The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1883. The Councillors’ Honorarium.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1007, 28 July 1883, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1883. The Councillors’ Honorarium.

The debates which take place in the Legislative Council in the earlier part of the session, are not, as a rule, read with much interest. Indeed, the work which falls to the lot of the Lords to transact, previous to the time when they are called upon to pass or reject the measures brought up from the House of Representatives, is so small, that it must be a difficult matter to find enough to occupy even thefewshort hours during which they sit each week. Now and then, however, some such burning question as the advisability of legislating in the direction of putting a stop to the pernicious Habit of smoking among juveniles engages the attention of the Councillors, and serves to relieve the monotony of the proceedings. But yesterday afternoon the Hon. C. J. Pharazvn contrived to raise a storm in the Council by a motion to the effect that the honorarium to members of the Upper House should be abolished, and the debate which followed the proposal seems to have been distinguished by a considerable amount of personality. Colonel Brett, whose oratory is always distinguished by a bluff outspokenness that is refreshing in these days of ultra-polite-ness, waxed very warm on the subject. The Speaker bad to admonish him that

UUI \VV- Cciu (.jUttc ojf .Vlli* - Councillors who opposed the motion, which, by the way, even Mr Pharazyn must have seen had not the slightest chance of passing.

The reason that actuated the mover in bringing forward this proposal is sufficiently obvious. The present constitution of the Upper House has been the occasion of a good deal of discussion of late, and the Government have promised that some measure of reform in this direction should be presented to Parliament. Mr Pharazyn, who has always been more noted for eccentricity than tor wisdom, evidently thinks that by abolishing the honorarium he will remove one objection to the Council as it now exists. But he must be a very myoptic politician who believes that this is the kind of reform in the Legislative Council that the people want. The colony does not grudge payment for work done, and certainly would be opposed to any measure that would simply put legislative power into the hands of men whose wealth is their only recommendation. Nobody grumbles at the manner in which the Council does the work allotted to them, the only objection being that they do not represent the people. What we want is an efficient Government, not a cheap one, and if Mr Pharazyn and the five other Councillors who voted with him are so squeamish about taking public money they can easilycomfort their conscience. There is no law to compel them to take the honorarium, and we feel sure that the people of the colony would not think any the worse of them if they refused it. They have, however, no sort of right to insist on the same selfsacrifice on the part of other Councillors, who are probably not rich enough to give their time to the public service for npthing.