The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MARCH 30,1912.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3488, 30 March 1912, Page 6

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MARCH 30,1912.

Perhaps the most glaring defecv •’) the new I\lin_ istry is the fact that the mistake of allowing the South Island larger representation than the North Island lias again been repeated. As was pointed out in yesterday’s issue only four out of ten members of the new Cabinet belong to the North Island! How Mr Mackenzie came to select a Ministry on these lines it is difficult to understand. He could not have failed to know that there has. for a long time, been a very strong feeling throughout the North Island that it has not had adequate representation in the Ministry. Under the circumstances it is certain that the electors of tne North Island must be annoyed to find that what may he described as another “South Island’’ Ministry has come into power. If either Island had to receive an advantage in the matter of seats in the Cabinet that advantage should most certainly have gone to the North Island. The fact that the North Island comprises a larger number of electorates would alone be sufficient to justify the adoption of such a proceeding. But what does guo find? Even although this Island has four representatives in the Ministry, one, the Prime Minister himself, is a member who up till a few months ago has been a South Island representative, whilst another of the new North Island Ministers is merely a Minister representing the Native race. Canterbury, it is true, returned more so-called “Liberals” than any other portion of New Zealand at the general election, but surely it is out of all proportion that 4 Ministers should be allotted to that province, with a population of 173,000. and that the balance of the inhabitants of f -he Dominion, viz., 535,000, should be represented in the Cabinet by only six members? In this connection it 's interesting to recall how considerably the North Island is outstripping die South Island. The population of tne North Island on the occasion of tne last census was 563,729; whilst that of the South Island was 444,120. Then again, if one comes to study the trade of both Islands, one cannot, help feeling astonished at- the rate at which the North Island is leaving the South Island behind. As regards imports, for instance, the total value in respect of the North Island for 1910-11 was £11,495,256, as compared with an aggregate of £6,757,191 for the South Island. When the exports in connection with the two Islands are compared the figures are even more striking. The exports from the North Island last year totalled 13,651,659, whilst the total for the' South Island was only £5,493,360. Some details may be of interest. In 1907-S strange, as it tn.*y seem, the total quantity of wool shipped from each Island was about 61,000,0001bs. Last year the total clip from this Island had grown to 1 12,000,0001hs, whilst that for the neighboring Island lias reached only 72,900,OOOlbs- Or take the exports of frozen meats. For the past, four years the exports in .this direction for the North Island have been worth £7,400,000, whilst those from the South Island

Representation in the Now Cabinet.

amounted to £6,600,000. Exports of butter compare as follow: From the North Island since 1907-S a total ol £5,400,000, as against a total for the South Island of £510,000. ' In the matter of the export of dice so the North Island also shows to much better advantage than the South Island,

the figures for last year being £737,(HX) and £350,000 respectively. When this phase of the subject is being considered it must also be borne in mind that the railway business, the postal business, etc., etc., in the North Island is very much in exceos of the figures for the South Island. AH these comparisons go to show the o-reat necessity for a re-adjustment of the basis on which loan moneys have been voted in respect of the two Islands in the past. Up till just a year or two ago the South Island has had in tliis regard a great advantage over the North Island. And even to-day the North Island is not getting its fair share of the allocations. Had the North Island had stronger representation in the Cabinet in the past the amount of progress to bo reported would assuredly have been even still more in favor of the North Island. As it is the’development of the North Island has really only just begun. More railways, more roads, and more bridges are urgently required. But with a new Ministry in which South Island members-again predominate, what guarantee is there that as regards the future the North Island will be allowed a fairer share of the moneys that will lx? available for the further development of the Dominion?