HOUSE & COUNCIL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1854, 13 September 1913, Page 6

HOUSE & COUNCIL.

A NEW PROPOSAL. « s c report of the select COMMITTEE. t c 1 ELECTION BY BOTH HOUSES. ' ' ■ i THE GOVERNMENT DECLINE TO 1 AGREE. Tho Select Committee of tho Legis- j lative Council, which was act up at the beginning of last month to consider and report upon the question of reforming the constitution of the Council, presented its report yesterday. Tho principal recommendation in tho report is that members of tho Council should in future, as vacanoies occur,' bo elected by members of the Council and of tho House of Representatives by ballot. A draft Bill embodying this proposal is appended to the report. The Government Bill, which gave rise-to tho appointment of the Committee, provides* that tho members o£ tho Council instead of being nominated as at present shall bo elected under a system of proportional representation. » The Hon. H. D. Bell (Leader of tho Council) intimated, when tho report was presented, that ho and the Government dissented from tho resolutions passed by the committee, and from tho Bill based upon those resolutions. In opening its report tho committer states that, without attempting to ac-. curately define tho respective rights and powors of tho Council and of tho House, the committee proceeded upon tho assumption that a nominated Senate in Parliaments of the Empire may properly exercise its full constitutional power of rejection or amendment of any measure proposed by the Government or sent up to it from the Representative Chamber in all cases in which tho House of Lords in England, before the passing of tho Parliament Act (1911), would have insisted upon its right to exercise such powers; and that tho Council is only called upon to sur-' render that constitutional right and duty in cases and circumstances where the Houso of Lords iu England would have yielded. , About one-half of the report proper consists of citations from constitutional authorities in regard to the relative powers of tho two branches of the LogißA Change Nooessary. Tho report continues: — Having considered proposals for changes in the constitution of tho Council, including the proposals expressed and set forth by tho Government in the present Bill, the committee unanimously passed the following resolution:— "That it is expedient that the constitution of tho Council be changed wholly or partially from tho present system of appointment by nomination to some system of election." The Committee then considered the following motion, proposed by the Hon. Mr. Bell: "That the system of election i of tho Council be direct at tho polls by the same franchise as for the Houso of Representatives"; which was negatived by fivo votes to three. . Tho Committee then considered the following motion', proposed by tho Hon. Mr. Sinclair:, "That, as vacancies occur, threo-fourths of tho number of European Councillors bo. elected directly at tho polls, and that one-fourth of such Councillors be nominated"; which was negatived by six votes to two. . The Committee's Recommendation. Tho Committee then passed, by five votes to four, tho following resolution, proposed by the Hon. Mr. Ormond: — "That it is expedient that the number of European Councillors be limited to tho present number (forty), and that all vacancies as thoy occur bo filled by election by members of tho Council and of tho Houso of Representatives by ballot." . Tho Committee then proceeded, on tho basis of tho, resolution proposed by the Hon. Mr. Ormond and carried, to consider the Bill in tho appendix to the report of; tho sub-oonnnittco, clause by clause, which Bill, approved as altered by the Committee, tho Committee now submits to tho Council as the form in which that resolution, if adopted by tho Council, should be given legislative effect to.. The Committee then passed, by five votes to four, the following resolution, proposed by the Hon. Mr. Ormond: — ■ "That iu tho opinion of tho Committee the coming into operation of the Act, if passed, should be. deferred until after the next general election." Subject to the decision of tho Council' upon tho question raised , by tho resolution set out in the preceding paragraph, the Committee recommend that the Bill now beforo tho Council be amended so as to bring it into conformity with the Bill in tho appendix to the report of tho sub-committee as amended . by .tho Committee. The Proposed Bill. Tho report contains copies of several 1 draft Bills. . Olio was designed to give effect to tho motion proposed by tho Hon. J. R. Sinclair, which was rejected by tho Committee. Another draft Bill 1 was submitted to tho Committeo by the Hon. 0. Samuel. This Bill, amended by tho Committee, is presented with tho ' report as embodying tho resolutions at which tho Committee arrived. Consistently with these resolutions, tho Bill pro- ; vidos that: "Whenever from any causo • tho number of members, exclusive of persons'- of the Maori race, is reduced 1 below forty, a vacancy or vacancies in J the Couucil shall bo deemed to havo occurred, and a member or members to fill tho sauio shall bo elected by the 1 votes of tho members of tho two Houses ' of Parliament in tho manner hereinafter ' provided." t 1 The Bill retains a clause in the principal Act which provides that any person eligible for election to tho ( Lower House, who is not a member of that ' House, may bo eleoted to the Council. It is provided that not moro -than • forty-two nor less than thirty-two days beforo tho occurrence ' .of any • vacancy by effluxion of time, ' and not moro than' seven da\is > after the Speaker of tho Council is satis- ■ fied that a vacancy has occurred from ■ any other cause, tho Speaker shall issue his warrant to tho Clerk of tho Council ! directing him to causo an. election to bo 1 held to fill tho vacancy or vacancies. Nominations aro to close fourteen 1 days after iho vacancies have been noti- ■ fied in tho Gazette, and tho election is to bo hold fourteen days later. Candidates, it is provided, must bo nominated b ( v two members of either House of Parliament. In tho event of ar. election . being necessary meinbors art to record : their votes and forward tho votingpapers, in sealed letters, to tho Clerk [ of tho Council. ' Counting the Votes. Other provisions relating to tho clec- " tion aro as follow: — ■ ; "A voting paper shall bo informal— ' "(a) If it is not signed by tho voter; "(b) If tho candidates opposite to s whoso names a cross is fixed oxcced or - aro less in number than tho number of ' members to bo elected; • "(c) If it is not received by tho Cleric of tho Council beforo the' close of the poll. \ "On the day after the closo of the J. poll tho Clerk of tho Council, in the 1 presence of two poisons, ono appointed ir that behalf by, tho Spoaker of each

