THE SESSION'S WORK.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1933, 1 September 1888, Page 3

THE SESSION'S WORK.

«. Now that the session of Parliament has at last como to an end, it is a matter of interest to take a retrospect of what has been done during the sixteen weeks over which the sittings of the Legislature have been dragged. Seldom do our legislators deliberate for such a lengthened period, but the past session has been m every respect a curious one, which will long bo remembered m connection with the political history of the colony. Whatever qlso may have been done by the Hoiise, the one work o altering the whole fiscal policy of the country by making the Customs tariff a distinctly protective one, will have been m itself a chefcVoeuvrc which will always be associated with the present legislature, when, m time to come, the step taken has been shown to be either a wise or injudicious one. It is of courso ira possible at the present moment to prophesy m any way as to what will be the results of such a vast change, but it was asked for by tho country, and the work that has been done may be accepted as carrying out the wishes of all who desire to see New Zealand once more m tho van, prosperous and advancing. Such a stupendous work as this revision of the Customs tariff, if nothing else had been done, is one which might well bo set down as a satisfactory outcome of the legislation of the session, for if Parliament had done absolutely ' nothing else honorable members would have earned the gratitude of the country. Several other important questions have, however, received consideration, though m view of tho great length of time occupied m legislative work, or it would bo more correct to say discussion, the result cannot be characterised as all that could be desired. Next m importance to the action of the House m regard to tho tariff, comes the alteration m the public works policy, from one of energy and development, to a prospect ofs upineness, delay, and a frittering of public money m unproductive works. Then the Crown and Native Lands Rating Act, a measure, which m some parts of the colony provided m another form a sort of subsidy to local bodies, has been repealed, and though this is not a question specially affecting Canterbury, it is only another instance of the ephemeral nature m New Zealand of so called " final settlements of local finance." These two important changes of policy, together with tho introduction of a new system of dealing with the Natives, by placing them almost on a par with Europeans, are pretty well all that tho Government can claim to have effected of their own motion, although other legislation has been carried m tho face of tho Government, which will have desirable results m the future. This notably was the case m regard to tho mail service question, m regard to which the House expressed a unanimous opinion that the 'Frisco service must go. Outsido of Auckland this decision has been everywhere received with satisfaction/ and the upshot will be, it is hoped, the expansion of a legitimate trade with the Home country by direct steamers which already have proved highly beneficial to commerce. Other subjects have been dealt with, but a retrospective glance shows tho curious fact that m almost every case the Government either abandoned or proved too weak to carry through their measures, and they have left a huge crop of remands to be dealt with next session. Firstly, their new rules of procedure, which were to have effected such sweeping changes m the conduct of Parliament, were quietly withdrawn from the Order Paper and dropped into oblivion ; the Electoral Bill was shelved, and next session must come the adjourned fight between town and country districts on the subject of tho quota ; the Chinese question was virtually wiped off the slate by tho Council ; and m addition to all those subjects Government will next session have to bring forward pr posals to deal with the important subject of the incidence of taxation, the extension of local government, the still more important revision of the Charitable Aid Laws, and other matters such as that of the reform of the constitution of the Legislative Council, etc., all of which the Premier has promised to " keep steadily m view." Looking, therefore, at what has not been done as well as what has been done, tho record of the session cannot be said to be a brilliant one, as apart from tho redeeming feature of the tariff, which was carried through by the good sense of members, irrespective of party considerations, and indeed rather by tho Opposition than the Government, there has been little done to advance the prosperity of the colony. From a political point of view, however, it is interesting to note tho effects of the Government policy, which has resulted m the loss to them of the huge majority with which they started at tho >eginning of the session, and their retention of office on sufferance, by a " corner " who may throw them over at any time. Curiously enough, although with tho assistance of the Opposition, the Government carried their Customs Tariff Bill, they are now kept m office by the Freetraders, who hold tho key to the position. If at any moment tho Government should bring m a policy which is objectionable to tho Freetrade party, the latter have only to amalgamade with the Oppositionists, and forthwith tho Government will have to go. It iB rather an anomaly that a Protectionist Government should be kept m power by a band of Freetraders, but such is tho case. Another remarkable feature of tho session is the wonderful development of obstructive tactics which have tended to lengthen tho session to an inordinate degree, and will do much to hasten the adoption of some form of the closure. Altogether there were three distinct and separate stonewalls erected, which had the effect of prolonging the session by at least a week, and one (that on the Hospital and Charitable Aid Amendment Bill) having had the effect of throwing out legislation of tho greatest importance to this and several other districts, Altogether, summing up tho work of the session it cannot bo said that, outside the one great work of the tariff, there has been very much to be proud of, and next session will he anxiously looked forward to by thoße who are desirous of seeing effect given to many important reforms which are urgently needed, and which tho session just over has failed to accomplish.