Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1888.

Oamaru Mail, Volume X, Issue 4201, 31 August 1888, Page 2

Daily Circulation, 1500. The Oamaru Mail FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1888.

The results of the Bession are summed np by the three Wellington papers in a manner that ia anything but complimentary to the Ministry and to members. The Times says: " long-windedness end legislative larrikinism have been the salient characteristics of the Parliamentary session now happily drawing to a close, Seld'-m, if ever before, have idle verbosity and tedious prolixity been rampant to so grievous an extent. In the tower House no question has been too trivial to be the subject of long and dreary orations. Tho flood of talk seemed well nigh inexhaustible, and its usefulness has been in inverse ratio to its volume," The Post remarks that "when the effect of the legislation of this tesslon comes to be fully understood by the country there will be euch an outburst of indignation as will astonish and frighten those who are responsible for what has been done " It . predicts that a demand will arise for ousting Sir Harry Atkinson and his colleagues f om office. The Press joins in the hostile cry as follows: " It appears to be sgreed on all aides that the ew Zealand Parliament never fell so low in tone or presented such a contemptible spectacle of disorganisation, disorder, and incapacity, as durirg the session which is now dying a malodorous death, like a tallow candle burning out in its socket for want of snuffing." These are graphic denunciations of proceedings thit have bee a more or less unsatisfactory. But It is as idle as it is easy to complain. It would be muoh more to the purpose were the Wellington papers to point out a remedy for the ovila they reproj bate. The Times refers to the dreary verbosity and misbehavior of members ; but fails to Bee that these peculiarities were consequent upon the system and the emergency. It, aB well as its journalistic associates, lose sight if the very important fact that the colony during the session just closing made an entirely new departure, that the polioy of the previous IS years was reversed, and that members were irritated because they discovered that, in carrying out the policy of prudence to which they had pledged themselves, they were compelled to go back to their constituents empty handed. It is extraordinary that it did not strike them that economy must lead to a reduction of the public expenditure, and that the screw would have to be applied universally, Fach member seemed to labor under the comforting, thongh d sappointing, hallucination that he could out off supplies from every other district and yet enjoy expenditure in his own. When the fallacy—whioh by the way was in no wise creditable to oni repre-

ssntatives—became apparent, muoh ill feeling prevailed. Members began to realise that there was a vast differenoa between talking about economy and practising it, and struggled hard to wring out ol the Colonial Exchequer votes for one thing and another, which would have necessitated another loan of ten millions. Mr Mentesth angrily said, during the diccussion, that the Government had deserted its pledges and violated every promise it had made. He ought to have remembered that a Government proposes, but Parliament disposes. A Government osn only do what it is permitted to do, and, whiht we hold that the political ideas of the Ministry are not sound on several cardinal questions—notably taxation, native lands, and settlement—yet, we recognise the fEcfc that Parliament could have done muoh to bring about reforms in rolatlon to these j questions had they chosen. Parliament was so irritable during the past session that, had j the Government been hypersensitive and taken affront at the rebuffs it re-1 ceive*, it would have thrown up the spoßge, But, so fickle were representatives, so utterly distrustful and disrespectful in their attitude towards one another, and so up'it I into factions trying to work thier own ends, that no other Ministry could have been found, and the ejeoted one would have been reinstated. We believe that the Ministry might have been ejeoted and reinstated, substantially in the same form, repeatedly during the setsion, bad they, in accordance with strict constitutional oustom, accepted every defeat as a hint that they were not wanted. We view the disoord that h»s signalised tho p*st session as a promising augury. The Wellington PreßS (Mr Wakefield's paper) says, " It appears to be agreed on all sides that the New Zealand Parliament never fell so low. > . ■ as during the session that is now dying," etc. We may reasonably take the Press to mean by this that New Zealand Parliaments have previously been satisfactory. But how does it happen thea that the colony has drifted into eo unsatisfactory a position that, though it is admittedly one of the most desirable of all the British dependencies, exceptionally, rich in its mineral and agricultural end I pastoral reaouroe3, we are visited by debt and staghation? flow is it that, though we have expended nearly 1*40,000,000, colonisation is at a standstill} Those who refer to our psst administrations with anything but contempt are not to be trusted. Those who uphold government by party are enemies the avoidance of whioh is imperative if we would not dive still deeper into debt and difficulty. Dr Newman reprobated the "miserable waste of time," and suggested the adoption cf the oloture. Dr Nswnan has thus provcl himself not to be the Man for Gslwsy. We want no oloture here except the cloture that corn's of an honest conviction that it is every representative's duty to do the best that he can for the country, and to do it without delay. Dr Newman said that no euch waste of time occurred in connection with our local bodies. Here he unconsciously hit the r'ght nail on the head. There is no party government in the administration of our local affairs; and, if our Legislature would only hav-a the sound sense to judge of things by their results, party government in our central legislature would be deemed only another name for a ring of polltioil freebooters. The Premier, too, proved himself to be unequal to the emergency when he said that " they could not expect to get party government at present, because there were no great principles cn which party lines conld be formed," No great principles ! Is taxation not a great principle t Is land settlement not a great principle ? Ib the alienation of native lands not a great principle! What are great principles if these are not? When the colony 1b In so uuiatiefactory a condition, is it not evident that there has been inattention to great principles somewhere ? However, it does not matter one iota what the Premier thinks eo long as he is not permitted to carry his thoughts into practice without let or hindrance. It is to Parliament and not to the Premie-, or any other individual, that colonists have to look to manage their affairs, and it is Parliament that is responsible.