The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 23.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 219, 23 August 1878, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 23.

We have received the first three numbers of Hansard. From the tenor of the debates we gather that the present Session promises to be a snort, but by no means an unimportant one. The reasons for the former supposition are not far to seek. The Government is strong, not only positively, but perhaps still more so from the utterly disorganized state of the Opposition. Honorable members are aware that any successful opposition to the present Government must result "in a dissolution, and an appeal to their constituencies is about the last thing that many of them would care to face. Party struggles bping thus tacitly laid aside, the Houses have time to turn their attention to some really useful work. The consequence appears likely to be that a number of measures will "become law which belong to a class on which the well-being of the community depends to a far greater extent than it does upon others which excite the greatest amount of attention outside. These measures too, being introduced early in the Session, will have time to be carefully considered, instead of being rushed through at a period when members are all anxious to get away, the one to his farm, the other to his merchandize. The first of these measures in order of date to which we desire to draw attention is the Trade Union Bill introduced by the Attorney General (Hon. R. Stout). This Bill is founded on two English Acts, and provides that Unions formed among working men for the purpose of dealing with the rate of wages, and other matters affecting their interests, shall not be deemed unlawful, and that such bodies shall be allowed to register themselves in the same way as Friendly Societies. Although Trade Unions exist in considerable numbers in the Colony, their members are doubtless unaware that most, if not all, such associations ' are illegal. That such should be the case is manifestly unjust. As Mr Stout put it, if bankers and insurance companies are allowed to combine and fix the rates at which they will do business ; if employers of labor can arrange among themselves that they will not pay their workmen more than a certain amount of wages ; why should working men be prevented, from combining to sell their labor to the best advantage ? Now, it is certainly unfair and inexpedient that men, in doing what is in itself right and just, should be driven into acting illegally, even though such illegality may be winked at. We hail this Bill therefore as one calculated to have a good effect in removing the suspicion from the minds of working men that the Legislature desires to perpetuate any class distinctions, or that they are not to be allowed to manage their business affairs on the same terms as capitalists. Two other important measures have been introduced by Colonel Whitmore in the Council, and Mr Stout in the Assembly, respectively. These are the Repeals Bill and the Reprint of Statutes Bill. The object of these measures is to render our statute law intelligible, or a little less hopelessly unintelligible than it is at present, Mr Barton, despite his eccentricities, no mean authority on legal matters, in speaking on the latter Bill, said that " he himself had grown grey : he had literally lost his hair in striving to understand the Statutes." The Bills in question propose that the statute book shall be carefully gone through by a commission ; that all Acts which are repealed or have lapsed shall be expurgated; that all repealed portions of Acts still in force shall be treated in a similar manner, and that finally the net result shall be printed. It is expected that instead of occupying some sixty or seventy cumbrous and unintelligible volumes, the Statute law as it stands at present can be compressed into about one-tenth the space, That this is an excellent work, and one likely to be of great service to the commuity, few will be likely to deny. At present, as was stated in the course of the debate, it is impossible for a lawyer to give his client advice that is worth the paper it is written on. This state of things of course leads to endless litigation, which might otherwise be avoided, and also begets such a distrust of the law that many men wisely prefer to submit to injustice rather than apply for relief to such a source. That a thorough system of law reform must some day be initiated is indisputable, but in the meantime we hail the above measures as a step in the right direction.

Three cognate measures, viz., the Sheep, Fencing, and Impounding Bills have been introduced. These are intended to supersede the almost innumerable and conflicting Provincial Acts and Ordinances at present in force in ' various parts of the Colony. No doubt considerable difficulty will be found in framing these measures, taking into consideration the different circumstances of various parts of the Colony. In the debate in the Council on the second reading of the Fencing Bill, the Hon. John Hall drew attention to the fact that the various County Councils in Canterbury had sent delegates to a conference to consider this Bill. He

had been unable to find that a single one of the suggestions had been adopted. The Colonial Secretary stated that the suggestions in question had never reached lam, and upon Mr Hall appearing to be somewhat incredulous on the matter, Colonel Whitmore said that such statements were so frequently made, that" they became quite monotonous, and as a case in, point, he instanced the correspondence re the Akaroa By-laws, which, he said, on investigation turned out to be like Mr Toots's correspondence with the Duke of Wellington, viz., to have no existence at all. We have not seen copies of these Bills, and therefore can express no opinion on them, but we hope that members of the. Assembly, and the public at large will watch their progress through Parliament carefully. There is no doubt that, on the questions with which they deal, the interests of large and small stockowners, or of those following agriculture and pastoral pursuits respectively, are decidedly dissimilar, not to say antagonistic. Human nature being what it is, we cannot expect members of the Council to overlook the claims of their own class, and it therefore behoves the representatives of the people to see that the rights and interests of the small holders are not ■encroached upon. Various other measures call for remark, which, however, we must defer to another occasion. We think we have said enough to'justify our opinion that the present Session, though characterised by some accustomed to the stormy scenes of former years as " dull as ditchwater," will yet not be unimportant in its effects.