THE Manamatu Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1879. THE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 71, 2 May 1879, Page 2

THE Manamatu Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1879. THE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT.

In last "Wednesday's Evening Post are two very important articles, indicating (if we can rely upon the information given) some important features of the Government policy for next session. There is no reason to doubt the statements made, as the Post is upon such matters one of the most reliable journals in the Colony, and though it has recently given the Government an independent support (which really means an equal amount of praise and blame), it is quite possible Ministers have selected it as the journal in which an outline of their future policy shall be made known, as a " feeler" to public opinion. The two questions dealt with are the " Redistribution of Seats," and " Coming Electoral Reforms." As regards the former, our contemporary says that the Government have definitely decided upon the course to be adopted. The readjustment will be based " generally on relative population, as far as this caa be adhered to without any very extreme disturbance of the status quo. For instance, the present proportion of members to population is, roughly speaking, about 1 to every 6000. Many country districts, however, are represented at the rate of a member to very much fewer people than this, and in ordor to make the change less violent, we believe that the present disproportion will be reduced gradually by giving the country districts and smaller places . a littla ! more than they are strictly entitled to, although much less than they at present possess, while the towns andlargecentresof population would have, for the time somewhat less than their precise proportion of representation. Under this system the existing. gross inequalities would be materially lessened, and might be finally swept away before a second general election." It is extremely doubtful whether the Government will be successful in carrying through a readjustment upon the basis of population. If they affirm a principle that every 5,000 people ( wherever found ), are entitled to a representative, the probabilities are, it will lead to a conflict of interests between the rural districts and the large cities. The rural districts are the strength of any country. They constitute the teeders of the cities. Hence it was, that France recovered so wonderfully from the disastrous results of the German war. Now, if the basis of population he accepted, what would be the effect ? Simply this. That the four cities of Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin, and Christchurch would return one-fourth of the whole -number of representatives. A few figures will prove this. The population of the cities men-

tioned, including their immediate aubui'jbs is approximately as follows : — Auckland .. .. 2i>,000 Wellington . . „ 20,000 Christchurch. „ „ 25,0110 Dunediu „ „ 4iJ,()l)0 110,000 It -will therefore be seen that if one member be allotted t 0 each 5000 of the whole population, the f..ur c^' n * mentioned would return 22 nipor more than a quarter of tl Lower House, which contains 84 representatives. No doubt in several instances the cities are under-repre-sented, whilst in other cases the disparity is on the other side, several constituencies being over-represented — but we do assert that the population basis would give an unfair and undue preponderance to the cities. In the rural districts the population is settled and permanent. Every individual is a producer. In the towns, on the contrary, there is a large floating population, which contributes comparatively nothing to the progress and settlement of the Colony. We apprehend that if 5,000 persons in Wellington were indiscriminately placed in comparison with an equal number of residents in the County of Manawatu it wonlcl be seen that on the grounds of intelligence, rateable value of property, perraaneoy of intereat, and every thing else, the rural district would far preponderate. Then, again, large cities have be^ ciause of their concentrated populat on, exceptional advantages for utilising representation, and intensifying its power. Their newspapers, potent influences in moulding public opinion, and gaining local advantages ; monster public insetings can be got up at a few hours notice bringing pressure to bear upon the Ministry ; whilst the wealthy classes who reside in cicies furnish numerous politicians who know all the inns and outs of political life, and are conse* quently more powerful, both on de« putations and in Parliament, than their confreres from the rural districts. Another most important point is this, that in New Zealand there are special and distinct industries which need to be fostered and promoted. This can only be done by conferring special representation (we speak advisedly) upon them. We may allude especially to the gold mining industry. This industry returned to the Colonial revenue for last quarter the sum of £ 113,646 13s lid, as special receipts, quite apart from the general revenue, This one industry brought more money to the Colonial Treasurer than either the Registration, Land Transfer, Marine, or Judicial Departments, and over half as much as the Telegraphic revenue . Yet the number of persons engaged in the gold mining industry is comparatively small. To accept the basis of population .would virtually give the gold miners so small a number of representatives that they could exercise comparatively no weight in the House so far as insisting upon the claims of the mining industry were concerned. The West Coast of the South Island exported during last quarter £167,035 worth of gold. Yet the whole population of the four electoral districts — Buller, Grey Valley, Hokitika, and Totara, numbers only 25,578 souls. That part of the Colony is at present undergoing a serious depression, and to say thai the City of Christchurch should return more members than the whole Southern West Coast would be, we think, not only unfair, but would tend to retard an important industry by leaving it under-repre* sented. Looking at the general question of the readjustment, we think it doubtful if Parliament or the country will accept the basis of population. The advantages of such a method would be entirely in favour of the large centres of population, and districts which are devoted to particular industries would be unrepresented, to the detriment of the Colony as a ■whole. Even if the basis of population is accepted, the country will insist, we think, that a different standard shall be applied to large towns to that for the rural districts. We shall refer to other parts of the Ministerial policy in a future issue.