North Otago Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 1907. THE PROGRESS OF EVOLUTION.

North Otago Times, 11 October 1907, Page 2

North Otago Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY OCTOBER 11, 1907. THE PROGRESS OF EVOLUTION.

Tlie British House of Lords has been tho subject of controversy for a considerable time, aiid.it is obvious that its days of high o!d conservatism are about numbered. In, the advancement the world has made in knowledge and /the more , exalte aspects of civilisation it has become more and more apparent that the continuation of,two Houses to do the business that one is quitci quatlfiei to carry out is unnecessary waste of money and fame. British peers realise the anachronism connectedwith their cxistenco as a constitutional body, for only about onefourth of their number ever attend to the duties of 'their position in the •House of Lords, and tho fourth thai do attend to their duties are jnv'ari' ably standing in 4-ho pathway Of progress, Can anyone explain any .oxisting purpose for'the retention of tho •Now Zealand. Upper House if we ex ccpt the facilities It affords Ministers fcr rewarding their moro importunate friends at tho oxpenso of tho country. Tho Upper House is useless, for it is a mero replica of the Lower Houso with tho same intentions and purposes, and being appointed for only seven years it lias to kow-tow tp, (hose who put them' there. Many years ago our lgpal contemporary transfixed Iho'Uppcr- Hquro with the following sentence,: "The Upper House is composed of a lot of frowsy, nondescript political puppets," who. nod and bend in the breezes of Ministerial orders. Sinco that timo the Upper House has bfrcome more frowsy, moro and moro marionette svej-y ono realises its but 'the Ministry -pßi'Sis] m maintaining it a s a haven, of refuge for their cheerless friends, It serves no apparent useful purpose, and is all that our local contemporary characterised it to bo. -indeed moro so. The Hou'so or Lords, however, has reached the state of mental, decrepitude of its New Zoahn<| offshoot, but It lias proved it-self ill quaHflcd to fulfil the funotians that the progress of tho nation involves, and ever slnco the 'iresent Government was returned to, power by an enormous majority h,i»' "stood in toe wayand blocked » pmlicr of those measures mat the Government haft a special mandate from the electors to earrv out, Mr Halda ne, a member of Sir 11. Campholl-Banner-in'an's Government, savs it Is intended to reform the House of Lords -by taking from it part of; the, responsibility tint now res,t* upon ■t, anil transferring It; to the House <;f Commons. The constitution of the House of Lords, said Mr Haldare. was batM-horoughly ba<l—and " the Government intended to render it- less obstructive by clipping its wims. The dipping of the wings, Is apparently, a necessity, but who is to po* form the operation o! clipping ' Sir H. Camnbcll-Bannormln's Govern' ment have tried, it,' and signally failed. The House of Lords still sits immovable, ami will no doubt continue to. sit tJll, tho. Nemesis'of- their iobduracy overtakes them. They- fail Ito realise, that" the world has made | gigantic strides since the days of the Magna Charta, and struggle against the might river of public opinion that will surely, sweep them out of the way if they do not adapt themselves to the force' of its current. The British Government are not content with the present conditions of the constitution, and unfortunately for tho House of Lords, tho Government havo the people •bfb'rid''thcm, and the peoplo aro omnipotent in theso matters, and wiil make tho House of Lords bend or will break it.