THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam out Faciam." DUNEDIN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2005, 3 June 1868, Page 4

THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam out Faciam." DUNEDIN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3.

Tiik Provincial Council having decided that all the trouble and expense of another general election is necessary for the welfare of the Province, will show very little sense of the fitness of things if it separate without passing a. new Representation Ordinance. The inequalities in tho existing scheme of representation are so great and so numerous, that to allow a new election to take place under its provisions will be a grievous injustice to more than one-half the Province. These inequalities were palpable enough in 1860, when the present Superintendent, then a member of the Council, endeavored to obtain a re-adjuatment. Since that time the number of registered electors has been increased by nearly onehalf, and this increase has taken place almost exclusively in the Rolls of those places which were already umler-repre-Bentcd. Such being the case, it will bo simply disgraceful if a new election is demanded, without any preparation being made to render its results reliable as an exposition of tho will of the electors.

Wo do not think that tho exact state of the facts is at all well kuown to ihe public, otherwise we should hear more general complaint. There is a petition before the Council from ono Electoral District, x>raying for increased representation ; but neither in the Council, nor out of it, does it seem to be generally recognised that the whole system under which the Council is elected., is so imperfect aa it is. We shall proceed, therefore, to show what the facts are. We base our statement on the current Itoll, because the exact particulars in regard to tho new one, which will come into force on Ist October, are not yet obtainable. Careful inquiry, however, leads to the belief that no very material change will bo inado this year in tho •—i-n—a niirnhnra of olefitnm in fj>««<»worol Districts. Tho comparison which we are about to institute may, therefore, be accepted as correct for December next, should the proposed, elections then take placo. There are three Electoral Districts, which include town populations exclusively, viz :—Dunedin, Port Chalmers, and Oamaru town. All tho country towns, except tho two last-named, are included in wider Districts. Of tho Country Districts, two have less than 100 electors, and return one member each. These are Wakatip and Lindia—wide Districts occupied by scattered populations, to whom the trouble of registering and of attending the polls, seems to be too great. There are throe Districts with more than 100 and less than 150 registered electors. These—Manuherikia, Matau, and Waihola—return one member each. Waikari, The Peninsula, and Dunstan, have, respectively, 203, 285, aud 289 ; with only ono representative each. Oamaru country, 302; The Lakes, 340; and Waikouaiti, 357 ; have, alao, only one member each; but Clutha and Tokomairiro, with 326 and 327 electors, have each three representatives ; whilst the Taieri has four members for 386 electors. North Harbour has two members to 3GO electors ; and tho Green Island and Caveraham District, two to 440. There remains but one Electoral District—that of Tuapeka^—which is itself the most extraordinary instance of the inequality we aro complaining of. It returns only ono member to represent no less than 1018 electors. The slightest glance at this list, shows that, under the present system, an inordinate preponderance of repreaentation is given to the settlers within tho old Otago Block. Tho Waikouaiti District has more registered electors than either Tokomairiro or Clutha, but these have each three times as many representatives in the Council- The Tuapeka District includes as many electors as Clutha, Tokomairiro, and Taieri, put together, and has only one member against their ten. We do not suppose many persons are propared to advocate the crude plan of representation by population only, and we have certainly no desire to see it adopted. But in the first of the comparisons we have juul made, no question of this sort can be raised. The character of the populations and the progress *»£ settlement within tho Districts compared, aro almost identical; and it is impossible to urge a single reason why one of them should have three representatives and the other only one. Tho same remark applies precisely to the case of the Oamaru Country District, which, on tho present 8011, almost equals, and will probably, aa we understand, in the new Roll, greatly exceed, either Cluiba or Tokomairiro intbe

number of its electors. We need not discuss these figures further. They must carry to every unprejudiced mind tho conviction that, if we aro to have a new election, it ought not to bo under tho Ordinance now in force.

There is another anomaly in tho present system, which has often been pointed out, and which ought to bo done away with as Boon as possible. Tho whole of the Gold fields form one Electoral District, returning three members. Wo say nothing of the minor question of annoyance to candidates who have to seek the suffrages of electors over bo wide an area, many parts of which aro bo difficult to traverse. The real injustice of this arrangement lies in the ease with which ono populous Goldficld might return all tho tliree members. In fact, miners are, as a rule, no slack in the exercise of their franchise, that very little organisation amongst ono particular set of them would secure such a result. Two of the Goldfields members in the present Council, Messrs Brown and Mount, are from Tuapeka. Theso gentlemen may represent tho general interests of the whole mining community in the ablest manner, but it is equally possible that, on many questions, they may take a loc;d view, prejudicial to the particular interest of Bomo of their nominal constituents. If the miners of the Province aro to return three members, the Goldfields .should be divided into three Districts. The arrangement would involve no difficulty, and we feel sure that wo apeak tho mind of the Goldfields population when we say th.it it ought to bo made before any now elections take place.