POLITICAL TALKS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 637, 13 April 1929, Page 6

POLITICAL TALKS

COMPOSITION OF THE HOUSE PRECARIOUS POSITION OF THE GOVERNMENT (Written, tar THE SUN tty David Jones, M.P.i X. The House ot' Representatives conI sists of SO members —76 European and I four Maori representatives. The European constituencies are divided according to population, the census being taken every five years,, and the boundaries of the electorates are altered in accordance "with the movement of population. The boundaries were fixed by commissioners, but recently an alteration in the. law has been made and in future the work will be done by departmental officials. There is always an . outcry from many electorates who usually object on the ground that community of interests has not been considered in fixing the boundaries; it is not possible to meet this objection, except j in a limited number of cases. It is a common belief that the • native representation of four Maori members was settled by the Treaty of Waitangi, but this is not so. The Maori Representation Act,' giving the natives the right to elect four members, was passed in 1876. It is considered by some authorities that - if representation had been given to them from the outset there would have been no Maori War. The Maori member in the South Island represents only a handful ofpeople, and as the population of tlie Dominion grows it may become necessary to make an alteration in the present allocation of seats. One of the first things a new member is interested in is his siat in file House. There are the Ministerial Benches, and the right of old members to retain their seats if they desire to do so is recognised; on any other seat on your party’s side of the House you may put your name, and advise the clerk of the House. of course, if a. new Government comes in it is “General Post.” PARLIAMENT AT WORK The opening of Parliament is an interesting occasion. The Governor’s Speech is prepared for him by the Cabinet, and outlines some of the policy for the session, and notable events that have occurred in the recess. It is usually a very guarded document and I think must have originated the statement that “language is given to us to conceal our thoughts.” The first business of Parliament is to elect a chairman, or, as he is termed, a Speaker. He is elected for the term of Parliament, so that after election the rise and fall of Governments does not affect him. Formerly he was nominated by the King and was the means of communication between the King and the House of Commons. When elected by the House, the Speaker must receive the approval of the Governor before he can take the chair. The custom is for him to proceed with a few members to the Governor’s residence, by appointment. It is quite an interesting ceremony, the Speaker asking from the representative of the King approval of his appointment —this being granted. The Speaker then claims from the Governor all the .historic rights and privileges of the House, and these are graciously conceded and at all times respected. Arising out of the old-time conflict between the King and the Commons for authority, the Governor never comes within the walls of Parliament when in session, after the official opening. The fear that the King, or his representative may unduly influence Parliament' is very remote today, but old-time customs die hard. When the Speaker takes the chair and members are sworn in, the I-lo Use is ready for business. REASONS FOR DISSOLUTIOX The House is elected for three years, and it usually runs the full time. The Governor may dissolve Parliament at any time at the request of his Ministers. He is not, however, compelled to accept the advice of 1 is Ministers —he must be satisfied that the House has exhausted tlie means at its disposal to overcome some deadlock that has arisen or that, in the event of the defeat of the Government, someone else may be found who can form a new Government and carry on the business of the House and the country wltbput the expense and turmoil of a general election. The present Parliament serves as a useful illustration: The Ward Government has 27 definite party supporters, or one-third of the House, and three Independents who voted with them on the no-confidence motion, but who may or may not support proposed legislation. When the Government meets the House iu June it can he turned out of office any day its opponents decide that this is the proper course to adopt. Let us assume, for the sake of discussion, that this occurs and Sir Joseph Ward is defeated. Many are assuming that this would mean another election; but this would no, be so Naturally, a Government when defeated would be anxious to secure the verdict of the country again, because if they lost they would be no worse off, and there is always the chance of a win on the cards. To secure a dissolution of Parliament, however, they would require to prove that they went to the country with a policy,'that the country endorsed it, and that now they are prevented irom carrying it out. ■ The obvious reply would be that the country did not endorse it and that now the majority of the House had refused its sanction also. There would be uo justification for dissolving Parliament at the request oi such , a substantial minority of the . House, and unquestionably the course that would be followed would be that the Leader of one of the other parties m the House would be asked to form a Ministry. A case on somewhat similar lines was the defeat of Ramsa> MacDonald, Leader of the British Labour Party, when Prime, Minister: The King did not grant a dissolution —he sent for Mr. Stanley Baldwi again and he formed his Cabinet and . carried on until he felt he was justified in asking for a dissolution Parliament is elected to govern the country and the people expect their representatives to do the job. and a dissolution of Parliament, with all its disturbing factors, is rightly very difficult to secure. DAVID JONES.