The Waikato Independent THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1931. NOTES AND COMMENTS. PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY.

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXI, Issue 2783, 3 December 1931, Page 4

The Waikato Independent THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1931. NOTES AND COMMENTS. PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY.

As wo stated editorially, prior to the eve of the elections, the recording oi their votes at a secret ballot is a privilege that deserves to be appreciated by its use only after careful consideration by electors. The recording of one’s vote for a member of Parliament. and the possible policy of the country is not a matter to be neglected or treated lightly. Judging from the volume of voting in the Cambridge district yesterday, in common with other parts, the people of the Dominion rceogniso their responsibilities to their country. Yestotrday another House of Representatives was elected under the broadest franchise enjoyed by any civilised community in the world. The four native members under somewhat different conditions were elected on Tuesday, the results showing that the reed for a distinction between the two united races in this respect is steadily disappearing. The Parliament elected yesterday is tho twenty-fourth in the history of the Dominion since the passage of tho Constitution Act' by the Imperial Parliament in 1852 granting representatives on the. system of responsible government. The first Parliament under the Constitution endured for a few days short of fourteen months with three sessions, the first from May 25, 1854, to August' 9, 1854; tho second from August 31, 1854 to September 16, 1854 and the last from August 8, 1855 to September 15, 1885, a total of 130 days. There the national history of the Dominion may bo said to have begun.

After seventy-seven years of effort and progress, punctuated here and there by ups and downs, the colony, grown into a Dominion, finds itself confronted by a huge world wide problem which none of the nations yet lias managed to solve. Wo trust that this twenty-fourth Parliament of New Zealand will justify tho hopes of a majority of the peoplo of the Dominion and that during its term of office there will be brought about a solution of world wide economic problems and resulting in a new era of prosperity.