PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 2758, 28 June 1894, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE.

A notable paragraph ia the Governor's Speech was the following :—" In order to aid yon in the conduot of your House's business, new Standing Orders, containing highly important changes, will be submitted to you. You will be aßked to give them precedence over all other matters. While loth to seem to interfere in any

way with old-established caßtomß and privilegbfli my Advißerß have been driven to think that the time has arrived for a bold reform of procedure. Experience has forced them to conclnde that under the honored name of • parliamentary privilege' has been masked in practice tbe discomfort, if not slavery, of a majority of your members. It" 1b notorious that the license of prolix speech indulged in by a few has oontinnally .led to the enforced silence of debaters capable of stating relevant iaots and contributing valuable suggestions within a reasonable compass of words. My Advisers think thafc the trueßt method of safeguarding your House's freedom will be found ia forms under which members will be free to despatch business with speed and comfort." In pursuance hereof, new standing orders have been dratted, and are to be snbmitted to the Houbo for consideration. Certainly not a day too Boon. It has been objected that there is no precedent for the paragraph, and its inclusion ia the Governor's speech is condemned by lawyers, probably on the well-known constitution notion that the Grown ib in ignorance of tbe debates in Parliament, and therefore can know nothing about the prolixity of " a few " or the slavery of tbe majority. Perhaps the criticism is jusc, it strikes us that it is, from the striotly logioal point of view ; but however that may be Bottled, the evil aimed at by the framer of the paragraph admittedly needs attention and abatement. The times alter, and we must alter our system to meet the times. The standing orders of tbe House to-day are orders which were framed by members who had due a regard for the amenties of political life, and reoognised that liberty of speeoh was the right of eaoh man to say what he wished to say in decorous language and with due regard to the rights of his fellow members, and to the dignity of the assembly of which he was a member. But we have changed all that I Of recent years the House has been composed of men who have wrested the standing orders to purposes to whioh they were never intended to be applied, and who have used the forms of the House to defy the House. Hour after hour have been wasted by members who were piqued over some trifle. The favorite method has been moving the adjournment of the House, and then talking upon every conceivable subject but the need or reasonableness of adjourning. There wbb a time in the history of Parliament when praotioally every afternoon for a large part of the session was bo wasted, and the business whioh required cool heads and fresh brains was transacted in the late hours of tbe night when everyone was weary o£ work. Uneoessarily long speeches, of course, have been a ready means of obstruction. In committee on bills when the construction oi the clauses has been under consideration there have been endless opportunities of obstruction and delay, and they have been used to an extent whioh no one unfamiliar with Parliamentary procedure would consider possible. As one instance let it be mentioned that on a clause in a Dog Begistration Bill in respect of whioh there occurred a debate as to whether the fee should be 103 or sa, a member took the roll oi the district he represented, and to show tbe overwhelming injustice of charging 10s, proceeded to give a personal history of eaoh elector, the extent of his family, his wages or income, the number dogs he kept, their breed, age, and sex. He would have descanted on their color and markings, but this was considered to be " over the line," the chairman, on authorities gnofced, ruling with great firmness, that the House could not discriminate between colors in fixing taxation on dogs. But ii the color of the dogs was out of order the political color of their owners was not, and the House was treated to full particulars as to which elector was of the " right color" and whioh of the wrong. This is not by any means an overdrawn picture of a not uncommon method of obstruction. The need for reform, we think, lies not so much in the desirability of clearing the way for the passage of more legislation as in tbe advantage of shortening the hours of Bitting and the length of the Parliamentary session. Many of the most oapable business men in tbe colony cannot afford the time required of them under present conditions, but if a couple of months were (he duration or the session it is not unlikely that many who now refrain from political life could be induced to come forward. As to the checks upon hasty legislation imposed by the standing orders, which require a reasonable interval to elapse batween the various stages of bills, they certainly ought to be preserved, especially now that the Legislative Council has ceased to be a safeguard, but if anything can be done to diminish the delays and obstructions that come of personal perversity, then the orders ought to be amended. It is not only an example of the irony of fate but a source of hope, when it is remembered that the Premier, who has undertaken tbe reform, is identical with the honorable member who first demonstrated the need of reform. If he can draw up rules whioh be is conscious would have been effective against himself, there need be no fear but that the new standing orders will be of the utmost value as repressive measures.