THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1881.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6149, 2 August 1881, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1881.

It has frequently been objected, when electors attempt to exact, pledges from those who solicit their votes, that a member is not, and ought to be a delegate, that he must be allowed a discretion—that circumstances may require it. All of which is" quit? _true,_and ought to be acted on if members understood their duty to their 'constituents, and were actuated by none but worthy motives. But that is not so ; on the contrary, the average member of Parliament is a kind of person to whom a sensible man would allow as little discretion as possible. "What, then, is the elector to do ? To act upon principles good enough in themselves, but which hon. members reject, or mould his course not by what they ought to be, but what he finds them to he° There doubtless are candidates whoso established character is such that they are entitled to resent the coerceive form of restrictions, but it certainly must be said, as regards the majority of candidates, that there is an ample justification of the desire of constituencies to take guarantees for their good behaviour. It is beyond dispute that, in consequence of the disreputable intrigues to which hon. members lead themselves, a large portion of each session of Parliament is wasted, and that much public business which could be transacted, and ought to be, is sacrificed to this misconduct. Let us take the present session as an instance. The opportunities it offered have been lost because of a faction fight, which could be productive of no good results, and ha 3 so impaired the strength of the Ministry, and caused such a waste of time, that many important measures must be abandoned, and the session be brought to a close at the earliest moment possible, because o£ the hopelessness of getting work done, because of the spirit of disaffection which prevails. Can it be wondered, then, that constituencies should try to bind members to principles and their colours, and endeavour by strict pledges to enforce strict party division ? The constituencies are assuredly right, there is no other way of getting through the business of the country, no other means of securing political honesty, and a large proportion of those candidates who dissent and claim their independence do so either because of political ignorance, or because such ■restraints are inimical to their personal interests. "Were all candidates not only honest but capable, even then they must consent to be bound by the party ties imposed by constituencies, and when, as is too frequently tlie case, they are neither the one nor the other, stringent fetters are. a necessity, not a choice. It is a sorry, even a contemptible state of things, but the blame rests with those who have given the electors an experience which it would be the height of folly to dis-

regard. It were not easy to conceive a more glaring instance of the treatment which the constituencies receive from their members than the impudent attempt •which is now being made to tamper with the constitution. It was but yesterday that triennial Parliaments were approved of by the legislature, and now Mr. Murray has carried the first reading of a Bill again to alter their duration, and the period for the second reading has been affirmed by 37 votes to 34. ..There has not been a whisper of dissatisfaction with the late change, not a meeting has been held condemning it, not a petition has been presented to the House to repeal it, and yet in the last session of Parliament, and without the constituencies being allowed to express any opinion, an o.tbempt is being made to effect a change. That this matter has been ' arranged and is one o£ design there can be no doubt, because nothing were easier than to hold the .matter over, and allow the constituencies to express their opinion at the approaching general election. It is presumed, however, that they would not tolerate it, and so Parliament is asked, and thirty-seven

members consent to give the constituencies- tho gq-byy-and-leave them-to , Whichever side ofthe House the motion came from, whether the member voting for it were Conservative or Liberal,; that constituency would attach little value to its privileges which did not effectively resent so gross an assumpr tion of ■ its own rights. "What is to be said of a Legislature which makes a radical political.change one day, and is proceeding to make another equally radical, and exactly the opposite, the next 1 What thought can it have given to the first change, what can. be its capacity, or what 'must now be its recklessness when, with no experience of the briefer duration of Parliament which is worth a straw, a proposal is made to undo it 1 It is impertinent thus to make a shuttlecock of an important political matter.. It does not ensue that because hon. members are political weathercocks, that the constituencies are so also. In any case, it is ample time for members to veer round when the constituencies have given them the cue. Constitutional changes should be an emanation from the will of the people, and should not be forced on them. Mr. Murray has so far fceen fairly successful, but should the House have the audacity to alter the duration of its own existence without first having the approval of the constituencies, those same constituencies should at the general election inflict such a penalty as would teach the offenders and all others the peril of exalting a power which depends upon their good pleasure.