NEW COUNCILLORS.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 18047, 16 June 1930, Page 6

NEW COUNCILLORS.

APPOINTMENTS UNNECESSARY, CRITICISM IN WELLINGTON. (Special to Times.) WELLINGTON, Saturday. The appointment of six a new members of the Legislative Council has not been received in the Capital City with general approval—not, indeed, without emphatic expressions of regret. Even good supporters of the United Party, who will remain faithful to' their party, state openly that the new “lords” were not required, either to carry on the business of the country or, as the critics put it, to maintain the balance of power in the second chamber. An exception is made, in most quarters, in the case of Mr Buddo, who has served for a lengthy period in the elected chamber, has achieved ministerial rank, and has disassociated himself. from purely party politics by retiring from the other chamber at the last general election. As for the- rest, they all, no doubt, are worthy gentlemen, but no one who has spent a long evening in the Council Chamber, when the “lords” have been kept busy with Bills sent up from “the other place,”will be greatly impressed by the consequence, of the proceeding. Sir Thomas Sidey, fresh from the elected chamber, does his best, and does it very well, but there still are traditions and formalities to overcome.

The action of the Government in making six new appointments to the Legislative Council was discussed yesterday by Mr H. R. Jenkins, of Auckland, who said the announcement had surprised him because _ it was directly in conflict with two important points of the policy adopted bv the United Party at its conference in Wellington prior to the general election. Under the heading of finance, ' the policy declared that “the United Party pledges itself to bring about economy in Government,’’ while in respect of electoral reform it undertook to make provision “for the reform of the Legislative Council by reducing the number of members to 20,” and affirmed that “it shall ba elected.”