The Press. FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1889.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7342, 21 June 1889, Page 4

The Press. FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 1889.

The? business of the session commenced yesterday with the delivery of the Governor's which was up to the! usual average of such productions. Its most noticeable feature is the tone of hopefulness ' which pervades it. .Nothing, hag occurred during the recess to place Ministers more or less on the defensive in connection with the administration. The economies promised, last year have been, effected in a highly creditable manner, and witnofrfc in any way injuring' -the efficiency of the public service; and the Government have been fortunate' in having been called upon to work out those reforms during a period when the production of the country had been advancing with leaps and bounds. Ministers very properly ■ acknowledge that they have been materially assisted in their arduous duties by the " happy change which has been going Oα in the circumstances of the country." during the last eight or nine months. The increase ' in the value and volume of many of its productions, has undoubtedly made "the task of retrenchment easier, while it has had its effect in adding to the revenue.".... It was. right,. we say, that all this should be fully acknowledged. At the same time we adhere to the VieWt we have all along maintained, that the retrenchment agreed to during laslb session, and given effect to during the recess, has bad a very large influencei iii restoring confidence in the country, not only among ourselves, .but in England and elsewhere. The retrenchment policy, in fact, has saved the credit of the • colony abroad, and given the people here heart to enter upon the work of colonisation free from anxiety and fear as to the future. The most encouraging evidence of this renewed feeling of confidence is the rapidity with which the settlement of the waste lands of the Crown has been going on. The land is not being taken up, as was the case at one time in our history, for speculative purposes, but for boha fide settlement. Aα a rule the land has been acquired in small areas by persona who evidently intend to occupy the land and make homes upon it. No more encouraging evidence could be produced of the chainge? which has come over public feeling with regard to the colony; and Ministers, therefore, very rightly give special prominence to the matter in his - - - " Turning to that part of the Speech which gave an outline of the measures to be submitted for the consideration of Parliament, it will be observed that members.will have plenty 4 of work to occupy their attention-for some considerable , time, even if every, hour of the session is usefully employed. To begin with* there are five .large questions mentioned in the

Speech wtijcU.. Ministers consider require dealing with. First o£ all Parliament will be invited to approach important subject of the reform of the! Legislative Council. This matter has) been talked of at various times during! the last tew years, but nothing hie) ever been accomplished. But matters have reached such a pass now that something must be done to place the. Council on a satisfactory footing.; Owing to deaths, absences, and the increasing age of many of the members, it is becoming every year more difficult to find a sufficient number of members willing and competent to , discharge the duties which devolve on Committees. Unless, therefore, some measure of reform is it will become the daty of the Government to fill up the gaps recently made in the ranks of the Council. We trust that the passing of a measure of reform this session, which will have the effect of placing the Council more in touch with public opinion, and at the same time of preserving to it its perfect independence, ■ will render such appointments unnecessary. So much for the reform of the upper branch of the Legislature. Ministers, however, do not intend to confine themselves to this important piece of Constitutional reform. They propose, also, to deal with the even larger question of a change in the laws regulating the election of members of the House of Representatives. It is intended to submit a measure embodying the Hare System, and, we presume, to use all the influence which Ministers possess to carry the. measure through the Legislature. We have at various times'expressed our conviction that such a reform would be attended, with the most beneficial results. It would at once raise the standard r df polities! life,. give the electors a new and practical interest in the affairs of the country, and make the popular Chamber in the best sense of the word a truly representative body. The passing of such a measure, aloae would amply redeem the keasion from the charge of being a barren one, even if no other important question was touched.' ■ '>'•■>

Not satisfied with proposing to deal with these two large questions, the Legislature is invited -to take up the problem of Civil Service 'tfeforinsr A measure is to be introduced providing for the classification, promotion, and remuneration of the Civil servants. The question of reform was only, touched iv the Act of 1886. That measure left unsettled a large number of questions which are in urgent need of solution, and if the Bill prepared by the Government deals effec-I tively with those problems, we shall have one more guarantee that the publio service will be carried on in future in an economical and effective manner. Next, there is the large question of charitable aid to be dealt with. This matter ia one of vital importance; to the future of the colony. If we; go on as we are doing we are calling into existence a pauper popular tion which will increase in num.-; bers even if the oolony is otherwise! progressing and prosperous. From the speeches of Ministers during the; recess the publio have by this time acquired a tolerably clear idea of the, main principles of the Bill intendeds to be introduced; The scheme, aa sketched to_us. toJbpJd out a reasonable prospect of proving' effective. Its object is to ensure the; relief of deserving persons, and at the 1 same time "to avoid the danger of increasing the evil, which is incident to 1 indiscriminate aid." It will be ad-i mitted, we presume, that this question' is one which demands the careful and patient attention of the Legislature. We are not done yet with the programme submitted by Minis-; ters. The subject of direct taxation,' as our readers are aware, has received a large amount of attention during tbei last few years. The opponents of the; property tax are unceasing in their; efforts»-to fhaverthft impost repealed, but the, redone these gentfeinen"~a"re "very J " various. "TPhere are those who wish the property tax abolished because they, k><Jle iipoji ft tfs tending to keep capital out of the country, .and admittedly, it .has that effect. " There'arV also' fchbae who wish to see it replaced by a land tax, because theyMld certajn viirtre regarding the possession of land, and wish to give effect to their political doctrines through the instrumentality of taxation. There is yet a third section who object to'the 1 machinery of tM 'Assessment Act, and who complain that it is not sufficiently elastic to meet the varying circumstances of^the f epuntry. We are of opinion that something might be done _. to remove those objections. This, apparently, is what Ministers intend to do. There is no prospect of the colony being able 3*-do without direct taxation for some time to come, and there is even less, chance of tbeHjleetkre allowinfethe Legislature to repeal the property tax and substitute in its place a. land .tax. ~ All that can be done ati,preßen£ is to make the tax.as light as possible, and to remoye any objectionable features in tbfe machinery of the Act which experiende : ha>> shown : Mn ' j 6e ' effected. In additiori to the important measures enumerated above, the Speech contains" a list of Bills dealing with copyright, patents, ;trade marks, bankruptcy, Ac., which are also to be brought down. Space forbids us from attempting 4 even to discueS , them briefly. But we have said enough to show that JB%| Ministerial programme for the session is anything but a barren dae. If only half the sabje'ete mentioned in the Speech are seriously dealt with, the -country will have every reason to be satisfied with the, industry of the members of the Legislature.