PARTY GOVERNMENT.

Evening Star, Issue 8615, 8 September 1891, Page 1

PARTY GOVERNMENT.

Tiik Special Committee which was appointed to ofhsider this subject have now finished their work. They recommend that party government should be abolished; that on the House of Representatives meeting after each Ceneral Election it should at once proceed to elect a Government—this to consist of seven members, to be chosen by the House by ballot, and on the principle of proportional representation. They are of opinion that, under .such a system of forming a Government, the men who were appointed Ministers would bo those who, of the whole House, would be most suited for the duties they had to perform. They believe that Parliament should have a far more thorough control of the actions of the Executive than it has at present ; and they recommend that; though Ministers should have the right to introduce any Bill or make any motion in either Chamber, they should in no case have a vote.

If these recommendations are given effect to, the Constitution of New Zealand will be very much changed. At the present time our system of government follows that of England ; and, with the exception that the seats in the Legislative Council are not hereditary, the Constitution of the two countries is exactly the same. This proposed Constitution, on the other hand, is similar to neither the English nor the American. The American Constitution is different in many respects from the English one, but still more sofrom that proposed. According to the Constitution of the United States, the President and Vice-presi-dent are first elected by “ electors ” chosen in the various States, and the President then appoints Ministers of State (whose appointments have, however, to be sanctioned by the Sena'e), and all of whom hold office for a fixed number of years. During their tenure of office they arc not responsible to either House. But the proposed change in the Constitution of New Zealand would allow the House of Representatives not only to turn out at any time ail its Ministers, but also, we presume —though we have not the full report of the Committee before us—to rid itself of one without interfering with the others. •It would thus have tlie administration of every department under constant and thorough control. There are many arguments which can be advanced in favor of what the Committee propose should be done. It is true, as they say, that under a system of party government the members of the House very often have to vote for what they cannot approve of, merely for the sake of keeping their party in power. They have to choose wiiat they consider the lesser of two evils. Again, a Minister will be freer to devote his utmost capacity to the work of his office if lie be not fettered by the exigencies of party. Party government has been very useful in the history of England in the past. There are many instances inwhich the remedy of abuses and the granting of reforms would have been long delayed if there had not been an Opposition ready to point out defects in the law or in the administration of the party m power, and to take the side of those who were wronged, on grounds of self-interest, when they might not have done so on grounds of justice. But tilings are very different now. The peopb- hawvotes, and, with the education which they have now got, may be presumed to lie able to look very well after their own interests, \\ o may perhaps soon see a modification of the system of party government in England. It lia? bcen proposed by tlie labor associations there to follow the example of those of New South Wales, and form a distinct Labor party in the House of Commons. There are already three parties in the House of Commons; and if another be formed the result will be a succession of weak governments, or the necessity of frequent coalitions! Coalition governments have not been found to work very satisfactorily in the past, and weak ones are not in a position to rightly conduct the foreign policy of the country. So, to get rid of the difficulties inseparable from such a condition of affairs, statesmen at Home may have to devise some means whereby the Ministry can always be strong, and always representative of the state of feeling of tlie whole House. But in New Zealand we have not got the things to fight about which exist in an old country like England : so the arguments in favor of party government here are not so strong, and the results of it are often more disastrous. It may happen that in the matter of government, as in other things, we may set an example which will be followed by the other portions of the Empire.