N.S.W. ELECTIONS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19110, 20 September 1927, Page 11

N.S.W. ELECTIONS.

MR LANG'S CHANCES.

UPPER HOUSE ABOLITION. (raoit our owx correspondent.) SYDNEY, September 8. As the general election draws gradually nearer, there is much speculation as to the chance of Mr Lang and liis Government being returned to power. Although the swing of the political ]>endul'um seems to be against the Government, there are not a few, among them some quite level-headed people without Labour leanings, who entertain very seriously the possibility of Labour's return. \Vith business tight, the fear of some who do not see eye to eye with Mr Lane and his Party is that if the Nationalists take the bos seat, business will become tighter still if there is anything like a policy of retrenchment as one means of improving tho financial position. Mr Lang, it is felt in some quarters, cannot exceed certain bounds. This, however, remains to be seen. In view of the divided state of the Labour Party, and of the clash between the Lang and anti-Lang groups, it will not como as any surprise if the balance of power in the next Parliament is in tho hands' of a few Independent members, representing the more moderate element in the Labour Party, and exercising a restraining influence on any party, or combination of parties, forming the Government.

The Legislative Council is threatened with complete obliteration if Labour gets back. Its abolition . will be one of tho big issues at the election, but, as has often been observed, threatened men and threatened institutions often l:ve long The Nationalists will probably propose the more moderate course of reforming the Chamber. Whatever may be said of the. nominee Upper tionably that, it can be stated unquestionably that, as a .debating; chamber, it is superior to the Legislative Assembly, even if its level of ability has been lowered somewhat by the wholesale swampings during the last year or two It is safe to say that the electors generally are opposed to its destruction, and would prefer to see it reformed, either along elective lines or on a more restricted basis under the present system, One of the Sydney newspapers lias produced the deadly parallel to show that even the Labour Party is not perfectly -unanimous on the question of the abolition of the Upper House. The Premier (Mr Lang) on the one hand, describes it as an antiquated Legislative relic of mediaevalism. One of the Labour Government's appointees to the Legislative Council, on the other hand, finds it and its cushioned seats to his liking. He says the Legislative Council has been an education to him. He regards it as a University, to quote his own words, and asserts that there is no Parliament in the British Empire which • has reached a higher standard. He indignantly says that to call members of the Upper House "old fogies" is nonsense. That Labour tribute to the Legislative Council will, no doubt, bo used by the Nationalists 'during the campaign.