UNDERCURRENTS.

Waikato Times, Volume 111, Issue 18622, 28 April 1932, Page 6

UNDERCURRENTS.

HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE* (By ‘‘Gleaner.’’) i . MEMBERS’ HONORARIA. “Gleaner" cannot lielp feeilng & certain amount of sympathy with members of Parliament in their fignt against a reduction in their honoraria. After all, £4US per ahnum is not a very large sum when one takes all the facts into consideration. It would, of course, cover conitortably a*! the extra expenses of a rich man who, secure in the knowledge that he has an adequate annual income from other sources, can devote his time to his country's business. But the fact remains that there are very few men in New Zealand who could be placed m that category. Bearing that in mind, it is obvious that those men who at e elected to Parliament need a substantial salary, for salary is what it amounts to, in spite of the word "honorarium.”

\Ye must remember that outside of the Wellington members all the others have to keep two homes going, and whether a house allowance at Wellington is granted or not, this amounts to a good deal. A member and ms family have to keep up appearances which they would otherwise not feel Incumbent upon or necessary for them. Not from any idea of 'social superiority," but from the mere force of circumstances and what is expected of them. They are also forced to entertain to an extent they would not if thev were private citizens. Suppose John Smith, of Waikikamookau electorate, called on John Brown, member for Waikikamookau, at Wellington on. business of the electorate while t e House was sitting. He would feel mighty sore if John Brown did no offer him some sort of glad hand, ana if Mrs Brown ignored his wife, we have the famous case of an actual member getting hot about the collar because he did not considei sir Thomas Wilford feted .him and his family enough while they were visiting London.

■ Then we have the numerous callaj charitable and otherwise, on a polni-l clan’s purse. We all know how tinpot associations, societies, sports, bodies, etc., have a habit of electing the local member as their patron, will what is tantamount to malice aforethought, and then waiting for the return mail to bring them a cheque for a guinea at least. Count up all these bodies in any one electorate and then see the annual tribute _ that is demanded of an M.P. by his constituents. If a list is got out for charity the local member has to head it, and in most cases £5 5s is the least expected of him. Then there are cases of.distress and need which are brought to him personally by his _ constituents concerned, and there again he has to fork out.

Not all parts of a constituency can be visited by railways, on which members get a free pass, so that a. member must provide a car, or at least travel by car, and foot the bill himself. When a Minister visits his district he must perforce travel with him paying his own expenses; whereas a Minister receives a travelling allowance of £2 2s a day. V » * *

All those calls on the pocket do not leave a member a bloated capitalist at the end of the year. It may be said, "Why then does he enter Parliament at all?" That is for the man himself to answer, but the fact must be reiterated that we have not the moneyed man of leisure in New Zealand to undertake the job, and therefore we must give a living wage to members so that those without money may have an equal chance with the comparative few who have when it comes to entering Parliament.

The real trouble, as “Gleaner” sees it, is that there are too many members, most of them incompetents, and many of Diem outsiders, as recent events in the House of Representatives show. There are always those who enter Parliament merely for the social position, and those who enter only for what they can get out of it m various ways. It must be admitted, of course, that to some the £405 is the only livelihood they are capable of earning, or, rather, securing. Some men are in the House with honest Intentions to do their best, sadly poor as it may be in nearly all instances, while others are practically nonentities.

Eighty members to represent fewer than 1,500,000 is ridiculous. We must remember that our total population is less than that of a- fair-sized city. Wellington and Auckland are. comparatively speaking, only fair-sized towns, of which there are hundreds the world over which are counterparts as far as the number of citizens they contain, and which are not even known outside their own countries. The old cry of the difficulty of communication may now be dismissed as far as New Zealand is concerned. , • » «

In “Gleaner's” opinion 14 members for the House of Representatives would be ample; four Ministers could handle all the work, which is done in the main by Government departments, lie would give six European representatives to each island, one Maori for the whole of the Dominion, and one full-blooded Samoan for Western Samoa. Care should be taken that the Fast-mentioned should be elected by the real voice of the people, so that if their wish was that a member or the Mau should represent them, then It should be so. The Cook Islands and other dependencies could be 16oked after by a Minister, for the time being at least.

\s for the Legislative Council, It could be reduced to six members, or abolished altogether, following the example of New Brunswick, and not to mention the attempt by New South Wales.

To ensure that these 14 would be the best men available a salary which would tempt brains would have co be given £BOO to £IOOO would give us the finest ability we could hope for. Would not £11,200 or £14,000 a year for 14 men ot brains bo a better proposition than £32,000 for 80 men ranging from mediocrity, barring a few outstanding men present, to sheer uselessness? We might have more business and statesmanship and less waste and incompetence in Government then. , Being confined to a t column, “Gleaner” must cut short, to resume at a later date. * * * * “MUCH BUSIER." “My husband declines for the reason that lie is a busy man; well I'm a very much busier woman,” was the reply given when a householder could not see her way clear to stand for a school committee election in Hamilton i last week.