THE VICTORIAN EMBROGLIO.

Southland Times, Issue 3446, 7 July 1879, Page 2

THE VICTORIAN EMBROGLIO.

The following section of the despatch from Sir Michael Hicks-Beach to the Governor of Victoria, constitutes the reply of the Secretary, of State for t'us Colonies to the proposals submitted by Mi 1 .Ucvry for ;.he refo.mof the Victorian constitution. The ilrst two clauses were merely formal ■ :— 3; The request urged by Mr Berry in his letter of 20tli February', that Parliament should '* by a simple alteration of the 60th" section of the Constitution Act. of Victoria, enable the Legislative Assembly to enact, in two distinct annual sessions, with a geneial election intervening, atiy measure for the re-; form of the constitution," is, in ray opinion, • even more open to objection than, the proposal _I understood him to convey in his memorandumof 6th August. But it is not necessary to discuss the merits of this or any other proposal, .for though, fully recognising the confidence in the mother country evinced by the reference of so important a question for the counsel and aid of the Imperial Gk>veraincut. I still feel that the circumstances do not yet justify any Imperial legislation for .the amendment of that Constitution Act by Which self-government, in the form which Victoria desired, was conceded to her, and by which the power of amending the constitution was expressly, and as an essential incident_of self : goverument, vested iii the colonial Legislature with the consent of the Crown. The intervention of the Imperial Parliament would not, in my: opinion, be. justifiable, except in an extreme emergency, and in compliance with the urgent desire of the people of the colony, when all available efforts on their part had been exhausted. But it would, even" if thus justified,- be atteadecl with much difficulty and risk, and be in itself a matter for grave regret. It would be held to involve an admission that the great colony of Victoria was compelled to ask the Imperial Parliament to resume a power which, desiring to promote her welfare}, aud believing iv her capacity , for self -government, the - Imperial Parliament had voluntarily surrendered, and that this request was made because the leaders of political parties, from a general want of the moderation and sagacity essential to thesuccess of constitutional government had failed to agree upon any compromise for en abling the business of the colonial Parliament to be carried on. 4. It is, nevertheless, important that the question should be settled as soon as possible where it can properly be dealt with, that is, iv the colonial Parliament ; aud I shall be glad if by the observations which I am about to make. I cau remove some part of the misunderstanding which has been amongst the chief obstacles to such a settlement, 5. Following the generally accepted precedent, the Constitution Act of Victoria established two Legislative Chambers, the Council and Assembly, and laid down to a certain extent their mutual relations ; of which, it appears to me, a better defiuation rather than an alteration is now required. For as no party in Victoria desires to abolish the Council, I feel confident that there can be no wish, in the words of your Ministers, to " reduce it to a sham," or by depriving it of the powers which properly belong to a second ■ Chamber, to confer on the Assembly a complete practical supremacy, uncontrolled even by that sense of sole responsibility which might exert a beneficial influence on the action of a single Chamber. Nor can I suppose that the extreme view of the position of the Council, which it has recently to a great extent itself disclaimed, can bs supported by auy who have sufficiently examined the subject, 6. The recent differences between the two Houses of Victoria, like the most serious of those which have preceded it, turned upon ultimate control of finance. I observe that the address of the Legislative Assembly of the 14th February. 1878, dwells almost exclusively on the necessity of securing to that House sufficient financial control to enable adequate supplies to be provided for the public service, and ifc is prominently urged in Mr Berry's letter of 26th February, in proof of the necessity for finding some solution of the present constitutional difficulty, that " scarcely a year passes but it becomes a question whether the supplies necessary for the Queen's service will be granted." 'But this difficulty would not arise if the two Houses of Victoria were gnided'in this matter, as in others, by the practice of the Imperial Parliament, the Council following the practice of the House of Lords, and the Assembly that of the House of Commons. The Assembly, like the House of Commons, would claim, and in practice exercise, the light of granting aids and supplies to the Crown, of limiting the matter, manner, measure, aud time of such grants, and of so framing bilis of supply ■ that these rights should be maintained inviolate ; and as it would refrain from annexing to a bill of a: d or supply any clause or clauses of a uatu: c foreign to or different from the matter such a bill, so the Council would refrain fron any steps so injurious to the public service as the rejection of an Appropriation Bill. 7. It would be well if the two Houses in Victoria, accepting the view, which I have thus indicated, of their mutual relations in this important part of their work, would maintain it in future by such a general nnderstanding as would be most in harmony with the spirit of constitutional government. But, after all that has passed, it may be considered necessary to define those relations more closely than has been attempted here, aud this might be effected either .by adopting .a joint standing order, as was proposed in 1867, or by legislation. Of these, the former would seem to be the preferable course, for there might be no slight difficulty in framing a statute to declare the conditions under which one House of Parliament, in a colony having two Houses, should exercise or refrain from exercising the powers which, though conferred upon it, must not always be asserted. But 1 must add that the clearest definition of the relative position of the two Houses, however arrived at, would not suffice to prevent collisions, unless interpreted with that discretion and mutual forbearance which have been so often exemplified in • the history of the Imperial Parliament. S. If, however, it should be felt that the respective positions of the two Houses iv matters of taxation and appropriation can only be defined by an amendment of the Coustitution Act, there may be other points, such as the proposal to enact that a dissolution oi - Parliament snail apply to the Legislative Council as well as the Assembly, that might usefully be considered at the same time ; but I refrain from discussing them now, feeling that their merits can best be appreciated in the colony itself. 9. It has been urged that some legislation is necessary to insure mechanically the termination, after reasonable discussion and delay, of a prolonged difference betweeu the two Houses upon questions not connected with finance. Ido not yet like to admit that the Council of Victoria will not, like similar bodies in other great colonies, without any such stringent measure, recognise its constitutional position, and so transact its business that the wishes of the people, as clearly j and repeatedly expressed, should ultimately j prevail ; nor have I yet seen any suggestion ! for such legislation which I can deem free ! from objection. .' 10. I hope that the views which I have expressed may nob be without influence in securing such a mutual agreement between the two. Houses as to remove any necessity for imperial legislation, and that as both parties, profess to desire only what is reasonable, and as f there has been now an interval for reflection^ a satisfactory and enduring: solution of the difficulty may be arrived at in the colony. The course of action which her Majesty's Government might adopt should ;thiS: hope unfortunately be disappointed, must in a great degree depend: npou the circumstances which may then exist ; but I can hardly anticipate that the Imperial Parliament will consent to disturtr in any way, at the instance of one House of the colonial Legislature, the settle- . ,-ment embodied^in the Constitution Act, nnV less the Council should refuse, ta concur with' the Assembly in some reasonable proposal for regulating the. -future ; relations of the two Houses -in. "-'financial '.matters in accordance with the high' constitutional precedent to :whiGh.l have referred, and should . persist in such, refusal; after the proposals- of. the Assembly ;fqr that purpose, an appeal having been made to. the constituencies on. the subject, have been ratified by the country, and again sent up by the ' Assembly for the consideration of the Council. — I nave, &c, )Signed) M. E. HICKS-BEACH.