THE Manawatu Times. SATURDAY, OCT. 11, 1879. HELPED FROM OBSCURITY.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 82, 11 October 1879, Page 2

THE Manawatu Times.

SATURDAY, OCT. 11, 1879. HELPED FROM OBSCURITY.

Wordi are. things; and a-drop mt ink Wlinu lika :, -" Jdeiv upon a .thought..produce* th&t whitfe miik« At J^lip.as^dii^rkagsißfllionf thmk."

We have repeatedly uttered an earnest protest against the "typper Chamber, as, at .present constituted, and "shown liow"it might be prostituted to serve tho purposes of a corrupt Government. If proof were want- | ing to show the truth of the assertion, it Jias been found m the condu'ctft of .the^present, Premier to relievo himself of a difficulty. Mr. WiIfTTVKKR v an able supporter of his*' party, a:ld an eligible selection for. a Ministerial colleague, had been rejected bv'-hiß -constituency, and consequently what the Mass had thrown .overboard, the Man at the Wheel rescued from oblivion, and brought safely .into, a hayen of security. Against Mr. Whtttaketi politically -we -have not a word to say. He was a veteran m the ranks m which he fought, and his prowess and' "ability were recognised on both sides of the House. But the case would Jhave been juat the same had h6 been a less able man. The course is wrong m principle, and dangerous m practice. Supposing that the representation of Selwyn had been congested, and Mr. Hall himself de,fbate_d", we, presume that the present Treasurer" would have 'assumed the lead and advised his Excellence to again, for the third time, open the portals of the Legislative Council' to its repentant late member. There are' two grave -objections to the Upper House_ m its present form. The first is that the. duration of membership is life-long ; and the second, the annointment being lodged m the hands of .any one man or "handful of men.- -Then again, there is no limit to- the number, and for every new Peer created, a dip into the State chest, m the way of salary, has to be made. If thaf conclave of aristocrats— t-who- are supposed tp re.preseni,, m New Zealand the same interests as the Lords m England — ifi , we say, their appointment entailed no expense upon the country, the objection would m a ' small measure be^lessened, but only very immaterially. In previous articles we have shown that m . 3STew Zealand the proportion of members m the Upper. to the Lower House js far greater than m ,any other country ; while 'there are'mit few countries m which a seat In the Higher Chamber ts-for life. Where Such is the rulf>. it-is m nations like/England, which can count- a century to every year of our Constitutional Government. Tn Norway, we beli e ve the r if ci s -that the electors return a certain number of representatives, who upon assembling together from themselves elee't the Higher Chamber, somewhat after the manner of 'the election of the Sovereign Pontiff by and from the College of**Cardinals.^ Comingv.nearenhome, m Vic--1 toria we find the colony is divided into provinces, such as the NorthEast, North -West, and so on, to i which a certain number of members are i allotted, and while the durationofAth,e., Jjower House is 'five' years, that of the Upper is ten, the Lords never vacating their seats "by extra-ordinary-vacancies, auch.iif dissolu- - s'firms, but always exniringby the | effluxion of time. • Another very [wholesome check upon a desire^o r oust a Government Is, that the mean--1 bers taking offices- as Ministers are obliged to go before their constituencies for re-election, and as this* does not always come off, ambitious aspirants think twice before they . try to scramble into the Treasury benches. By the Legislative Council being elective instead of nominated, it gives the country an. opportunity of selecting the most fittinp representative — instead of converting thatChamber into a. Greenwich Hospital fdr-State- pensioners — and hence the personnel of such bodies w en elective compare most favourably when contrasted with the nominated. During the past fivp years the numher o£ p^era created kay^eeo, f^e*

what considerable, .and not one — with' the exception of Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Whittakeb — could be singled out for the possession of qualities which entitled them to the honor. Even the former, since his translation to the higher sphere, appears to have been thoroughly inoculated with that massive dulness which seems to be the distinguished characteristic of that august body. We had wished Mr. Whtttakrb a better fate, as instead of wielding the weapon he has so often brandished to such good effect before, he must tune his lyre to the solemn strains which issue from the aged matrons with whom he now consorts.