RADICAL PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 534, 24 July 1869, Page 3

RADICAL PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

(To the Editor of the Westport Tinces.J Sir, —The legislative machinery of New Zealand has gradually become antiquated and ill-adapted to the present requirements of the colony. It is suitable enough for one intsrest, but one only, and that is the squatting interest, which it nurses and fondles at the expense of all others, but especially the mining interest. This state of things may be attributed to the ac- , cident that the squatter was the first \ to compose a legislature, and assume authority; and, while he was still alone, it was but right that he should take advantage of all resources, for there was no other interest to oppress. Things have changed since then, and now we may ask, has he any right to dictate, to legislate for, or domineer over the settler, the miner, and the merchant —that progress in the colony shall be stopped, that sheep may grow wool to support absentees in England? No. If it be true that there can be no end to crime, and that it is unjust to punish crime so long as want and ignorance prevail, why not reduce these to the merest minimum, and bring about an age of prosperity not equalled in the world ? If Minerva presided in our Senate and in our councils, we | might, with all these resources at command, show the rest of the world a pattern of the millennium. "We require to go to the Emperor of the French for lessons on the art of government. True, he restrains his subjects from rushing into revolution and bloodshed, but would he ever dream of restraining industry from taking advantage of all the resources at command, of allowing the major part of taxation to fall di- [ rectly upon the working man, and the mcrative business of squatting to go comparatively untaxed ? He says, " expatriation is sufficient punishment for convi<;s," whilst our Government must even put a greater punishment ou the ambitious youth who lands in the colony, by allowing barriers to exist to prevent him becoming a useful instrument in the hands of providence to turn the wilderness into a fruitful place. Should he land with plenty of money, then may he buy'into the privileged class, with all its emoluments and honors, derived from exalting sheep and cattle to an advantageous position denied to his poorer fellowman. The present House of Representatives is unequal to the task of guiding the colony longer. The State coach is drawn along by one side, which gives it a very eccentric motion—so eccentric, that a dexterous push from the : strong and useless darkies would easily I wjset the vehicle, and bring ruin on the I commonwealth, to say nothing of the I loss sustained through the absence of 7 encouragement being given to new industries which might take root and Bupply labour to the many skilled mechanics now roaming on the goldfiekls for want of suitable employment, and who must quit the colony as the goldfields get too poor to pay tucker and the present excessive taxation. A reformed House of Representatives is what is required—manhood suffrage and the people represented in proportion to the taxes they pay. Should we then have a change of Ministers, and a change of measures from bad to worse, a ruinous taxation, a smouldering rebellion, and a pauper population eager to leave our shores as soon as they can command the price of a passage to other lands ? It is idle to speculate how the present House will tide over this critical period of the colony's history. Tet, if we may judge what they will do by what they have i done these last six years, we must | come to the conclusion that the best and only thing they can do, with honor aud credit, is to pass a liberal Reform Bill, and so bring wisdom as well as ; selfishness into her councils. Citizen.