The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY. MARCH 22, 1911. CARVING UP THE ELECTORATES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 68, 22 March 1911, Page 4

The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. WEDNESDAY. MARCH 22, 1911. CARVING UP THE ELECTORATES.

T+ is only natural that the OpposiWmmii been in equalt«mb]e to that experienced by the Minister far Agriculture, and what .perhaps is nore important, very serious moonthe population question; but we <u> hold that there is no necessity to chop and Kge 1 the electoral divisions about so frequently .as hast been the case in the past. It may not be de~, stable or possible to revive the old Provincial slgerr .but there can be no doubt that ? certain ; districts have social and sectional interests and reSnenS of their own which cannot be so well attended to when, m order U Sake up the statutory population ouota a part of one district is tacked £to' another, with which it has but little or nothing in common. We will not to-day go into particulars, but will content ourselves .with remarking St hi our opinion the time has come when the whole system of representation and e<#cially of the periodical alteration o&e electoral boundaries, calls for revision and reform. Meanwhile our Opposition fnends are w? Slink, .counting their chickens before they are hatched when they gleefully contemplate the , possibility of the Taieri electorate's being wiped out ot existence as a separate electorate and of, consequently, as they are pleased to consider, Mr Mackenzie's being excluded from the next Parliament. Mr Mackenzie will, we have little doubt, be able to gain another seat, even if his faithful Taieri is no longer afforded an opportunity of sending him to Parliament, and his gam may not improbably spell the loss of an Opposition stronghold. For ourselves, we wish to see the best men, the most capable men, in the House, irrespective of petty party lines, and we are no more desirous of seeing Mr Massey or Mr Jamejs Allen out of Parliament than Mi- Mackenzie or Mr Fowlds. But some of our contemporaries are, we are sorry to say, less mindful of the public interest. With them it is party, party, party—party first and foremost, party all the time and every time. We wish them joy of an attitude which certainly reflects no great credit upon .their intelligence or sense of what is most conducive to the political and general welfare of the community. '■■-.-'.y