Daily Circulation, 1660. The Oamaru Mail. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1895.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XX, Issue 6298, 4 July 1895, Page 2

Daily Circulation, 1660. The Oamaru Mail. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1895.

There is a movement afoot throughout the colony which has for its object the reform of Legislative methods whereby, it is thought, the people and legislation, as well as administration, would be more closely allied. The proposal is that Party Government should be abolished and that, in its stead, there should be an executive elected under some system or other from members of Parliament. The advocates of such a change may differ in details, but as to the principle they are agreed, and, combined, they constitute a strong political force. The Hon. Major Steward is at the head of this force, and is, this session, once more intraducing a measure to give effect to their ideas. But, unpopular as Party Government has " become, Mr Steward's measure will not be carried into law this session. There is a party in the House who arc content to allow matters to remain as they are, during the existence of the present Parliament at least, and that party is numerically strong enough to carry the day. What they argue is that, when the Conservative administrations were in office, Party Government was pro-' nounced by its votaries to be a divine ordinance. Under its banner and by its instrumentality the harm was done which the only Liberal Administration New Zealand has ever known is striving to undo. For more than 30 years we lived under a dictatorship, virtually selfconstituted and self-contained by reason of a restricted franchise ; we are now living under a dictatorship authorised by the people j for, if an executive were elected to-morrow from amongst the members of Parliament not a single member of the present executive would be omitted. These men have been commissioned to carry out a certain work the lines of which have been clearly laid down and insisted on by the people and they are proving themselves to be equal to the task. Hence, it is argued by Ministerialists that there is not only no present necessity for a change, but that it may really, on the principle that " like cures like," be desirable to prolong Party Government for awhile, in order that the evils which it engendered - may, by its means, be the more easily abolished. Liberals who have either in Parliament or the country struggled for years against the mighty influences of a malign and conscienceless autocracy, exerted by Party Government, avow a determination to use thesamepowerforbeneficentpurposes. Let them. Whatever may be said to the contrary, so far as great principles are concerned the will of the Parliament and of the country is invariably reflected in the legislation and administration of the present Government. It is only in small matters of administration that the Government may occasionally err, and errors would exist under any and every system of Government. This being the case, it is better that we should not "swap horses while crossing a stream." Besides, it is an offence to the amour propre of the men in power that just as they are succeeding so well we should, by inference, pass a vote of censure upon them. That there is room for an improvement in the mode of government cannot be denied, and it is just as true that an elective executive, whose members would be really servants of the House and country, would be immeasurably preferable to the present hybrid system, whereby an attempt is made to harmonise Conservative and Democratic methods. But let the question be relegated to the people at the next general election, which will come after next session, and, in the meantime, let Parliamentary reformers, by careful consideration and discussion, prepare themselves for the fray.