Ix this issue will be found the manifesto issued l>y the country partv in defence of their action during the present crisis in Parliament. lt"will be. seen that they do not pretend to be contending for any new principle, but one which has long been recognised as absolutely necessary to seeure a just and equal division of the representation on a population basis, which is the essence of true democracy. They claim that the proportion of bono- fide taxpayers is greater to the population of the country districts than to the population of the cities oy a third, at least, and that, therefore, the adjustment of representation should manifestly recognise this disparity by conceding a wider franchise to the country, irrespective of the many other superior advantages the cities enjoy which the countries cannot possess, [t is also pointed out that the principle of representation must be established on the number of electors, not of tins total population. The reduction of members to seventy-one, it is stated, will seriously affect the country by widening the disproportion of population, and it behoves the country members to secure as much equality of power as possible under the new Act, and not to sacrifice any. The absurdity of the claptrap put forward by the town party that the, demands of the country members are made in the; interests of the large land-owners, is exposed. 1 lie experience of twenty years has shown us that the feeling of country electors h is always been the strongest against the squatters and large" landed proprietors. The power, influence and political organisation have always been greatest in the. large cities, and they have; hitherto shaped the administration of, and exercised an overwhelming control over, the Government of the day to an extent the country element could never pretend to approach. Let us examine the advantages in the way of representation (ho cities have so long possessed, and will, in a great measure, continue to possess. The Auckland provincial district returns twenty members, Auckland and immediate .suburbs returning six ; but, of the total of twenty, twelve, if not thirteen, members are city men with interests bound up with the city, and 110 positive community of feeling with the country. Absolutely, Auckland returns twelve representatives to seven or eight bona lide country representatives. Of tlio twelve members returned to the House by the Wellington provincial district, six are, as far as we know, citizens of Wellington. Of the nineteen Canterbury representatives, nine are Ohristchurch men, and of the twenty-four Otago members, we recognise eight citizens of Dunedin. Thus, as a matter of fact the foil'.' cities have an enormous aggregation cf pnliUVal power being possessed "t toriv ivpresentain a Jtmise of ninety-one Kuropean members, this power, has been used in the past to advance the ambition and growth of the cities, i: has plunged the colony over its head into debt and has heaped taxation on the country, the ■va! b-.ekbono of the colony, whilst i; v Ji.ts hy truckling to city mobs, robbed the country of its natural expansion and retarded settlement. he i -1i 1 will nor. lessen this unequal i ;\ve«' to suih an appreciable i j.iLiouut as is claimed. Though the

city electorates will be amalgamated and o.icli he entitled lo the lesser number of three members, the districts contiguous to the cities will still continue to elect city men as their representatives, and though the. quota may seem against the cities, their outsi.le franchise will not sillier and they will practically retain as large a proportion of members at at present.

In order that country electors may become acquainted u itli the Dill which is so vehemently opposed, we hero subjoin the clauses it contains, and Waikato settlers can study them together with the manifesto of the country party. ■2. Subsections two. three, four, and five of section three of " The Representation Act, ISS7" (hereinafter referred to as "the principal Act "), are hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof the following shut be substituted, namely : — (-2.) In computing for the purposes of this Act the population of the following portions of tie colony, that is to say, the Cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Ouuedin, and every borough and town district any part of which is within one mile from any part of any of the said cities, a deduction of twentyfive per centum shall be made from the number of the population ot such cities, boroughs, and town distriots. (4.) The total population of the colony (other than Maoris), less the deductions made from the cities, boroughs, and distriots aforefaid, shall be divided by the number of members, and the quotient thus obtained shall be the quota. (5.) There shall be four city electoral districts, to be called respectively Auckland, Wellington, Christchuich, and Dune-din ; and there shall b3 assigned to each of them three members.

The extent of each of the said city electoral districts shall respectively be such that the population thereof, after making the deduction aforesaid, shall not exceed or fall short by more than seven himdred and fifty for each member the quota multiplied by the number of members assigned to such electoral district. In order to make up any city electoral district where the city itself shall not include a sufficient population after making the deduction aforesaid, there shall bo included with the city such boroughs and town districts near the said city as, in the opinion of the Commissioners, can be most conveniently included with the same ; and if there shall not be sufficient population within such boroughs and town districts after making the deduction aforesaid, then there shall be included such areas of the adjacent or surrounding country as can, in the opinion of the Commissioners, be most conveniently included.

The remainder of the colony shall be divided into as many districts as there are other members (not Maori members) to be returned. The extent of such last mentioned electoral districts shall respectively be such that one member shall be assigned, to eacli district, and that at the time of making such division the population thereof, after making any deduction required by sub-section two,shall not exceed or fall short of the quota by more than seven hundred and fifty. 3. The principal Act and any Act amending the same shall, as from the commencement of this Act, take cifect subject to the substitutions required by this Act.