REFORMING THE LORDS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 2, Issue 354, 26 May 1881, Page 2

REFORMING THE LORDS.

The Wellington correspondent of the Press .telegraphed to that journal yesterday. “ Ministers are reported to be preparing a Bill for the reconstitution of the Legislative Council on the basis of elec-, tion by the House of Representatives instead of nomination by the Government of the day. The latter is supposed to represent the will of the majority of the Lower House; but under the new proposal, as said to be framed, a vacancy would be filled by the’direct 'vote of the Lower House on a motion, after due notice in the ordinary way. The size of the Council, however, is to be limited to half the number of members in the Lower House, and any deficiency is to be at once made good by election. At present, through the death of several Councillors, and the retirement of Sir F. Dillon Bell, there is a considerable doficiencj', which would thus be filled up by a resolution of. the House of Representatives, and each subsequent vacancy recurring will be similarly treated: Under this system the Council could never exceed its standard strength, and. 'no Government, therefore, could swamp *iffi Opposition by creating new peers. Any death or resignation would be followed,by an election by the Lower House, and this would be the only way that additions would be made to the Council, which thus would represent directly instead of indirectly through Ministers the will, of the majority of the House of Rep'fc; sentatives. In addition to these two pfoi visions as to the number of the Council and the mode of election, there is, I hear, a third dealing with deadlocks between the Houses. The proposal in the case of a deadlock is, I believe, that should concurrence prove impossible to obtain |n one; session, both Houses should sit together next session, and decide the question by an absolute majority of the aggregate . of the two Houses. This is the rumor,’“so far as it goes, as to the nature of the Bill reported, to, be, in course of preparation; but I cannot!vouch for the entire accuracy of the : information. 1 Rumor further say§ that if the measuso meets with much -opposition, or perhaps even if not,..the Bill may only be introduced, and t}«j matter then left over until after, ,thfe general election, when the people have time to think over the whole question. Those who are best qualified to" judge regard the proposal very favorably, both as to itself and alp, as, to its. probable acceptablehess to the colony generally. ”