TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 62, 10 September 1910, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

His Majesty is getting quantity from his Opposition in His Majesty's these seas, though Opposition. the quality b not always entrancing. Mr. Massey and his supporters were largely responsible for the three hours' WTangle yesterday on the Legislative Council's inadvertent breach, of privilege by sending to the Representatives a Bill containing a meek-and-mild. money clause. If the clause had been printed in antique type all would have been well— so Sir Joseph Ward said — but an oversight in the Printing Department left the Legislative Council opeD to pains and perils, onsets and onslaughts, jt jv/ia good .to .hftvo the Leader of the

Opposition breaking a lance for the tight* and privileges of the people's representatives, but he need not have bi-oken it into so many splinters. Ho had a high revel of protest. Entrenched among May, Todd., and British Hansards he fired drearily at the suffering members. Mr. James Allen sweetly pleaded that the Government should put on the Opposition's spectacles, and thus the precious time diagged away. The drollest feature of the incident came after the dinner adjournment, when the Prime Minister moved ths>,c the decks should be cleared for action on the Estimates. Mr. Massey not content with his feast of protest on. the privilege, wanted to order another course. He querulously objected to having a shortened night for the Estimates' "first item,"' on which members are permitted to wander from Dan to Beersheba, from China to Peru, from Pole to Pole, without regard for latitude or longitude. However, he seemed to be conscious that his protest was a thin "try-on," and he did not long persist. Enormous quantities of time have been squandered this session, and the Opposition, naturally, is disposed to : charge up all tne blame against the Government, but it must have been manifest to any regular frequenter of the House that the Opposition has done its full share in gorging Hansard with 1 a A oun "S s of mcoiweiiuential things and reiterations of well-worn recitalsT • It is not yet clear that the City Council 1 tj^ v A has ev olved definite om^ Ur6 » P lansf °r the-mainte-ot the Zoo. '. nance of the Zoo- ; b™ *t « ipgu»\ Gardens. The teim of the superintendent, Mr. Berth«j ha . s , c , x P ire^ .. a nd the corporation L has decided to mvite applications for l 7 X 1 , P0 ' ltl 11 ° n - o X ? the meantime another Zoological Society, promoted by the liev .7. Crewes, is to succeed the Citi- - zens Committee, of which the Rev D ' L,v t€S ml as the PCWlcipal energetic ; %ure. The committee Accomplished some useful work, but, in the Absence of definite leads from the council, there was friction in the Park. It was a Bjstem of dual control, and the end was bitterness of spirit all round. The Zoological Garden has expanded in a haphazard, spasmodic way, and, under the circumstances, the superintendent had no enviable task. He was no more happily situated than the private enthusi- ■ a . s .* 8 t ? ho ™ n tr ying to foster the inL stitution. The "Zoo" has unquestionably secured a grip <bn the public, but the ratepayers hardly know how they • stand in the matter. The tendency ■ naturally is towards expansion, which i means increased expenditure for en- [ closures and maintenance. What is the ideal? It is urgently necessary that i the whole scheme of the "Zoo" should l be intelligently studied and kept within . bounds consistent with Wellington's means. There is small prospect that Wellington will b» able to get any sup- • port from outside, and the corporation L must keep a careful eye on the cost. . It will be infinitely better to have a limited number of birds and animals 1 well cared for than a host too numerous l for the attendants.