New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1875. THE OPPOSITION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 221, 4 December 1875, Page 12

New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1875. THE OPPOSITION.

We took occasion, in a recent issue, to state our conviction, from general indications in tlie provincial Press, that the issue at the coming election will be Separation. Since then, events have borne out the accuracy of our opinion. Under the guise of “Federation,” the Opposition are preparing the public mind for the disruption of the colony ; and it is the duty of the Press to make their designs publicly known. The strength of the Opposition lies in the two extremes of the colony : it rests, therefore, with the central provinces to return no member who is not pledged to vote against the political severance of the colony. The Otaf/o Daily Times , on the 22nd instant, published a leading article on the subject, in which the political issue is stated without equivocation, and Mr. Macandrew is praised for his “ address “to the people of Otago.” Our Dunedin contemporary says : — 44 The concluding 44 paragraph of his Honor’s address is “ devoted to purely electioneering questions. . . We must congratulate the “ Superintendent upon having kept well 44 within the line, and while discharging “ a duty that sits gracefully upon him as “ the elected head of the province, avoid- “ ing very successfully anything and “ everything that might be construed by 44 malice into dictation. Very wisely and “ well, in consideration of the gravity of “ the political situation, does he point “out the paramount necessity of the “ Federal or Local Government party “ not allowing their ranks to be broken “ into by two candidates contesting the 44 same seat. Considering the irnpor--44 tance of the question, we hope his ad- “ vice will be taken, at the cost of some “ self-sacrifice possibly. We, indeed, 44 who have all along contended for “ the right of the people to express “ their opinion, are sincerely desirous 44 that the Centralists should gain “no seats through the fact of the “ Federalists running two candidates, “ and so weakening their side by split--44 ting votes. Nothing is more unsatis- “ factory in an election, say in a consti--4 4 tuency of three thousand available “ voteis, than to find A winning a seat “ with twelve hundred votes upon one “ political side, and B and C upon the “ other polling one thousand and eight “ hundred each. This, or anything like “ this, means that the majority of the 44 constituency is altogether unrepre- “ sented. It is very hard, and some- “ times it is quite impossible, to avoid 44 the difficulty ; but, considering the “ importance of tlie issues, a strong “ effort in the true interests of the 44 country should be made to give each 4 4 constituency the opportunity of ranging 44 itself on the one side or the other. 44 Let this one question be the question 44 put North ancl South : Do you vote for 44 a central administration in Wellington, 44 with Road Boards and Shire Councils ; 44 or do you support one Government in “ each Island, with all the necessary 44 machinery for thorough decentralisation ? It would be well to eliminate 44 the personal element as much as possible, and look to measures, not men. 44 While we are strongly of opinion that 44 the electors almost to a man are of one 44 mind in the question, we should like 44 to see it put beyond all doubt and 44 cavil in every electoral district by “ simplifying the issues as much as may 44 be. In order to ensure this, however, 44 it is necessary not only to have more 44 than two candidates for eacli seat, but 44 that each candidate should express his 44 views with unmistakeable clearness, and 44 not i-eason one way and vote the 44 other.”

This is sound political advice, and it is as applicable to the anti-provincial party as to the Opposition. In Wellington, we have five candidates for two seats, and as might be expected they are all opposed to Separation ; but Messrs. Gisborne and Travers, who are manifestly Opposition candidates, go as far in their addresses towards the Federal scheme as it would be at all prudent to do in a candidature for this city. Indeed, they are very much in the same position as Sir F. D. Bell, that of belonging to neither side, but being content to bide their time and avail themselves of chances as these may happen to turn up. The Daily Times, however, very properly invites Sir Francis to declare himself, or retire from the field. ‘‘Will Sir Dillon Bell,” it asks, 4 4 understand that since the con--44 solidation of the provincial loans it is 44 infinitely easier to arrange for financial 44 separation than ever it was before, 44 waive his difficulties [on this point] and 44 support Insular Separation? If not, “will he declare himself a Centralist'? 44 Either position is easily to be under--44 stood, but the third position he takes “up we cannot reproduce or describe, 44 and we very much doubt whether it 44 has produced any distinct image upon

“ his own mental retina.” So far as we are able to judge this is very much the case with at least two of the candidates for Wellington city, and it is for Mr. Travers and Mr. Gisborne to explain themselves fully upon this point before going further in the contest. At all events, there can bo no difficulty in fixing the position of the four more prominent candidates. Messrs. Hunter and Pearce are declared supporters of the Government; Messrs. Gisborne and Travers have made no such declaration, and their addresses unmistakeably point to Opposition. If elected, therefore, they must join the Separationists under Sir George Grey’s banner, or they will not readily attain to office, to which both gentlemen properly enough aspire. Now, we put it whether the electors of Wellington have anything to expect from the party towards which Messrs. Gisborne and Travers are gravitating. The speech of the latter gentleman at the public meeting in the Odd Fellows’ Hall on the Abolition of Provinces Bill fixed his political opinions ; and Mr. Gisborne’s printed address is strongly hostile to the Government. This is no doubt reducing the question to one of mere local self-interest; but after all, this is precisely the point on which the elections will turn. The cry of Separation or Federation is the outcome of this very feeling in the remote provinces, who think they would enjoy more material advantages by weakening the Central Colonial administration and strengthening local administration. And the electors of Wellington should look at it from precisely the same standpoint. To do otherwise would be an act of supreme folly which the community would have cause to rue for many long years.