Houso, shall open and examine all the voting-papers duly received by him, and, after rejecting all informal votingpapers, shall ascertain the number of votes cast for each candidate, and tho candidates (not exceeding tho number to bo elected) who havo received tho greatest number of v voted shall bo doomed to bo elccted. "If by reason pf an equality of votes tho election is not complete, tho said clerk shall forthwith, in tho presence of tho two persons mentioned in tho last preceding subsection, comploto tho election by lot. "Tho Clork shall forthwith notify tho Speaker of each Houso of the result of the election, and the same shall bo gazetted. Renewable Torms, "Tho member of tho Council whoso term of office expires by effluxion of time on October 16, 1913, if his soat has not been previously vacated, shall continue in office (without reappointment) until' the twenty-second day of December then next. "Of tho twelve members of tho Council whoso term of olßce oxpires by efiluxion of time on tho twcnty-second day of January, nineteen hundred and fourteen, or such of them whoso seats liavo not been previously vacated, threo shall retire on that day; threo shall ccntinuo in office (without reappointment) until tho twenty-second day of February then next, and Bhall thon retire ; threo shall continuo in office (with- ' out reappointment) until March 22 then next, and shall then retire; and the renfainder shall continuo in office (without reappointment) until April 22 then next, and shall then retire. "The order in "which tho last-men. tioned members shall retire shall bo do» tormined by the Clerk of tho Council by lot, and tho result of such determination shall bo gazetted. "Every.elected member of tho Council shall, unless his seat sooner becomes vacant, hold his soat for seven , years from the date of tho occurrence of tho vacancy to fill which ho is eleoted." Other Provisions./ Tho provision in tho Government Bill that two Native members stall'bo appointed to the Council by tho Governor is retained. A new clause provides that tho Governor may appoint to tho Council a member of tie Executive Council who shall hold oifico so long as he remains a member of tho' Executive Council. The Bill makes some additions to the , provisions in tho Government Bill dofinmg tlie respective powers of tho Council and House. Tho most important addition is oil tho linos of tho British Parliament Act, and is to the effect that a Bill rejected for tho third time by, tho Council shall, under stated conditions, become an. Act of Parliament without the assent of tho Council. 'some Historical Details. One of the appendices attached to tho main report is a report by a Bub-com-mitteo consisting of tlie Hons. J. Duthie, J. it Sinclair, and 0. .Samuel (chairman). Tho sub-committee detail tho various alterations which havo boon made in tho constitution of the Council since it was established in 1852, together with suggestions for other alterations which havo been made hem time to time. The term of office of a Councillor was reduced from life to seven years in 1891, but the number of Councillors capable of being appointed was left without limit. In 1881 Dr. Wallis ' moved in the Houso of Representatives to substitute election by tho people for appointment. Ho suggested election by i "proportional representation " and that the number of Councillors be forty or fifty. Like many other attempted, re--5 forms of the Council from time to time, ' vftich aro recorded by the siib-commit- ' teoj this motion lapsed. In 18S3 Sir i George Gray introduced a Bill to abolish tho Council, but it did not got a second 1 reading in tlio House of Representatives. 3 In 1887 the Hoaso passed a resolution in favour of reducing tho number of Councillors to t ne-half that of tho members of tho Houso of Representatives, s but no Bill was introduced. A Bill em- , bodying this proposal had passed a second reading in the Houso in 1835, but . -was not further proceeded with. A 1 similar Bill was defeated in tho Council t in 1889. Various forms of election were i. proposed at difforent times, but in every, J case tho Bills were thrown out.'