THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14307, 19 March 1912, Page 5

THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

THE HON. JOHN BARR IN

DEFENCE

I MR G. \V. RUSSELL ON THE i ATTACK. i. Though the gathering in Timnni yes- ; j terday was divested of any political I , significance. Uiore were occasional inter- \ j hides when tho hydra-head of politics . j obtruded itself. The first opening was • i made by the Mayor of Timaru, Mr , James who is also a member jof Parliament. He made some complij mentary remarks about the members of , j tho Legislature who wore present, and .! described the Legislative Council as a ■! body of men who did their duty 'j earnestly and to the best of their i ability. I Tho Hon. J. Barr, M.L.C., who re~ i sponded on behalf of the Legislative .! Council, was at some pains to defend .! the Upper Chamber from some of the J attacks which have been made on it jat various times. Ho said that just j rrior to the elections the Legislative i Council was very well known, but not creditably known. Nothing particular was said against it, except that it was \ no use, and ought to bo abolished. Then | they heard no more about it until tho j next elections. The conclusion was that i there was nothing wrong with the j Legislative Council, and that the do- j mand for its abolition was an elec- j tioneering cry. He (the speaker) had i i been in tho Legislative Council for five j I years, nnd h:s opinion in resrard to i I that body changed during the first j I term he was there. Like a good many j men who did not know the work it did, | and who were unacquainted with its j personnel, he had been under the imnression that the Chamber was "a very Tory body of people." Ho was agreeably surprised to find that the men who comprised it were broader-minded and more Radical, taken as a wholo, than the members who comprised "another place." Anyone who wanted proof of that had only to ?o to that wearisome budget "Hansard," and thov wonld find that the Legislative Council had improved, from a Radical point of view, many of tho measures sent them from the Lower House. Lnbour leaders in particular, and various others, condemned the Upper Chamber, but if they were honest they would confess that they know absolutely nothing about it. Only an ins-Vnificant minority of tho people advocated a single-Chamber Government. There- was an absolute necessity for a revising body, let them call it what they would. The composition of the Chamber was representative of ] all sections of the. community, though some sect-ions might think."they had j not enough representation. lii the Chamber they would , find that there I were representatives of tho farming, legal, medical, commercial, and Labour interests, and that the Chamber was, !as it should be, representative of every section of the community. The next speaker was Mr G. W. Russell, M.P. He eaid that ho was not ono who usually sought a combat, but after hearing tho belligerent speech made by tho lion, gentleman who represented tho Legislative Council he felt inclined to take the gloves off, especially in view of the fact that he (tho speaker) had introduced and carried through a Bill to reform the body of which tho lion, gentleman was such an ornament. (Laughter.) Mr Barr had given them tho secret of how to destroy all the discontent that existed about tho Legislative Council. It was just to find out all the agitators who were against the Chamber, and put them into it. (Laughter). Mr Barr was himself a etrong opponent of the Legislative Council until he got in, and when ho onco got in he was at once converted., (Laughter.) • Mr Russell went on to say that Mr Barr had referred to the work of tho Lower House, and compared it with that of tho Legislative Council. Ho only wanted to say that there was a special gallery m the Lower House sot aside for tho members of the Legislative Council. Tho members of the Council went there to listen to the debates, and there they learned politics. (Laughter.)