THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1902. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REFORM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12420, 1 August 1902, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1902. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REFORM.

The interesting discussion which was initiated by Mr Ell in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon on the subject of the constitution of the Legislative Council showed a singular unanimity of opinion on the part of the members who expressed their views as to the desirability of some measure of reform. Mr Hogg, the member for Mastcrton, alone seems to have found anything to say in favour of the system under which the Upper House is at present constituted, for, while it is a system that at once gives the Government a valuable piece of patronage and enables it to control on important occasions the votes of some of its nominees in the Council, and while it is consequents a system which the Government would he unwilling to sec disturbed, the Acting-Premier did not venture to say a word in defence of the existing arrangement. Sir Joseph Ward protested that it was not fitting that a discussion upon a constitutional question of considerable importance should be raised by a proposal to reduce a vote upon the General Estimates. No doubt there was some force in this contention; but there was greater force in Mr Ell's reply that, if he did not seize the opportunity which was afforded him in Committee of Supply of having the subject ventilated, he would in all probability not have another chance. He might have introduced a Bill dealing with" the question, as he has in fact since done, but the forms of the House arc con-

stantly utilised to block the progress of a Bill the proposals of which are unpalatable to certain members or to prevent it from being brought on for discussion at all. As recently as last week the Elective Executive Bill was deliberately blocked by a few members of the House who spoke against time on other measures until the hour was passed at which fresh business may be brought on for con- j siderat'iou. Mr Ell might also have given notice of a motion relating to the matter of Legislative Council reform. But, as he pointed out, it is almost impossible for a private member to get a resolution before the House. Moreover, it is a perfectly simple matter for the opponents of a motion to have it talked out. The fact is that the rights of private members have been to a very considerable extent whittled away during recent years. The chances they have of bringing a proposal under discussion and of securing a vote upon it are strictly limited. The course adopted by Mr Ell on Tuesday evening insured both that the question of Legislative Council reform should be discussed and that a vote should be taken upon it. That he was defeated upon a division was obviously due to the fact that a number of members who are favourable to a reform of the Upper House accepted Sir Joseph Ward's view that the occasion was hot a suitable one for an expression of opinion by the House on tlie question. The result of the vote scarcely discounts the remarkable circumstance that from all sides-of the House there was a demand for reform. The feeling of the members on the subject undoubtedly reflects the feeling of the public outside Parliament. It is difficult, indeed, to imagine upon what ground the present system of appointment of members of the Legislative Council can be justified. It is certainly not open to those who would defend it to claim that it is democratic. On the contrary, it is absolutely the reverse of democratic. In a country liko New Zealand, which is supposed to be in the van of advanced Liberalism, a curious anachronism is presented by the spectacle of the Ministry fdling up the Upper House with their friends without any limit to their number, and giving seats in that Chamber to persons whom the electors have refused to accept as their representatives in the popular branch of the Legislature,' or else to persons who, as in the case of the most recent appointments, have* not served a political apprenticeship of any sort or proved themselves to be in any sense deserving of the honour that is conferred on them when they are nominated to be members pf the Council. Sir William Russell truly remarked that the. Upper House, as it is at present constituted, does not inspire confidence in any quarter. There is, in fact, a large section of the community which, If its wishes were respected, would sweep the Council out of existence altogether, and the longer the day of reform- is postponed the more numerous may the abolitionists; be expected to become. But tliey will" probably' never become a sufficiently powerful party to impose their will in this matter upon the colony.. The sentiment in favour pf reform is, however,, so widespread as to be almost general. It cannot be much longer resisted. And when a change does come it will certainly be in the direction of making the Council an elective body, returned on the same franchise as that on which members of the Lower House are elected, and with a limited tenure of office for its members. Sir William Russell suggested that the colony should be divided into two large electorates, and that the principle of the Hare system should be adopted for the election of " the Lords." If the objection urged by Mr Collins against this proposal, that it would be unduly favourable to the candidature of wealthy' men; should be held to he sound, Parliament might feel disposed to divide the colony into several fairly-sized constituencies oh a similar plan to that adopted in Victoria. But it is not the case that in the Commonwealth of Australia the existence of large constituencies has prevented men of limited resources from placing their services at the disposal of the electors. There the Federal Senate is composed of representatives of the various States, each State forming one constituency, and tho Labour party is proportionately stronger in it than in the House of Kopresentatives, each member of which sits for a.comparatively small electorate. It is, however, premature to discuss details of this kind. The main point at the present time is that the Lower House, like the country, recognises that a reform of the Legislative Council is necessary.