Wairarapa Standard Published Tri-weekly. Price 1d. WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1886. The Representation Bill

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XIX, Issue 1860, 21 July 1886, Page 2

Wairarapa Standard Published Tri-weekly. Price Id. WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1886. The Representation Bill

The new Representation Bill recently intro* dneed by Sir Robert Stout enacts that the Governor in Council shall appoint a permanent Commission of five members, of •>bum the Controller and Auditor-General and the Surveyor-General are to be the two official members, the remaining three to be such persona, not being members of the Civil Service, as the House of Representatives shall from time to time nominate, who are to be the unofficial members of the Commission, which is to be called, “ The Representation Commission.” Within three mouths after the end of the present session of the General Assembly, it will be the duty of the Commission to divide the colony into electoral districts ‘according to the following basis;-(1) The number of members is to be exclusive of Maori members. (2) The total population of the colony (other than Maoris) is to be divided by the number of members, and the quotient thus obtained will be “ the quota.” (3) Only onemember will be assigned to each district, and in no case is the population of any district to exceed or fall short of the quota—(a) By one thousand if a borough or city ; or (b) by five hundred, in any other case. (1) The Commission is to amalgamate the several electoral districts (or the cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, with- their immediate vicinities, into one electoral district for each city which will be represented by a number ot members equal to the total assigned to the several districts so amalgamated. The census returns are to be taken as evidence of the population, but the Commission may take into consideration—(a) The proportion which the number of male inhabitants of the district, other than Maoris, of or above the age of twenty one years, hears to the entire population, other than Maoris, of the district; and (b) the locality of the district, and the facility or otherwise of access. The report of the Commission is to be proclaimed by the Governor and thereupon to have force of law. The Commission is to fix the names and boundaries of the electoral districts. The new electoral districts are to come into existence on the dissolution of the existing Parliament. Maps of districts are to be prepared by Colonial Secretary, and rolls are to be formed for new districts. Notice of formation is to be gazetted. No person is to be put on the roll after the issue of a writ. Existing districts and rolls are to continue until A dissolution of Parliament. Nothing in this Act is to interfere with or in any way effect the special representation provided for by the Maori Representation Act, 1867, or any amendment of that Act.

Such are the chief provisions of the Bill. It will be remembered that the principle of the Bill is to have the representation readjusted by a permanent commission, on certain clearly laid down and fixed rules. The total number of members of the House of Representatives is left blank, and on that point there will undoubtedly be a sort of free fight in the House. By and bye, it will be decided what the total number of members is to be, while the vexed question of “ the quota ” will also be settled.