THE STONEWALL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2184, 27 July 1889, Page 2

THE STONEWALL.

The House of Representatives, for the third time within comparatively recent times, is now engaged m the process de nominated stonewalling, the House haying been sitting continuously since halfpast two on Wednesday afternoon, and apparently beiug likely to continue to do so until well into Sunday, Indeed, we see no reason why the battle should not bo continued for weeks, unless some means can be discovered of enabling the Speaker to intervene. There is absolutely no limit to the potentiality of obstruction when something l}ke thirty men are banded together for the, purpose, and determined to use the forms of the House to the utmost It is, no doubt, deplorable 1 that such a spectacle as is now being witnessed should be possible m these days of boasted enlightenment, and if Parliamentary Institutions are to esoape from falling into contempt it is absolutely necessary that some means of preventing a deadlock of 7 this nature should be devispd. ho far as regards tha present crisiß it is obvious, that no new rules can ba passed and brought into operation, unless an adjournment of the debate on tho Kepresentation Bill could first be obtained, and so far as we can see tbe only hope of escape from Jhe difficulty is tbo possible intervention of. the (Speaker j.: but for this th,ere seenfls there are few or ing ad^i&tef Pfecedentß, at>d iunlejjiß the ,aSpe|ker does in^erve%ejthe|r tnere oanife no fend of the matter until either one side' or the other gives m. At present neither party shown a sign of yielding ; the town members insisting that , there shall . be no increase of the allowance made to country districts „ in r computing the electoral quota,- because that increase must mean a reduction m the number of town members— a redqotion greater than bpcqrs nepessarily through the operation of the Aot of 1887, which fixed the 'tiamber of European members at 70 instfad of 91 ; and the country members on' the other : hand insisting, and m sitting with reason, that a large allowance is absolutely necessary if at the next mapping out of the Beats the' country electorates are 'not- to b,e made qnworkably large. r t%e faot is that the whole trouble has arisen out of the reduction m the number of members, and it is quite on the cards, we think, that the only way ' of escape from an absolute deadlock will be fou,nd, to be tbf'rejbeajjng o,f the Act of thus restoring tho number of the European members to 9^ as at present. , It appears to us that events are fast tend- 1 ing m that direotion.