PROGRESS OF INDIAN LEGISLATION.

Wellington Independent, Volume X, Issue 1314, 29 September 1858, Page 3

PROGRESS OF INDIAN LEGISLATION.

. {From the .Times, June 21. J •For the third time we have come to a full sto|) in the mailer of Indian legislation, mid found ourselves compelled to begin over again. Lord Palinerstou's bill could not get on because Lord , Pitlmerstun ' was. turned out. 61' ollico ; j Lord Derby's bijl could not get on because of its intrinsic absurdity ;-and now the ; Resolutions, that were to have settled everything, have come to a dead look, and cannot by anv-means be induced to cun-y us a single .step-! further.' The waste of time that bus been iiicurredis; we believe, unexampled, even in the annals of , that mostapt contrivance for the 'expenditure of human life—the'Houseoi'Commons. It is now more than two months since the infelicitous ingenuity of Lord John Itussell originated the clever , scheme.■ of r shipping.,short in the middle of v hjlJ.'in order to .settle, ii possible, by a collateral investigation, what the'contents of the bill ougiit to be. The thing was done and decided on at.once.by one.of thosei sudden . and impulsive movements:.which have made', the present House of Commons the wonder, if not always the admiration, of its constituents. With the same kind of dash wit'n which it threw : out the'latr .Ministry and fell spontaneously t<> pieces on the proposition to censure Lord Ellen horougli's despatch, the House of Commons," which had previously allowed the introduction of two Bills, resolved by acclamation to drop ti.ein both, in cnlcr to relieve itself fioin the (leiinitcness of ilia issue involved, and to expatiate freely on the vridor iiuld i>i Rosolutiun. Everybody, except the House itself, saw. at oneu'ihe lull eltect ofsucli a step. It relieved tiie Government from all responsibility, andthrew it upon t!*e House at large. It was to go into Committee on a Bill, the principle of which had not been dcci ied upon. It was to come m a number of decisions, none of which were linal or binding, and every (me of which might l>c reconsidered whenever, the real time ■for settling matters arrived. It gave tempting opportunity fur delay, and encouraged to an unprecedented extent the f.iculty of wandering as far as possible from the point in debate.

However, the price has now been paid. 'We have lost two months of the session. We have iiliud our columns to repletion with' long and irrelevant speeches. Let us see what we- have crot in exchange. That the Government was to be vested in the Crowu and placed in the hands of a responsible Minister was conceded before the debate began, so that on that point there was no difference on cither, side. The Resolutions embodying these two propositions were therefore merely formal, and made no advance whatever. The lirst point decided was that the new Council should not be less than 12, nor more than I:">—a whim-.ical conclusion by which nobody feels himself bouud, and which will probably be more heartily contested than any point in i!ie forthcoming Bill. The House will very likely adhere to the decision at which it has arrived,.but the debate will only furnish new grounds foi argument, and provide the advocates of tliu smallcraiid of the larger number with bcucr and more accurate knowledge of tho slruntfth and weakness of their icspcctire positions, aiid equip them with new arms for ultack and defence. Not' much has been gained, therefore, either in point of time oi knowledge by affirming this proposition, the narrow limits of which give it an air of pedantry and dogmatism ridiculously inconsistent with with its really tentative and indeterminate character. The next proposition which the Mouse has 'established is, that part of the meinbcis of the Council shall be nominative and part elective. This proposition was accepted by the House':'iu a fit «>f enthusiastic devotion to the will qf.-'the Minister, which, we must say, he had scarcely earned. Lord Ellenborough's Bill, as our readers will recollect, contained two methods of election—one by five chosen Parliamentary constituencies, the other by preference shareholders in stock and railways, merchants, Indian officials, and so forth. In this respect- the Bill differed as widely as possible from the Council proposed by Lord Palmcrston, which was wholly nominated by tho Crown: . The first wave; that broke over the Ministerial ship carried away the five constituencies,''to 'appear iio more; and it soon became evident that the proposed Indian constituency was utterly repugnant to almost every one,:,its own proposers and'advocates not excluded.; Whut,, then, was. to be done? Formally to reject the elective principle was to j destroy almost the whole difference between the Resolutions and Lord I'almerston's Bill, and to admit'thiit a second time Government bad failed in finding the right principle, and in its eagerness to find grounds of differerxe from iv antagonists hud taken up an uuteuable position. On the other hand, to retain the words as they stood throw upon Government the duty of finding' some' species of an undertaking'which held out no chance of success. 'Tin! .Government were , perplexed 'between admitting- tiieiiiselves to bo; wholly wrong, and taking up n, position which they oould"not support. Candour pleaded for tho one course, pride aud consistency for the other ;

Ihe Government did nut hesitate, hnving made up Us mind to give up the electiv-o principle, to obtHitr-Tfrqm.thq J-J.msc a pledg.u thu.l ii shmild be carried mit. This answered very Veil Tor one ■evening-mid , the nllimuition of the principle was carried by a lar/.u majority, timid tremendous dicers. From that moment the fate n( the Resolutions was sealed. The Mouse could not bo asked to rescind what it had don*, and-neither it, nor the Ministry had the .slightest! idea of giving effect,to the proposition which ! they had affirmed. Here, then, things had'i arrived, at a point where it was possible togo, no further without contradictingi what had been decided upon. The manner in which Ministers niet this untoward position was to sketch out a: schemcof alternate nomination and self election, and, without venturing to propose it; to proceed to resolutions on different and less important matters. Then th;. patience of tin; House at Ustgave way, and it was agreed to'drop the proceeding by resolution with'the same precipitancy and the same unanimity with which the plan had been adopted This is but a sorry account of the labour of so many weeks, but it is actually all that has been done—all the assistance that has been afforded towards the construction of the Bill by many nights of debute upon the Resolutions. A number of members of Council has.been declared by approximation .which nobody seems inclined to adopt, and a principle of'election has been laid down from which everybody 'distinctly dissents. Such are the solid foundations we have gained' for the . future Bill. We are to have'ati election, only there isto.be no constituent body; and the Council itself seems likely to , be rejected. , 'from dislike, to ,the prin-, ciple of co-operation, «md also of election. It seems; not • improbable tbat the seven .elected members may disappear altogether for want of electors, anil leave' us ■ nothing but the eight! nomiiiated members of Lord Palmersbn's lull. Such a result-would be worthy of.'the course hitherto mkeu. Let us ; ,at aiiy .rate, rejoice that we areat last free from these weary resolutions, and about to advance, however slowly, in the course of. practical law making, when, it is to be hoped, we shall .have "more of purpose and less of empty declamation. As yet the House of Commons has won no laurels on this subject, and the best way to get.through its work will be by the rigid pursuanceof a system :■' exactly the contrary of that which:it has pursued. . Motions which, when they are earned, i have a real binding efficacy, speeches short".and .to the point, a' remembrance that the Council is not the "Government oflndia, but only a help to the Government-already formed,; and a resolution that,' the-Company ..being now extinct, no.vote ought' to be" influenced by a.tenderness for existing.iuterests or a wish fyr.delay! These are-'principles.whicb will probably'bring us safe, through ..this., tangled' labyrinth, and enable the House to triumph' over obstacles'to which many are inclined to _ pronounce its' powers entirety-unequal.,-, • ■ ,5 :