THE NEW ELECTORATES.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 157, 6 July 1887, Page 5

THE NEW ELECTORATES.

Adverse Wellington Criticism

(BY TELEGRAPH—OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Wellington-, this day. The " Post," referring to the redistribution of representation, says that "it might reasonably have been supposed that, on concluding thoir labours, tho Representation Committee would have made a report setting out the manner in which thoy had interpreted some of tho not very clear provisions of the Act, the principles which had guided them in the use of the margin, other than those laiddownbystatute,thetotalnumber of fictitious population added to special districts, and generally explaining how and why they had arrived at their conclusions. Instead of that, they have simply defined boundaries in an official manner, given what is termed a popular description o.t tho alterations made, and issued a series of maps which are really of vory little uso." The editor goes on to say: " The more we look into the Commissioners' work the loss we liko it. Nothing can justify the inclusion of Kaiwarra and Johnsonville with N'owtown in one electorate. To get from one part to another of this most singular distriot, the three other city electorates have to bo passed through. The idea of liavelock and I'icton beino' included in thcsairto electoral district as Llic litLlo Nelson suburb settlements of Hopo Richmond and Stock is ridiculous, and we should very much liko to know whateommimity of interest or facilities for communication were found to exist between the two ends of the district, or what topographical features justified such a union It would have been much morein accordance with the spirit of the Act to havo united Picfcon and Havelock with a Wellington constituency rather than with the suburb of Nelson. There are other districts, also, in which the Commissioners seem to havo entirely ignored the very general rules laid down by Parliament for their guidance, and in several respects, so far as we can judge without the report which they ought to have made, we believe that they have violated the spirit of tho Act in very many respects, as they certainly did by their ridiculous assumption of secrcsy ia regard to their proposals. Had such publicity as the Legislature contemplated been given' to the draft proposals of tho Commissioners, many flagrant absurdities in the E resent re-adjustitieiit would, no doubt, aye been avoided, and had the MclCenzio clause not been temporarily suspended in its operation on this occasion, the Commissioners would certainly have been overwhelmed with objections and appeals."