Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, December 5, 1876.

Cromwell Argus, Volume VII, Issue 369, 5 December 1876, Page 5

Cromwell Argus, AND NORTHERN GOLD-FIELDS GAZETTE. Cromwell: Tuesday, December 5, 1876.

The meeting of last evening was one which deserves considerable attention, and we only regret that it should have been necessitated to be held on a night which precludes us from bestowing that amount of attention which it deserves. That the proper representation of the various ridings is an allimportant matter for the proper carrying out of the County system in our midst will at once be admitted, and when our readers reflect that almost at the last moment a change has been made in the number of members from eight to nine, and in such a way as to give the lower and least considerable portion of the district by far the preponderating voting power in the future council, it will also be seen that it carries an importance to the population living in what may be described as the Cromwell or Northern division of the County, which cannot lightly be over-looked. The impending election is the first under the new system, and with it several important matters will be, we shall not say finally, but almost finally, settled. Such matters, for instance as the election of the County town, the County chairman, and, in fact, the whole policy of the future council—whether they shall deal fairly with the expenditure of the revenue over the whole County or whether it shall practically be confined to one particular and favored portion of the County. In order to consider the matter properly, as Mr MaoKellar pointed out to the meeting last night, the question of area as well as that of population must betaken into account, and it will be well that our readers should understand what the area of the proposed County is, and how the population is divided over that area. The area of the whole County is, roughly, about 1,600,000 acres, of which little short of 1,000,000 acres are comprised in the Hawea riding alone, the other five ridings having about 600,000 acres. Of this 1,600,000 acres, only some 20,000 are held as freehold, or in any way-alienated or in process of being alienated from the Crown. The Hawea, Kawarau, and Nevis ridings, though they include only the one municipality of Cromwell, outnumber in population the three other ridings, and certainly in area comprise nearly three-fourths of the whole territory of the County. In productive power, if we take the quantity of gold produced as a criterion, they exceed the other three ridings by at least 50 per cent., as shown by the annual returns. An outsider, reflecting upon all this, would at once come to the conclusion, as a matter of course, that their voting powers in the future Council would certainly stand in the same ratio to that of the other part of the County as their population, their area, and their productive powers would suggest as fair to all parties, viz., that they should have been the largest and most

potential voice in the management of the County. But what do we Unci to be the case 1 Do we find them having equal vi.ting power with the lower part of the County—for there is no disguising the fact that there are two divisions of the County, an upper and lower one. So far even from that, we find by this new allotment that we stand in the minority. We will be represented by four members, while the least populous, the smallest in area, and the least productive part of the County will be represented by five members. Surely there is something wrong in all this, and there has been some mistake. Is it a mistake, or has there been some hidden influence at work io bring about a state of things which might possibly work to the personal advantage of some person or persons unknown ? We cannot, of course, tell yet whether the allotment has not been made by some "intelligent compositor" on the Gazette in Wellington or not, but this we can tell, that unless it is rectified, and that promptly, it will lead to the utmost disaffection on the part of the most powerful section of the Vincent County, and ultimately, if persisted in, to the dismemberment of the County itself. We trust the most strenuous efforts will be made by the influential committee which we are glad to see was appointed to pursue the matter, to do two things : First, to rectify the blunder and put the northern half of the County upon a proper footing, and, secondly, to discover at whose instance the blunder was committed. Blame has been freely hinted at as resting upon the member for the district in the matter, but we are not prepared to go any great length in that direction as yet. It may be he had something to do with it, but we have as yet no definite proof to show that he had, and till we have opportunity of hearing him, we shall suspend our judgment in his direction.