The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. THRUSDAY, NOV. 21, 1889.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2709, 21 November 1889, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

THRUSDAY, NOV. 21, 1889.

Equal ".ml exact justice to all men, Or whatsoever state or persuasion, religious «r policioil.

Dii. TvlLCOUii, an old and prominent resident at tht; Thames, has issued a leaflet containing a sketch plan for the rd'onr. of tho representative system of tiew Zeahind. It is a, most gratifying thing to receive the declared opinions of thoughtful men on questions of public importance, and it is- a healthy sign when colonists of experience and education do not shrink from giving their tinio and assistance in inilneucing tin; minds of the people to the need for securing necessary political reforms. There are many features in our national economy which call for immediate change, and scarcely tiny so absolutely, as tins csisung system of representation, both in the manner of electing our legislators and in the constitution or tho Legislature, Reform in that direction is paramount before we can proceed, with the assurance of'success, in procuring reforms in any other direction. Representation is the tap-root of complete reform. In the plan sketched out by Dr Kilgour there is much that can be recommended as well as many features of an objectionable character ; but in the main lie lias introduced the Hare principle, and also a reduced legislature of two Chamber.", both of which he proposos to make elective. He would divide the. colcny into two electorates, consisting of thn jSTorih and South Islands. The House of Representatives would contain sixty members and the Legislative Council thirty, the latter elected by the poople for ten years and the former for four years. " The doctor is an advocate of Female Suffrage and would extend the franchise to women, though ho would not make a woman eligible for election to Parliament. Thero would be strong objection to an elected Upper House in the plan proposed, inasmuch as there would arise tho certain danger of deadlocks between the two branches on financial nnd other questions of policy, which would entail evil consequences to the country. Both Chambers boing elected by the popular vote, the Upper, in fact, being returned for a longer period thi).u the Lower, bo'th would claim with equal justice that they represented the mind of the people, and could assert the right to appeal to the people. If the life tenure of lnembets of the Legislative Council were annulled, and they were nominated us at present by the Governor, for a period of ten years, much of the fault now found by some with that branch of the Legislature would disappear. Dr. Kilgour evidently views with disfavour the manner in which Parliament has become the medium for making politics a mere profession and means of livelihood by seedy individuals, thereby degrading its* lofty character. He would not allow the honorarium of members of the Lower House to exceed £100, aud that of the Upper House £30, for each session, (lie should stipulate it to be per annum to obviate the risk of successful intrigues for two sessions in the year). Each of the two electorates would be divided into thirty registration disrietfS, under a registration officer, for the registration of electors, aud for the carrying out of elections at the various appoiuted polling places whore the electors would record their votes. Any registered elector might vote in mi electoral district other than his own, on producing a certificate from his registration officer that he is entitled to vote, the certificate being retained for verification. Dr. Kilgour gets over the quota difficulty in a simple w;iy. and at the same time provides that there shall be perfect represeiitsifion by the majority. He would take the surplus of votes given to the highest at the poll tu the second highest, then the surplus from him to the third, aud so on till the requisite number of members were obtained. The above is the gist of IJv. Kilgour'sproposals. It re-opens up a question for much discussion, whether it would be suited to the circumstances and conditions of this colony to have only two great electorates, where the candidates would necessarily be men of wide repute, if not of means; whether this would inflict an injury on the masses by placing the preponderance of political power on the class best possessed of wealth and leisure; or, \rhether it would not be better to create electoral sub-

divisions, each returning a single member, at the sumo time; following tlm principle which Dr. Kilgour Hi-Hiius to support. We are inclined to tho latter view of tho question, and arc in favour of the provisions contained in the Bill introduced last session oy the Government, which we hope to see amongst their policy measures next, year.