The Dominion. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1912. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1544, 13 September 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1912. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

The new Bill dealing with the Legislative Council which the Piume Minister introduced in' the House yesterday turns out to;.be a four-line measure simply proposing that all nominations to tneOouncil that may be made hereafter sliall be for terms of three years only. This is, of counu. only a precautionary step 'in th'i Government's plan to give effect to the undoubted desire of the public for an elective Second Chamber. It ie accompanied by the submission of a series of resolutions aPirmii'g tincardinal principles of the Bill which the Council so lllogically postponed. The submission of the Government's reform scheme in the shape of resolutions instead of in a Bill seems to be explained by the Prime Minister a? necessary in order to meet the suggestion that the people's represeuuitives have t not authorised the change proposed. To the Government, which has evidently taken a long view of the possibilities, and which has some reason to doubt the Council's readiness to deal reasonably with its measures, the usefulness of this method of procedure is doubtless much clearer than it is to ourselves. The point, however, is that the Government is going carefully to work to effect the reform to.which it is pledged and which the country desires, and that the new Bill and the resolutions are parts of the policy of which the postponed Bill was the full expression. This was made'quite clear by the Prime Minister on Wednesday afternoon; and no doubt Mr. Massby will shortly make clear why he has found this new procedure necessary. Most friends of reform [will bo disposed to think that the action of the Council in postponing the Bill introduced by Mr. Bell is quite sufficient warrant for immediate and drastic action by the Government. The new short Bill introduced yesterday shows that the Government contemplates the appointment of new Councillors to overcome the obstinate and unreasonable majority in the existing Council. No doubt it is in some sense to the Government's credit that it has refrained from appointing a number of new Councillors forthwith for the- normal term of seven years. Mr. Massey obviously wishes to be fair. But he should tako the position as ho finds it,' and, if new Councillors are necessary, he should exercise that power of nomination which, as the Liberals in Britain and the socalk'd "Liberals" here have so often insisted in their references to the British -constitutional crisis, is the proper constitutional weapon where the Second Chamber is not elective.. Until the Council rejected the Bill introduced by Mk. Bem,, it was opc;n to the Government to believe that the Council would not oppose reform policy measures. The Government knowsnow that it cannot trust the Council not to throw itself across the reform movement, ,and it is accordingly necessary to make provision for the protection of reform measures pending tho next general election. That the Government proposes to limit to three years the term for which those Councillors shall be appointed whose appointment may be made necessary by any factious obstruction in the unrcformed Council is, by the way, evidence of the confidence with which the Prime Minister regards the future. We taki'. it that the short Bill limiting the twin of any fiituro appointments will br. passed before the main Bill is dealt, with. Whether the adoption o[ the resolutions will hn followrd by the introduction of the ninin Bill during t.he rnrrnnl. w r.ion has not been made clear. There

does not appear to be any strong reason why the main Bill should be postponed. The country wants it, and the House will pass it, and the friends of Reform will have some reason to feel disappointed if it is not put through the House before the session closes. There will certainly not be too much time before October 20 when Mn. Massey expects the session may end—for the dispatch of the usual business and the passage of such large and important measures as the Public Service Bill and the Legislative Council Reform Bill, but the Government should endeavour to get both these measures on the Statute Book, or at any rate give both the House and the Council an opportunity of dealing with them.