THE DEAD-LOCK IN VICTORIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 823, 6 September 1867, Page 1

THE DEAD-LOCK IN VICTORIA.

(From the Daily Times Sept. 4.) Victoria, is again undergoing all the diifictilties of what is termed a "dead lock.' 1 The M'Culloch Ministry appear determined to have their way, but this time they have not so squeezable a Governor to deal with as when last they ventured upon the experiment of a collision between the two Houses. No doubt wide differences of opinion prevail as to the propriety of the course adopted by cither House. Many may feel disposed to blame the Legislative Council for taking exception to so small a sum as £20,000, and rejecting the Appropriation Bill on that ground. A dead-lock involves such serious consequences, that a course of conduct tending to lead to it, should only be adopted under extreme circumstances. As affairs stood when the last mail left Melbourne, none of the Civil Servants could legally be paid their salaries, no payments could be made to contractors on account of work done ; public works are necessarily suspended, and several actions have already been instituted against the Government for amounts due. When the dead-lock occurred last year on the question of the Tariff, Sir Charles Darling consented to adopt . the objectionable plan of "confessing judg- " ment," when it was found necessary to pay the public creditors, and by that legal process contrived, by the assistance of the Banks, to tide over the time necessary to restore harmonious action between the two Houses of Parliament. JBut the present Governor objects, very properly, to such a course, as being unconstitutional, and. has had the nerve to make a stand I against it. »^

Whatever reasons might be urged in favor of the action taken, last year,- the same will not apply on the present occasion. The Tariff appeared to the majority of the House of Assembly, and to the mass of the people, as a measure likely to be productive of great benefit to the country. That there are strong grounds for considering them mistaken does not alter the fact — tha*; the majority were

■determined to try the system. The legislative Council were assumed to be opposed to it; and in order to coerce them into acquiescence, the Tariff was tacked to the Appropriation Bill, as it was that the anticipation of the con..sequences of a dead-lock would prove bo alarming, that the Council would not dare "to risk them. The event proved that the Ministry were mistaken. The Council did dare them, and maintained their Constitutional position. The present, difficulty is one of the results of thai struggle l»tween the two Houses. The late Governor having unwiselyacted as a partizan, and aided and abetted the Ministry in •the course they took, was recalled by the Home Government ; and as a -alight compensation for his loss of office, the Ministry desired to present him ■with £20,000. This gift Sir Charles 3>arling refused, on the ground of Ms l>eing still in the Civil Service of Her Majesty ; nor could Lady Darling, to "whom it was offered, accept it. Latterly, it was intimated that Sir Charles having left the Civil Service, hec ladyship was at liberty to receive the gift, and accordingly the Legislative Assembly passed a vote ior the money, and included the amount in the Appropriation Bill. It will be seen, then, that the circumstances of this case differ materially from the last. By the Constitution, of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly possesses all the powers of the House of Commons at Home, at time that it wa3 granted. It therefore has the power of the purse, and should there be any item in the votes of the Assembly that are objected to by the legislative Council, they cannot cut them out of the Bill, but must either reject the urhole or pass the obnoxious vote. The ground taken in this instance for rejecting iheßill is, that the vote is an extraordinary -one, as it forma no part of the regular -expenditure of the Colony ; and that, therefore, it ought to have been intro--duced by special Bill, so that the Council might have the opportunity of considering it apart from the other appropriations. It is evident that both Houses have acted in this instance within the prescribed limits of their privileges, and that although there is no doubt that the Ministry anticipated the action that the Council "were likely to take, they did not adopt any unusual course to compel the passing of the vote.

Without expressing an opinion asto the -advisability of the action taken by either party, it must be evident that these trough collisions between, bhe two Houses are gradually affording precedents for the iuture. The Constitutions of the Australasian Colonies have not yet settled themselves into such order as to work easily under all given circumstances. -Offshoots of the English Constitution, ■they have been planted under very different auspices, and are destined to different phases of society. From the nature of the case, there is no strict identity between the House of Lords and the Legislative Council of Victoria. Its constitution is different, the ■origin of its power is different, and its privileges are different. In the one fact of its consent being necessary to give validity to an Act of the other House, "their functions agree. That collisions lwitween tha two Homes must frequently ■occur, before they can form such rules as ■will enable them to work harmoniously together, is evident. The principal Sanction of the Upper House Jis that oi supervision, and it was intended to form a barrier to those violent and rapid changes of policy, to which the House of Assembly, from its more popular constitution, is so peculiarly liable. "The difference between the Houses in the present quarrel is not one of policy. The vote had before passed, but had lapsed. That the Upper House might Ihave objected to it is probable, but they Aave not taken that ground ; the objection raised is that it has been presented to them in such a form as not to give the *M)portunity of expressing an opinion. w: iewed in this aspect, it becomes merely a question of privilege, and hardly of sufficient importance to justify either .House in incurring the consequences.

Volunteers in Times of Rior. — tn iihe Hotise of Commons, on the 28th June, Capt. Vivian moved, " That the Volunteer force was established solely for the purpose of security against foreign invasion, and that the members of that force, in cases of domestic tumult or disturbance, have no obligations or duties distinct from those of other citizens, and are in such cases no more than any other citizen liable to orders or instructions from the military or civil authorities. " After <liscus»ion, the words following "those of other citizens," were struck out, by consent ; and the resolution so amended Tras adopted. Sir John Pakington promised to consider how far his * ' Regulations" could be amended ;" Lord fiicho laving suggested, and General Peel having agreed, that paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, «*ae 10 were all that Bhould be retained.