PRESS OPINIONS

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 81, 30 December 1907, Page 5

PRESS OPINIONS

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS i'TRE. .The , destruction of .tho. Parliamentary Buildings, us wo pointed out recently, is not ail unmixed. evil.. it should load, i.X> doubt, to the erection of Houses of Pa.rlia-' ninnt, which, besides being a credit to the Dominion from an architectural point of view, will also he convenient ami sanitary. It will also have tho effect of drawing attention to the.subject, of fire prevention in other buildings. As tho destruction of the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago led to n wave of reform in the" matter of fire prcvcirtion in •theatres, that spread round the world and even reached ..Christchurch, so .the burning j of the Parliamentary Buildings may ilia't\co | the authorities to pay some attention to tl:<? proper protection of' Government; buildings ( throughout the Dominion. It is evident from the remarks made .to our representative by Superintendent Smith that, there is room for reform in this diretvioir in various Government offices in Christchu"""lilt needs no expert to explain why the (iH Government .Buildings are a "perfect firetrap ; anyone who has ever g(tne through the old wooden portion of the, building, with its narrow passages and tortuous staircases, has recognised .that if a fire once got hold of it all the fire brigades in New Zealand could not prevent its destruction. And yet the means for checking a fire at the outset, when it might he possible to cope with it, are primitively inadequate.—Christchurch "Press." What we do 'most earnestly hope is that in the matter of providing fresh accommodation for Parliament, Government will not repeat the mistakes of the past. They ' are now able to make a,fresh start, and we hope that the now Houses of Parliament which will ariso from the ashes of tho. old,, will be dignified in stylo, sound and • honest in design and workmanshipT and conveniently adapted for the important purposes for which they have to serve. To this end the best architectural talent available should be secured, and a 'careful' study should be made of Parliamentary buildings iu other parts of the world. The choice of temporary premises for use in tho meantime will no doubt give the Cabinet some anxiety, and in any case legislators during the next two sessions or longer will have to carry 011 their work at considerable personal inconvenience. If this should lead them to shorten the sessions and content themselves with a smaller volume of legislation,-we do not think that the general public ..willv complain.—Christchurch "Press." v.- '■ ... The obvious' lesson;of, the conflagration is that tho State should hasten to provide .safe housing for its.valuable records and possessions. A comparatively - small fire in d.e Canadian public offices in Ottawa, ten years ago,-destroyed documents that could never he. replaced, arid there are public offices in Wellington now'that- seem to be inviting destruction. The policy ..of the State, again, .in carrying its nivn.fire risks seems to us to bo of questionable wisdom. Certainly the greater offices ought to he insured, arid provision ought to he made for their better protection. -against fire. 'At any rate, when the new Parliament Buildings are, constructed, it should be the duty of the architects to render them as' nearly fireproof as modern knowledge can make theiu. —"Lyttelton .Times." • It is more, than probable that, tho Government could secure out of Wellington'.better provision for the housing of-Parliament' next, session that is offered in Wellington,- but we recognise that a. barrier to the adoption of any suggestion fqr the temporary removal of tho seat of the Legislature from that city consists in the ; necessity that exists for Ministers being kept in touch during the session with the departmental records. Whatever' the determination of the -Government may be on. the. subject, it is evident that Parliament will have to bo content with makeshift accommodation of a very cramped description next- year:'. . . We hope that one outcome of the untoward event will be that the Government will be induced to bestow more consideratiqri-'that it has previously done upon the-question of fire-prevention'iu State buildings. We are aware that night' watchmen are regularly employed in Parliament H,ouse, and that.there is a very.complete installation of hydrants and hose throughout the buildings, placed there so that the speediest, measures may he taken to suppress any outbreak of fire. - But, it is perfectly evident that all these elaprecautions, of which ■' the successful operation depends upon ' the human factor, failed eijrcgionsly in the present- instance. The fire must- have,, been smouldering for hours without being detected, while through the employment, of one or other of the simple j mechanical automatic fire detectors the alarm would .almost certainly been given at the fire brigade station sufficiently early to have enabled the outbreak, to lie kept within ' modest proportions, even if the whole building might not .have been saved. The contrivances in question have, been so: thoroughly tested by public companies and private firms that they may be" said to be as yearly, infallible as any systnm devised by the wit, of -mair ciin be.—"Otago" Dailv Times." ~ -MAJORITY REPRESENTATION. It would seem that Mr. M'Nab has impressed his -colleagues ■in the Government with the desirability, of passing legislation in the direction, attempted by him in his capacity as a private member, .of securing that, as far as possible, every member of .Parliament shall bo .chosen by actual majority of the electors, voting i'n his district. This is to bo inferred from the fact that, speaking at. a meeting this week of'the'Liberal and Labour Federation in Wellington, the Prime Minister said ho was persuaded that it would ho the duty of the, Government to submit legislation next session providing for such an amendment of the electoral law as would ensure to the people that the majority, and the majority only, should rule. It is a circumstance, not devoid of significance that this'reform js to be,-proposed, not in the interests of the State, but in the-inte-rests of a political party. Sir Joseph Ward has formed the. impression that there is- likely to be a plethora of candidates at the next general election'who will be supporters of the Ministry, and it is, frankly, to guard against' tho possibility of .the Ministerial"' chances being, as a consequence, injuriously affected at.tho polls that the proposed legislation is contemplated. Any measure which is introduced into Parliament with the avowed object of promoting tho interests of a particular party is, however, to be viewed not with suspicion , only, but with disapproval. Whether the system which Mr. M'Nab has advocated on several occasions, and which apparently the Government has resolved to propose, would really have any appreciable effect upon the-results of an'election is not so clear. The Minister for Labour, who spoke very strongly againsjfc'Mr. M'Nab'.; Absolute Majority Bill when that, measure was last before <Jie Legislature, declined to admit that the system which it sought- to introduce would secure that a true expression of the opinion of tho. electors should be obtained ~ . _'. . Apart from -the ques-t-ion of lyhetlier tho proposed system would achieve its ends, or whether, as is . more likely, it, wonld not admit- of the formation of combinations to compass the. defeat of strong and dangerous candidates, there'is the' principle of the proposal to be considered; Audi this is .really the ..more important. issue. Mr.' Millar challenged the principle of Mr. M'Nab's proposals by disputing the' contention that it'was'desirable that actual majorities only should be represented in Parliament'. "Why," bo said, "tho best representation we have,had has often Peon the representation of the minority; and tTiey have-as much right to representation, in this House as a majority."- Tho romark wo have last quoted is not to bo taken altogether literally,,hnt. it may reasonably be contended that tho ideal System of representation a system under which overy shado of political opinion obtains ropr.esentat.ipn in .proportion to its strength, and the priiiciplo of absolute majority representation rejects that system altogether.—j-"Otago. Daily Times."