The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1911.

Evening Star, Issue 14628, 26 July 1911, Page 4

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1911.

Tin: announcement inside by the 'Lyttelton; Times,' that the Representation Otaj?> seat which is Speculations, likely to be sacrificed

by ' tho Representation Commissioners will bo Tuapoka, is obviously premature. , AJJI that is known with anv degree of certitude' is tbat after all the talk the South Island is not to be bereft of three of -her representatives, for the simple- Teason that the-i* are in the North Is'and almost as manyj constitwencies as in the South that are numerically ahort in varying quantities of ,-tJho "quota," which can be stUVly bo put clown at a trills over 15,100. It is understood that before the Commissioners, after ■ having determined the acted "quota," separate into insular sub-committees, ne it ivere, they will conclude that the statistics t>upplied by the Register-General of Elections will warrant the North Island rectifying an additional member, with a consid*arable fraction, over. How much this fractional element will represent cannot be knomi until it has been seen what view the C-oinrnksianers themselves take in referentae to it. Five years ago they gave the fractional element, to the North Island it, in fact, the benefit, of the doubt, tl tough it might have been argued (and in our opinion could have been used as a. formidable' weapon of dc-f-oinoe oi Southern uil'-erests if there had been stronger men on* the South Island representation.) that in justice the South Island should have 'taeceived that fractional advantage. Tho crucial question at litis juncture is: WQTi the- Cbmm iKsionors givo the fractional advantage- to the North o'* to the South? AVu opine that it will come. South this time. But if it should not (and we Khali bo 'perfectly frank :n acknowledging that the Commissioner.-? will be quite within their rights in deciding the quest ion at issue wholly and entirely from the standpoint oi' numbers), then the North Island will receive two additional members—one new seiit going to a suburb of Auckland adjacent to the present Eden electorate; tho second seat being taken off the present Taumaruosd constituency, which is largely in excess' of the necessary "quota." If, howevef, the Commissioners should decide to bo guilded to some extent by a senso of the tibrioss of things—to cmp'cy a euphemism tltat the circumstances warrant--it is quite- on tho cards that the Taiert constituency, if not marked for entire elimination, will' either be absorbed by or amalgamated with the greater part of the old 'i'uapcka electorate. Those who have been studying tke Census figures from the viewpoint of political exigencies appear to have- reached tkto conclusion that Mr das. Allen's new ele f.boi-ate will coma down to and absorb but that it is quite possible Lawrence, ' *ud even Waitahuna, may be taken rrum. him. In that ease it seems to us only .natural that the title of Tuapeka will bo retained, for the all-sullieieut reascai that Tuupeka .is for the most part it mining district, and lU mining inteiesla have predominated ever since the. di«o6»x-»ry of gold in the he:nt of the eieetctrailj in 1861 by Gabtiel Read. And if sentircent is a, factor in the matter, what memories are levived by the association of Scobi-e Mackenzie. Vincent I'yko, and William J. M. Larnaeh (to say nothing of lesser ityhts) with the electorate ! As to tho City electorates, it k fairly assumable thsit there will be very considerable alterations of existing boundiaries. '• Central " \ is the greatest sufferer by the migration of population that has taken place in Dunedin during the last five years. It is soni-etbing like 4.200 short of the requisite '' quovta," and tho deficiency in numbers is likely to be sought by taking a large- slice off the member for Dunedin Souths country. We shall not be at ail (surprised if Mr Arnold's new constituency has for its south-western boundary the entire population between King Edward street and the bay down to the Sandhills. Into Dune-din North' will most likely be thrown some 800 voters who have hitherto been tacked on to Chalmers, quite regardless of "community of interest," but who are really City doctors, and who since amalgamation of tho North-east Valley with the City are do facto such, and must bo so recognised, unless a comic-opera situation is to be created. For the present West Harbor must 'be regarded as a legitimate part of Chalmers, though in all pro bability the same influences that have caused the North-east Valley to throw in its lot for better or for worse with Greater Dunedin will opi-nite during the present decade to force West Harbor into closer relationship to Dunedin. This subtraction of 800 odd votes from Chalmers will inevitably push the ejsctorate in a northerly direction, and wo ' quite expect to find Mr Clark called upon to woo the electors of I'aknerston, which will bo a very agreeable task to him, if ii/. 1 has not to go a littlo further afield. Dumxlin West will also liave to bo-tow m slice of country from Central—necessarily on the hillside and meet probably hi fiic, direction of that part of MoruLnyLon which lies adjacent to Belleksiowes and Maa i.pcllier, because- to the south of Princes street there is a con-

spiciiuns ab.sence -of flesh and blood. -Mr Suley is quite to having to go a long way afield <und to having the borough and district bwni as ("ireeu Island consigned to his future can>; but it is understood that ho w.lll Ijo cotl-oied for his changed status by retaining hi« yonbriquet of "member for the Workshops." Tlie new Tuapeka or the amalgamated Tua-peka-Taiori seat vst.ll take ,a deal of carving to make it repra tentative of its diversified interest;?, but ws hazard Iho opinion that it will at the fim&h bo distinctively minum. Tb that event 54 may turn out that it has Ixx-n found natwasn-ry to impinge on the lower or ,uortha-u end of Wakatipu. But all the.se speculi tkms, which must have a disturbing infhn>nco on the sitting menii>eiv. and on those who aspiro to become will bo set at rest during the next foirtnight, as it ii understood that the report '.of the Representation Co:mini&sioneis "ill' Vie rijady for presentation to Parliament 'at the beginning of next month. The disquiet, the unrest, and the disturbance of prc&tnt conditions all point, Tiowever, to tiie supreme folly of continuing a system which is provocative of «o much dLssa.tJs£u/:rti«.ii —'to say nothing of the unnecessary outlay, when all the money we can lay uur liands on is urgently wanted for developing the resources of the Dominion —simply in order to transfer a unit of voting power from one island to the- other. Electoral Reform ought therefore to bo one of the burning questions at the appronchirtg General Election.