THE PAST SESSION.

Evening Star, Issue 7236, 11 June 1887, Page 1

THE PAST SESSION.

If the closing sittings of the moribund House of Representatives aie not remarkable for the amount of business transacted, they will become memorable for the plain speaking by honorable members regarding each other'B inconsistencies. It seems as if the preliminaries to the coming election contest have been fought out on the floer of the House. There cen be no doubt that the curiously composed Ministry, who have held office during the last three years, have given abundant opportunity for hostile criticism. On the first formation of such a compound of jarring elements, scarcely anyone expected that they would manage to remain in office through the lifetime of a triennial Parliament. Neither could it have been possible had each member of the Cabinet been true to his previous political convictions. Necessarily, if it were only for appearances' sake, there must haye been some sort of agreement amongst them; and to this end each must have consented to, at least, keep in the background some for-merly-held opinions upon subject* that necessarily required to be dealt with. Or possibly the apparent cordiality with which they acted was only attained by the yielding of the rest to the dictates of one dominant will. Most probably the latter is the true solution of the brotherhood of this happy family, each of whom seems to have been more determined to retain the emoluments of his office than to press forward such measures as he had hitherto proclaimed essential to the public weal. In view of such mutual concessions and support it would have been very convenient if ' Hansard' could have been annihilated and its record? withdrawn from public memory. Its tell-tale pages calling back words spoken in all sincerity during debates when the Ministry of today were free from the trammels of office, have, during these last days, been very inconveniently drawn upon to their disadvantage. Sir Julius Vogel probably is the only one who may fairly be said to have sacrificed the least so far as his former opinions are concerned. Objectionable as his politics are, they were equally objectionable prior to his departure for England ; nor has he cared to conceal them, but has had the tact not only to give prominence to them, but to bend the Premier to their advocacy and defence. It seems from the records of the past fortuight, and notably during the last/few days, that the hardly pent-up feelings occasionally manifesting themselves have burst their bounds. Ministers having been defeated have not taken kindly to their position of humiliation. Goaded by their opponents, the leading members of the Cabinet have unmistakeably lost their tempers, and, like rabid animabj, have attacked savagely classes who nave not even provoked their ire. It was quit« to be expected that who clung to office although their clear line of duty was to have resigned on their defeat on what they accepted as a no-confidence motion, would have pushed the session to a conclusion instead of prolonging it by speeches of recrimination, intended for the constituencies. They, however, met with their equals, as the reports of proceedings testify. Anyone who impartially reads the accounts of what has passed in both Houses, will plainly see that Sir Julius failed to hold his ground with Mr Oemond ; that Sir Robert Stout in his attack upon Sir George Grey displayed alike bad taste and forgetfulness of his once cordial relation with him ; that Mr Ballaxce, in his land settlement policy, has committed himself grossly through incurring, on behalf of the country, a heavy amount of unauthorised expenditure; and that the breach between Sir Julius Vogel and Mr Ballance is so wide as apparently to preclude any possibility of the two continuing to work together as members of the same Cabinet. That Sir Julius was irritated beyond control with the Native and lands Minister was plain enough when, having taken the conduct of the Bill oat of his hands, he proceeded to bully the Speaker and assert his right to dispute his ruling. Really Butler's words seem as if they had been written for the occasion, when he said of a certain Government that it served a present strait, And to patch up, or shift, will dose, Or break alike with friends or foes; That runs behind-hand, and has spent Its credit to the last extent; And the first time 'tis at a loss. Has not one true friend or one cross. . Nor was this war of cross purposes confined to the House of Representatives. In the Upper House the Ministerial members have not had the pleasantest time, though not having the fear of the hustings before their eyes, their opponents have not thought it necessary to search the records of the past, in order to unearth the memorials of now useless and buried speeches. The Bills that have found their way into that Chamber of Revision have been subjected to severe scrutiny at the bands of honorable members; so severe in some instances as to lead to a sort of sulky refusal on the Ministerial side to continue in charge of their own special measure. Amidst so much party feeling, and, taking into consideration that the new Parliament must be ealled together in a few months, the Government would have acted more prudently had they postponed the passing of every Bill that was not absolutely needed. It is impossible that careful examination of clauses in Bills bearing upon a variety of interests should be made by minds excited by stinging attacks of political opponents, and having an eye to the attitudes in which they will appear to their constituencies. During the last sittings of the dying Parliament the country has had a clue to the fitness of their representatives, for they have not hidden their lights, but have disclosed their fitness, intellectually and morally, to an extent that has not previously been paralleled in New Zealand. The next Parliament will be one of the most important that has ever been elected in New Zealand. Personal considerations should have very secondary importance in the minds of the electors. Sound political knowledge and intelligence, combined with moral fitness, should alone have electoral support. The consequences of the false steps of the past have to be remedied, as well as the avoidance of impending errors in future. That there are men fitter for Parliamentary duties than nearly the half of those who have held seats there can be no doubt. It is to be regretted that they keep themselves in the background, and allow legislation tjo fall into the hands of professional politicians and half-educated, ambitious men. So long as this system is continued unworkable Acts, with an endless train of amendments upon amendments, must ensue.