Readjustment of Electoral Boundaries.

Otago Witness, Issue 2779, 19 June 1907, Page 39

Readjustment of Electoral Boundaries.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir. — The tune is fast approach. r.g when Parliament will again be in s-et.s.on. and if it be tht 1 c!<"-ir<"- of the people of Otago and of the South loland to have rcpre&entation based on community of inteies-t. and aKo with a view to the physical abihfv of a representative, no tune is to be lost. Tiic present sv-ttni has been weighed in the balance and frund wanting, and both fleeter*- and eJccud aie Mek and tirefl of the unending changes. The New Zealand Farmers' Weekly places the question cf i next m importance (o that of the Mstem of ltu.il tenure* I have already pointed out how Otago is affected by readjustment? Wh^n I was fir.st returned to Parliament Ota-go liad 12 o/ 13 country members, an<J the t-iry had vix. Now Loth town and country arc practicably alike — about six members, pach. The whole coa*)t from Dunedin to Waitaki, and mlar.d f<ji many miles, ]:> dominated by borough elector 0 , and the farming and mining .interests ar*' overshadowed by urban votcro. This is surely wrong, considering the important interests involved. And much as we may be affected by the present redistribution of seats, and suffer m consequence, if we are to credit the prophecies of the Hon. Mr M'Nab, and a'to of memben of ihc Bourxlary Commission, regarding the probable i ncrf-aa*e of population in the North If-land, if conditions remain unchanged we m Otago will again lot>c two or three more country repr*-f-ontatnee in the readjustment of 1911. Lo-,* of leprrsentdii >n mean s 10-- of povx r and influ< nc< : ar,<l if that ran bo cho-kr* 1 — as it can be — aeuon should now be taken.

It has been Urged that the personal equation comes in in my case. True, my constituency is being wiped out. But I am overwhelmed with encouragement. Clutha is mentioned, but my candid friends thero declare that it would never do for a Mackenzie to run awj»y from the Wai-kouaiti-cum-Ohahners seat, whilst with eq-uaJ unselfishness some of my candid Chalmers friends are absolutely certain that Clutha is my only natural home. So it will be 6een that I am having every inducement. When speaking on the subject recently I said that "the further from the seat of g<ternment the greater should be the representation." Exception was taken to that view. That was confirmed by an article from the pen of Mr M. J. Williams in his paper on redistribution of seats in the United Kingdom. He says, speaking of some seats in sparsely populated districts: "Their peculiar geographical position will merit leniency, and, in short, the quota of inhabitants qualifying for a scat should be at inverse ratio to the distance from London." Gladstone held in his scheme that 15,000 should act as a minimum and 54,000 as a maximum standard of population for securing a seat. In Great Britain some districts have 7000 voters, others 36,000, for a member. Out here in New Zealand some 500 is the margin, except for city seats, where a difference of 28 per cent obtains. I contend, therefore, that, considering the position the primal industries of the colony take in proportion to the total wealth * produced; and also taking into consideration the widespread ing nature of many of the con-, stituencies, we should endeavour to retain tho representation enjoyed as now in tha south, and add a proportionate increase to Ihe north in proportion to her increased population.

There can be little doubt that tha present method of defining boandirica purely on a population basis, overshadowing- a= it does -«11 community ol interest, i« far from satisfactory, .and if any, amendment of the law is contemplated) there may be one or two methods worthy of consideration. The last census of the colony, gave the total nominal population aa 1.018,381 (that id after 28 per cent, had beenallowed for rural districts) as shown on tha electoral maps, of which there is 544,019 ia the North Island and 474,362 in the South Island. The recent adjustment has demonst rated that this gives 41 and 35 members to the North and South;' Island respectively, or a loss of three members to the South Island as oompa-red with the previous num-ber, being a total difference of six southern seat* less than the north. Therefore, should anx legislative changes be in view, one suggested method would be to give the quota, foi- the colony from that island that has the smallest population by «imply dividing the nominal population by the last existing number of members, and from the result arrived at apply this to the island having the larger population by again dividing this by the quota thus obtained, vhidi. ofi course, would mean one of the island* having several additional members. In practice this would work out as follows: — Total South Island nominal population, 474,362, divided by 38, equals 12^483, whkhr would form the quota for the colony. The total North Island nominal population, 544,019, divided by the quota, obtained^ (12,483) gi\es 43.66 members aa the total number of North laland representatives, making the total for the entire colony 81.66. The advantage of this method would be^ that it would, generally 6p«aking, confine adjustments in the lees populated island to alterations that would be immaterial, and mor« for the purpose of improving it without disturbing the entire fabric as is now th«, case, and whilst in the North Island th«r« I would be more seats it would simply meatii a process of contraction, and would causa but little friction as is in a way evidenced 1 by the comparatively httlo commotion resulting from the wcent determination of the new boundaries in the north. To mako matters even more perfect, after finally flying the number of seats for each island. it rright be better, except in the city seals, cnlv to consider the quota a« a sort of theoretical number to work to and subject | always to the community of interest, and to assign no limit for the commissioners na the final populations. The practical effect of this wouW be, taking Gwborne as a fairly typical case, if this proposal were carried out. that wherever this electorate's southern boundary might be certainly »ta now northern on© would run up to the East Cape, notwithstanding the fact ih&b it might have 1500 more people in it than tho theoretical quota, but the community of interest would prevail, and a constituency like this> would be better represented with, say, 15,000 of a population if all the interest* 1 were common than one, say, with 10,000, if diverse. On the face of it it seems most unreasonable to exclude from Gisborne 1503 who strictly belong to it. and give them to the Bay of Plenty which knowß them not, ' and to produce in an otherwise compact diaI trict a disturbing element simply to satisfy j a problem in arithmetic. ! Another method might be to fix, say. a nominal quota of 12,500 as the population that a member should represent, and to determine the number of seats on tlu: j basw for each island, but afterwards to allow a community of interest to be the ruhrg factor, as previously stated. On the present population this would work out as follows usintf tlic same nominal population Tor etch islarwl as before : —North Island, nominal population 544.019, divided by 12,500 equals 43.65 members; South Island, nomUiaJ population, 474,362, divided by 12.500 equals 37.79 members ; or for tno entire cole-ny, 81.44 members. The former proposal is probably the more equitable and likely to cau<-e loss friction as between the north and south. But I think that fither would bo more "satisfactory than the procedure now obtaining. Another consideration is that the present system almost makes the right of obicction a dead letter, because the commissioner*, however much they might wish, often" cannot mak^ an alteration without an interference wuh the arithmetical margins they ha\e to work on; as one move mar make a difference in a dozen s^ats wbwb have never been objected to, whereas if either of the above proposals were adopted thr» commissioners could a.fc once, if they i\e-ie satisfied that it was in the public interes-r, make th<* alteration, without any risk. I wguM drsire the borough and coun'v councils, if they approve of retaining the bounrlan<"s *s existing in 1902, to pass resolution* affirming fuch a proposal and disapproving- of any change Commending these inatterp to the considerat.on of those i me- rested, — I am, f\r., Thomas Mackenzie. Allan Giar-se. June 10-