THE UPPER HOUSE.

Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 20095, 25 August 1937, Page 3

THE UPPER HOUSE.

NEW APPOINTMENTS. STRONG GOVT. MAJORITY. FILLING VACANCIES. [By Telegraph. —Presa AssociationJ WELLINGTON, Aug. 25. Tho most interesting pre-scssiona) question is that of the Legislative Council appointments, a number of which are sure to be made now that the Prime Minister, Mr. M. J. Savage, has returned from abroad. Vacancies have arisen through tho expiration of tho term of several members, and it will be a point for the Government’s consideration whether any of the retired Councillors will bo re-appointed. The matter rests entirely with the Government, and former Ministries have usually selected .those with a favourable view on their policy. JThough the Council is not conducted on Party lines —there is no Leader of the ’Opposition on its benches—this secondary chamber is an essential in the parliamentary scheme, for its approval is needed before any legislation can become law, the only limitation on the Council’s powers being in respect to finance, the constitutional position being that the elected representatives of the people must bear sole responsibility for the levying of taxation and the expenditure of the money. However, the Council could become a serious stumbling block even in this sphere if it decided to exercise its undoubted right of complete rejection of a money bill, or a money clause in any legislation.