Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1879.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5369, 30 April 1879, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 1879.

Conflicts between the two Chatnbers of Legislature would seem to be pretby, general among the Australasian colonies, though they are not all conducted with the virulence for which those of Victoria are notable. The latest instance has occurred in New South Wales, where a battle was for some time being waged between the Council and the Assembly on a bill for, denning the privileges of Parliament. The ca\ise of quarrel was the extent of the privileges that should be accorded' to Parliament, and the curious part of the mattex; was that while the Lower House desired to have large privileges, the Upper Chamber insisted that they should be so limited as to trench as little as possible upon the'litrei'ties of. the people. The bill that passed the Assembly was amended in the Council ; the amendments were disagreed with by the former, and after a somewhat prolonged struggle the bill was withdrawn. The case is thus analogous to 1 that of the Electoral Bill in the New Zealand Parliament last session; 1 The Privileges Bill was introduced by the New South Wales Government as was the case with the Electoral Bill in this colony, arid rather than accept the Council's amendments the bill lias been withdrawn, in the one instance just as it was in the other, without accomplishing what was sought to be attained. "The Assembly, led by the Government," says the Sydney Morning Herald; " made a mistake in practical statesmanship. In grasping at a shadow it has lost the substance. There was an admitted need for power to preserve freedom of discussion in Parliament and, to prosecute Parliamentary inquiries. That was the substance. There was also a strong desire to acquire special power to curb the freedom of public discussion, and to punish people outside for acts or words which might be supposed to be derogatory to the dignity of Parliament. That was the shadow. The powers necessary to the efficient discharge of Parliamentary functions might have been obtained had the Assembly been content to accept the Council's . amendments. But the Assembly .w.as unwilling to take them by themselves, and made ; .the gratification of its desire an essential condition of their acceptance ; and it has thus condemned itself to remain for some time longer in a condition of comparative impotence^'

To show how much . more tender was the Council than the Assembly of encroaching upon liberty, we may mention that the more popular body desired to have the power of punishing people for libels and other offences against Parliament committed outside of. its walls, while the Council insisted that the power of punishment should only apply to offences committed in the face of Parliament itself, leaving other offences to be dealt with in the ordinary course by . the Courts of Law. Can there be any question as to which of the two Houses held to the side of the people? The Upper House merely wished that Parliament should be invested with such power as would enable it to conduct its business without being liable to unseemly interruptions, while the Assembly sought the power of suppressing public criticism of its proceedings .under the guise of punishing people for speaking evil of Parliament. Had the bill passed it could have been made the means of repressing the • utterance of any opinion that was obnoxious to the dominant majority in the Assembly, and though we feel assured that in the present clay the stifling of public opinion would be impossible to accomplish, still there would be a restraint in discussing questions that might be before Parliament, which would be highly detrimental to public interests. And yet, it was the Chamber that is supposed to represent the popular voice that sought to bring this about. Have we not here an instance of the value of a second Chamber? It may be that the bi-cameral system has its occasional inconveniences, but of its advantages we have such frequent 'proofs as must satisfy the most extreme Radical.