A SUGGESTED ACT OF FOLLY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1517, 13 August 1912, Page 4

A SUGGESTED ACT OF FOLLY.

e . c A movement IB afoot, we are told, s to obtain an increase of honorarium ' for members of both branches of the J Legislature. The reasons put _ for- ; ward in support of this proposition are that with the increase of popula- ■ tion members' work and responsibil- ; ities have increased and, moreover, i members of the Commonwealth Par- f liament are more highly paid. At ] the present time members of the 1 New Zealand House of Representa- j tives receive £300 a year, and a free j railway pass; also their travelling ; exponses to and from Wellington ' when Parliament is in session. Leg- J islativo Councillors receive £200 a year and the same privileges as i members. No doubt these payments I are not excessive. In some cases a ' seat in Parliament may actually | provo a financial loss tothe holder; ■ and the same may be said of Minis- i terial office at the present scale of i payment. But members of Parlia- : ment do not willingly admit that they take up politics as a means of \ livelihood and the idea behind the , payment of- members is- merely that . they should receive some reasonable 1 recompense for the time they lose in performing their public duties. Whilo, as we nave said, the proposition that members should be, more highly paid may not be without some justification, it is peculiarly out of place at the present time. Indeed, one can only regard it as a devico of some enemy of the Government anxious to discredit Me. Massey and his followers throughout the length and breadth of the land. What a pretty tale could be' built up if Me. Massey were foolish enough—which we have no doubt he is not—to grant the request which we are told is to be made to him. Here, it would be said, is a party which has been shouting from the housetops for years past the necessity for careful and economic administration—which has condemned in the strongest possible terms the extravagance of the Continuous Ministry—and yet the momerit it gets into office it adds to the cost of government by increasing the salaries of its own members and the salaries of all other members of Parliament. It would be a colossal act of folly for the new Government to do anything of the kind; and it is inconceivable that any proposition of this nature would at the present time be seriously entertained for a single moment. Even if the matter were dealt with, it would be grossly improper to make the change applicable to the present Parliament. There is an aspect of the question, however, which the Government will require to consider, and which may make iti desirable that in the next Parliament there should be an alteration in the amount now paid to members of both Houses. We refer to the proposal to make tho Legislative Council an elective bo'ly. If Councillors are to be forced to bear the cost of an election before fthey can gain an entry into ; th a , Upper House, it is only reasjaab's that they should receive someth'iig more than is paid them at ih? present time under the nominative system. This in turn may rcuko it advisable to increase the amount that is now paid to members of the House of Representatives. But tin Legislative Council Elections Bill has yet to pass into law, and even when it does it cannot come into effect until the existing Parliament expires, so that any legislation that may bo necessary on this account cannot apply to' members who hold seats in the House of Representatives to-day. If anything is done in the matter at all* it must relate to future, and not to the present, Parliament, and there is, therefore, ample time to deal with the question two years hence should it then bo deemed advisable to do so. The probability is that the making public of the movement which is said to be afoot amongst members will be quite suflicientto enable them to see the folly of their attempt and e that the matter will now be dropped.