THE "GAG" WITHDRAWN.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 236, 2 October 1908, Page 4

THE "GAG" WITHDRAWN.

Second thoughts aje not infrequently j best, and we congratulate Government i on it,* decision to drop the obnoxious [ ' gag" clause out of the ?£ccnd Ballot ! Bill. How it was ever inserted we have j not yet been able to conceive, and why it I was ever defended by Ministers aud members professing Liberal principles entirely , passes our comprehension. Happily at the la-st moment a conference between | the two Houses has resulted in its disappearance, and it may now be well left to sink into oblivion. But it is Impossible to repress a certain amount of uneasiness when we reflect that twice this session, in the Second Ballot Bill and the Arbitration Amendment Bill, attempts have been made by Parliament to interfere with those most sacred of all public rights, the freedom of speech and the I Liberty ol the Tress. The danger fe over for the time, but we trust that u> future the representatives of the people will show themselves more wary and cireumj spect on the approach of any danger that j even under a skilful disguise threatens to undermine the foundations of our conj stdtutional and popular liberties. -—-—-—— —— ———