THE ANNUAL SCANDAL

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 322, 8 October 1908, Page 6

THE ANNUAL SCANDAL

Very appropriately to tho time tho principal topic discusscd by the Employers' Federation yesterday was "The Craze for Legislation," upon which a paper was contributed by Me. Henry Broadhead, of Ohristchurch. Of course, there was not much that was new in the paper: the subject has been too fully and too recently discusscd for that; but Me. Broadhead's clear and interesting treatment of the subject should be useful in arousing a public attention that is very much wanted. While we are writing, Parliament is sitting. For the moment we do not know what is being discussed in the House and Council, but we do know that whatever is before the House tho Parliamentary machine is driving ahead at full speed, in the fearless old fashion set by tho late Mr. Seddon, whose'ideal session was fourteen weeks of sluggishness and fourteen days of furious labour. We by no means intend to discuss in any detail the annual sessional scandal now being enactcd. That has been done by scores of newspapers fgr years past, and nothing that we or anyone else can say now will induce Parliament to pause in its reckless career long enough to reflect on the fact that it is betraying its trust, and that its members are; simply obtaining their salaries on false pretences. That is putting the case bluntly, but tho day for disguising the plain fact of the matter has gone by. Years of protest have been- unavailing to remedy this gross abuse of Parliament's functions, thu. worst effects of whifch are the cumbering of the Statute Book with noxious or defective laws and the degradation of Parliament to the point of itsbecoming an object of. contempt to the man in the street, a standing joke to the frivolous, and a source of dismay to the thoughtful. Yesterday, while the Hon. C. M. Luke was telling the Employers' Federation, by way of commentary upon Mr. Broadhead's paper, about his amazement when, as a new member of the Legislative Council, he saw the haste with which Parliament dealt with important Bills, the Hon. C. Louisson was registering his protest in the Council against the' haste with which legislation is being rushed through. It is waste of time appealing to members to resist the Government's abuse of the Parliamentary machine. The question is now one for the electors. To this end-of-the-session scramble is duo much of the blame for the noxious and defective laws that disgrace the .Statute Book. The Government will not rfeform itself. Reform must come from the members of the-House, and it is a reform so urgently required that it should be made an issue at the impending elections. Every elector, whatever his political creed may be, is interested vitally in this matter, and he should let it be known that he will not vote for any candidate who does not pledge himself to assist in ending this grave Parliamentary scandal.