New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, JULY 19, 1873.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 118, 19 July 1873, Page 11

New Zealand Mail. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY, JULY 19, 1873.

Vice-Regal speeches very seldom realise the expectations formed of them. In this colony, as in England, it has become the fashion to put as little debateable matter as possible into the mouth of the Crown. A few generalising sentences, vague, and capable of any construction, form the stock of addresses at the opening of Parliament in every British country : and it is not to be wondered at that the speech which his Excellency’s Ministers prepared for ti»e Governor on Tuesday was of the usual character. Nevertheless, it did afford, to some extent, an idea of the measures which the Ministry propose to introduce during the session. And it is satisfactory that many of them relate to important affairs, which have been neglected too long. The first in the programme announced in the Governor’s speech is a measure for altering the constitution of the Upper House. No Government could have avoided dealing with this subject, for the necessity of a reform in this respect has been admitted by the colony at large, and by the Legislative Council itself. We have no knowledge of the provisions of the promised bill, but we may assume that it will propose the abolition of the system of nomination, and to make the Upper House an elective body. The Legislature will have the advantage, in determining this question, of the experience of the neighboring colonies ; and probably a modification of the various plans adopted in Australia will be proposed. If we interpret public opinion aright, we should say that any measure for altering the constitution of the Upper House should contain the following conditions :—-First, that the principle of election should be adopted ; second, that each member of the Council should represent a district which should include a group of the electoral districts returning members to the House of Representatives ; third, that there should be no special qualification •f members beyond that required from

members of the lower branch of the Legislature. No doubt it may be deemed advisable that the members of the Upper Chamber should enjoy a longer tenure of their seats than their inferior brethren, and probably no objection would be taken to their being allowed, say a period of seven years, instead of five, as is the case with members of the House of Representatives. But we do not admit the necessity for making any distinction ; the logical effect of making the Upper House an elective body is that its members should hold their seats during the period fixed for the duration of a Parliament and no longer. But we fancy that there would be no serious objection to a compromise on this point. The great difficulty in the way of the bill will be the question,—What is to be done with the existing members? Are they to be allowed to retain their seats for life ? Are they to be solemnly dismissed and recommended to the tender mercies of constituencies ? or are they to hold their seats until the expiry of the present Parliament ? We are of opinion that, supposing the principle of election to be assented to by the Legislative Council, the proper course would be to date the operation of the system from the next dissolution of Parliament. A compromise of this kind would be fair and reasonable. There are only two more sessions of the existing Parliament, supposing it to run its ordinary term, and it would be somewhat unfair to throw upon candidates for seats in the Upper House the trouble and expense of contesting elections which they would have to fight over again in a couple of years. The next measure officially promised is a bill to amend the laws relating to goldfields, and it is to be hoped that the House will seriously address itself to the duty of placing mining legislation upon a better footing. The new bill has been carefully prepared, and from the short perusal we havehadof it bears evidence of much thought and skilled knowledge. It may be found deficient in some particulars, and some of its provisions may be unsuitable, but it is a measure which deserves full and serious consideration, although important amendments may be necessary. We are promised an Education Bill. Is it to be the bill which came to signal grief two sessions ago ? Or is it to be a measure attempting to reconcile the various objections which were urged against the original ? In any case we are afraid that, what with the jealousy of the provinces with regard to any interference with their local systems, and the irreconcilable differences of religious denominations, the chances of the bill becoming law are rather remote. We are sorry that we should have to express this opinion, but one cannot shut one’s eyes to facts. It is very desirable that public education should be established upon one common system, and that the education of the young population of the colony should be insisted on ; but until we can arrive at a system that will meet the views of the various bodies of the community, we doubt the possibility of Parliament legislating upon the subject. Perhaps the promised bill may offer a fair and reasonable compromise ; if it does, so much the better, and should it be of this character, all parties should unite to carry it. What is intended by the bill to Consolidate the Laws Relating to Prisons we do not know. If it proposes simply to consolidate existing Acts, useful as such a consolidation would be, the bill will fall far short of wbat is needed. It has been demonstrated that a thorough amendment of our prison system is necessary ; and we may hope that the new bill will provide for efficient penal establishments. , An amendment of the electoral laws has been long felt as a necessity, and we presume that the bills relating to this subject will be similar to those introduced by the Hon Mr Gisborne last session, but which, on account of the change of Ministry, dropped out of sight. We are only afraid that whilst the Government will deal with the whole question of electoral law in a liberal spirit, they will not go far enough. Much trouble would be saved by at once proposing a system of manhood suffrage with the only condition of registration. It must come in time, and

it is no use temporising with the question. We should hope to see the House reaffirms its previou verdict upon this subject. We are to have a Bankruptcy Act, of course. It has been a standing dish for. several sessions, and somehow or other nothing has ever come of it. If the new bill is to be of the complex character of its predecessors, so much the worse for the bill. However much leisure the Legislature may have, it will sorely tax what patience it has got to deal with a bill of three or four hundred clauses, and which in all probability will need amending the next session. We confess we are puzzled with the proposal to establish a “ silver and copper” mint. A mint for the coinage of gold coin would be an intelligible thing, but why “ silver and copper ?” We notice that quite recently the master of the Victorian mint in reply to an application made to the Imperial GoverSment for permission to coin silver, was informed that the operation could not possibly pay, and that the London mint was able to more than supply all the requirements of the colonies. The idea is a fanciful one, but it is of no practical character. The proposal to establish native district councils is one that cannot be discussed until we see its full scope and intention. Probably it is wise to foster amongst the aboriginal population institutions similar to those which obtain amongst ourselves. The experiment has been tried before, but not with signal success. At any rate, no harm can come from giving it another trial. The new bill to amend the laws relating to native lands may be expected to remedy the many defects which, past experience has shown to be necessary. But we think we are simply expressing the opinions of many of those who have an intimate knowledge of the question when we say that the sooner we revert to the system of allowing only the Government to purchase native lands the better for the colony. We suppose that the measure “ to give increased security to persons insuring their lives,” intends to impose upon assurance companies the necessity of finding security for a certain proportion of their liabilities. A bill to a similar effect has been introduced in the Parliament of Victoria. It will be seen that already the Government have provided plenty of employment for. hon members, and when there is to he added to the official programme the hundred and one bills which private members will bring forward, the chances of a “ short session” are rather remote.