THE SECOND CHAMBER.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 12942, 6 December 1909, Page 4

THE SECOND CHAMBER.

The Independent Labour Party of Britain is opposed to any reform of the House of Lords, and favours ending it, instead of mending it. To give effect to such a proposal would be one of the best things ever done in Britain. But to leave all legislative power in the hands of the Lower House is something concerning which a certain amount of caution is necessary. A Second Chamber has its uses, not the least of which is the discerning of flaws which the Lower House has passed over or failed to take any notice of when dealing with Bills. A case in point happened in Wellington the other day. The House passed clause 72 of the Hospitals Bill, empowering Hospital Boards to make agreements for special terms for hospital treatment of Friendly Society members. The Legislative Council very properly threw the clause out. Hospitals are, or ought to be, looked upon as national institutions, open to everybody. The clause in question might tempt Hospital Boards to give preferential treatment to memujrs of Friendly Societies in order to be sure of getting paid. Hospitals, however, should not be looked upon as money-making institutions, but as places where the sick can be cured, whether they can pay or not. If they can pay, so much the better. But the clause would have given Friendly Society members an undue advantage over others outside their ranks, and made the hospitals a species of preserve for favoured individuals. Without the Upper House, the national character of the hospitals would have been in danger. Of course, an House in whose appointment the people have no share is liable to do what it should not do, which is one reason for ending the Lords. The remedy, in Britain as in New Zealand, is to make the Upper House elective, as is done in Australia and South Africa.