TOWN EDITION. Evening Post SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1881.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 32, 6 August 1881, Page 2

TOWN EDITION. Evening Post SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1881.

THE NEW ELECTORAL DISTRICTS. * Although nothing has yet been definitely decided in Cabinet as to the boundaries of the new [electoral districts to be proposed under the Representation Bill, various tentative plans of re-division of the electorates have been sketched out, and the opinions of membors representing the different parts of the Colony afftcted, have been invited, in order to guide Ministers in framing a scheme throughly suited to the requirements of the Colony, local as woll as general. The main outlines of tho redistribution suggested aro, we understand, somawhat as follows :—lt: — It ia still proposed to divido tho City of Wellington into thrte electorates, viz ,-<, -< lhorndon" (including Thorndon and Lambton Wards), "Te Aro" (comprising that ward), and a third consisting mainly of Cook Ward, and called in last year's bill "fcoutb.- Wellington," but this year, we believe, proposod to be termed the "Newtown" District. The Wellington Country District is i_ropoaed to j be amalgamated with a slice of the Manawatu District extending to the Rangitikei River, and including the town of Foxton, tho new district thus formed to be called the "Foxton" District. 'Ihe new '"Manawatu" District would extend from the Orqua River in the north-west, to the Ruahine Mountains in the east, and southward to about Karcre. The townships of Falmerstoa North, Feilding, Halcombe, tnd Bunnythorpo, would thus come within this district. The "Hutt" Distriot wouH extend from the city and harbor of Wellington northward to a point about abreast of Paik akariki, bounded'to tho north-west by the new Foxton District, south-east by the Rimutaka Ranges te the sta,and couth-west by the sea and Wellington Harbour. By the suggested plan now under notice, Wairarapa would be divided into two new districts, each returning one member. " Wairarapa South" would extend from the Waingawa River by a line running north-westward to the Tararua Mountains, and south-eastward to the Pahaua River, thence by that river to its mjuth, thence by the sea round by Cape Palliser and Palliser Bay to the point where t'le Rimutaka Ranges strike the sea, thencs by the Rimutaka to the Tararua. This district would include Greytown, Feather-

ston, and Carterton. "Wairarapa North" would extend from the Pahaua and Waingawa Rivera northward to about the Manawatu Gorge and Cape Turnagain, and would be bounded to the east by the sea to the west by the Tararua Mountains. It would include Maf-terton, Mauriceville, and Alfredton. lho new " Rangitkei" District would lie between the Raneritikei and Wangaehu rivers, bounded by the sea to the south-west, and extending northward and north-westward to about Murimutu and the Hautanu River. It would inelu le Marton and Bulb. Next to Kangitikei would come a new district to refcnrn one of the two members at present allotted to Wanganui. This would be called the 1 " Waitolara" District, and would extend from the Wangaehu River in the south-east to the Waitotara River in the north-west ; also from about Pihanga in the north-east to tho sea in the south-west, omitting the town of Wanganui, which itself would return one member. Such are the proposed changes in tho Wellington Province which are now under the consideration of the Cabinet. For the rest of the Colony it may briefly be said that it is proposed that Hawke's Bay and Taranaki each should still return three members, the district boundaries, however, being revised ; that Auckland (as previously stated) should return nineteen members instead of eighteen, as at present, the extra member being given to the East Coast, which would be divided into two new districts — " Gisborne " and " Tauranga"—and that the other Auckland districts would be as follows: — "Auckland City North," "Auckland City South," " Auckland City East," "Parnell," "Grafton," " Newton," " Onehunga," " Bay of islands," "Marsden," " Kodney," "Waimate," " Franklin," " Eden," " Coromandel." "Thames," "Waikato," and"Waipa," each returning one member. In the South Isl.-.nd, Marlborough would have the "Picton" and "Wairau" districts; Nelson the following :—": — " Town of Nelson " (one member), " Nelson East" (extending to Pelorus), "Waimea," "Motueka" (which would absorb Collingwood), "Buller," "Reefton." and "fJreymouth." Westland would have Hokitika" and " Kumara " districts. Canterbury j would have ''Cheviot" (extending south 1 from the Clarence River), " Ashley," " K*iapoi," "Avon," " Lincoln," " Heathcote," " Akaroa, " " Selwyn, " " Ashburton, " " Hakatere " (lying between the Eakaia and Rangitata Kivers, eastward of the railway), " Geraldine," " Seodown " (extending round by the Rangitata River to the Southern Alps — to Mount Cook — and by the Ohau, Waitaki, Hakateramea, and Pareora Bivers to tha sea), "Gladstone" (between Pareora and Waitaki Rivera), " Chris tchurch City North," " Christchurch City South," " St. A'bans," "Stanmore," "Sydenham," "Lyttelton," and " Timaru," each returning one member. Ofcago it is proposed to divido into the following : — " Dunedin City East," " Dunedin West," " Dunedin South," "Dnnedin Central," "Peninsula," "Caversham" (or "Kaikorai"), "Roslyn," "Port Chalmers," "Waikouaiti,' " Taieri," " Bruce," "Tuapeka," "' Clutha," "Mataura," "Awarua" (between Mataura and Makarewa rivers) ( " Wallace," " Wakatipu," " Mount Ida," "Riverton," "Town of Oamaru," and " Town of Invercargill," each returning one member. Such, we believe, is the skeleton of tho Redistribution scheme, which, however, is of course open to unlimited alteration both by the Government and by Parliament