THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
The action of the Government in postponing the majority of its appointments to the Legislative Council till immediately prior to the session may be taken as indicating its determination to pass the Elective Legislative Council > Bill this year. By the recent retirements the total strength of the Council has been reduced to 31,' and three vacancies occur before Parliament meets. Of the 28 members whose votes can influence future legislation the opponents of a . democratically elected Second Chamber still
hold the' balance of powerj but their majority is'an insignificant* one. Mr., Massey ', has; • thus the - opportunity, without increasing the membership of the . Council beyond its normal strength, of ensuring the passage of an acceptable measure for the abolition of the nominative system and the substitution of election. That he will take this course has been generally understood and accepted as the best method open to him of solving the difficulty created by the Council's opposition to a long overdue reform. The Elective Council Bill has been twice rejected by the champions of the antiquated system which serves the ■ party • but not the '.. people. It would be folly to risk a. third rejection-
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19140131.2.38
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15521, 31 January 1914, Page 8
Word Count
195THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15521, 31 January 1914, Page 8
Using This Item
NZME is the copyright owner for the New Zealand Herald. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence . This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of NZME. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Auckland Libraries and NZME.
Log in