THE UPPER HOUSE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2504, 3 July 1915, Page 14

THE UPPER HOUSE

ELECTION OF SPEAKER A NEW PROCEDURE THE CASE FOR CHANGE i . STATEMENT BY SIR F. D. BELL More public attention than usual has been, to. the-election of Speaker of tho Legislative Council which takes place on Wednesday next, 'by reason of the fact that tho Leader of the Council had submitted to the Couucil a motion to amend the Standing Orders governing tho election of Speaker. The .present system is similar to that observed in tho House: a nomination is made in writing, with the imprimatur of tho Leader of the Council arid tho Governand tho candidate nominated is elected.' Other candidates may be proposed and elected, but it is not usual. Sir Francis- Bell asks the Council to revert to a method of election'formerly employed. Under this older method no nominations wero made. A "call", is' made of the Council, the doors, are locked, .'strangers withdraw, and then-mem-bers are given a- ballot' paper bearing the names of . all members of the ',Council. '-Every--.member, then, votes for fivo members whom he wishes to have ,nominated for the office of Speaker. Then ballot-papers bearing ; the names of the five, members scoring the -highest number, of votes are given to members, who then vote for the 0110 candidate whom thoy wish to have elected Speaker. The Leader's Embarrassing Duty. In tho Legislative - Council yesterday, .'.Sir,'Francis Bell moved tho amendment necessary in the Standing Orders to bring the new system into effect. Hp said that he had taken pains to address by letter every "of 'the Council, explaining that he had,thought it. necessary to propose*' an alteration from tho, curious method of nomination' as .at present carried, out. The Council was in ,a. somewhat peculiar position. In. another ..place, tho Administration had not only to control tho business, 1 but' to lead the business, and if that control were interfered with lio Administration resigned. In . tho same way the Administration had to choose a Speaker, and see that he was nominated. If the Administration was defeated on that point, it was defeated on a. matter of policy, and it- must retire. In other words, .t'ho duty was cast upon . a. particular side of the llou.'io to seo that the chair was properly filled.. In the Council no -duty was imposed upon anybody but. himsolf in respect 'to the election of .Speaker, and'his only, duty was. to move to fix a day on which tho election was' to. bo held. . But besides that there Was the obvious duty- upon the man who had thf conduct of the business to seo that someone was nominated. If that was his duty, how was ho to sot about it? Was ho to go round among the members and ask .who they thought was a- propor. person . to , bo ,-elccted to tho'high cilice, or was he to take upon himself the responsibility of proposing an honourable member, and then asking . honourable gentlemen to support him 111 the nomination he made ?. If it was t'ho letter lie desired to be freed from the obligation. If- it was 'the former,'-if 110 had to go round and see whom honourable members wanted, then he thought, that, was a very unfortunate position for him- to be forced 1 into. Members were in all parts of the country. What was he to do? Was lieto- write? And ho could not divest himself of tho courtesy and consideration. invariably , shown : to. his office by members of tho Council. Ho could not avoid using considerable influence if he took,that course; if lio were to try to find out who honourable members wished to elect Speaker.' H.onourablo membersmight say it was. no business of his, and that it ought hot.to bo left to him. But, if so, to whom was it to bo left? Who was to see that there, would be a ; nomination?. It might .bo-that a .considerable number of honourable, members, perhaps a majority of the Council, thought that'* 'A. B. should 1 be - clected, •but that a minority thought that. A. B. should hot bo elected.. How were they to set about'electing C. D. ? 'It appeared to him thht 't-lie Council ; when it came first to consider this matter ' in 1892 dealt wisely with t'ho . matter'.. It provided then that there should bo a nomination from the Council itself, and that from.this nomination the Couucil should proceed to elect. It seemed to him that this was a proper course, and lie wasproposing that they should revert to this system. When the matter was considered ;by the Standing Orders Committee, the committee were unanimous-that if there , was to be an alteration, the alteration should ho such .as he now proposed. The committee 'had asked him to draft tho amendment. He had not brought down anything cut, and dried. ' Under the Standing Orders, as they stood at present, he conceived it to 'be 'his., duty to . see 1 that some honourable member fit for the office';was proposed: If this should: bo the only .honourable gentleman'; proposed, the' Council would havo 110 say in tho matter. It was open to any : honourable member 'to be . proposed, but if the Leader of the Council had a duty to see: that..someone was proposed, it was hia duty also to do his best to secure that honourable member's .election, which action on his part must bo to the disadvantage of all other nominees. Ho did not desire that position; to-con-tinue; and-lie thought it extremely un-. desirable,that it should. If the Standing Orders were altered as he proposed, tho'Leader of ■ tlie Council 'would be freed from all responsibility. And every member of: the Council knew that he had not: used any influence with members' as to who should be elected finally. In a New Aspeot.i, The Hon. 0. Samuel said he would hot like the resolution to be carried without remark. Wheu-the Leader of tlie Council rose ho confessed that ho could'not see much to 'recommend. tho iiroposed alteration. It had not occurred to him that, the present Standing Orders placed tho Leader of tho Council in a-peculiar position; There was very much to be , said for > tho view .of the Leader of tlio Council, but it had come I upon him too suddenly for .him. to give a considered opinion. Nooiie could appreciate more' than he did the course the honourable Kintlemen had taken. Every one should feel gratification. Long before the session Sir Francis Bell communicated with every -member of the Council concerning the Standing Orders governing tho, election of Speaker', but ho did not , set out fully his own point of view—his own position in' relation to the Standing Orders and tho election -of Speaker. The present position was unprecedented. No Leader of the Council, with tho confidence of the Council, as Sir Francis Bell had it, without any fear that his proposal would not be carried, had ever-taken the Council fully and freely into his confidence on .a"matter of'this sort. , Tho action of the' present Leader "of tlio Council was : iii accord with Ins actions ever since he took tho position', and was an example to all , who might succeed him in that office. , The objection to tho present method o'f nomination was that tho Government, through the Leader of the Counoil, had to put up a champion, and by tho Leador of tho Council" being his sponsor, that candidate would have a much better chanco than any other'candidate, howover suitablo that other candidate ' might bo, j That wan surely undesirable, . - TheJ3,qu. Joiicg. _ !} e

somewhat surprised at tho amount of flatteriuc that the honourable gentleman who had just sat down liad'heaped upon tho Leader of the Council.; But the Leader of tho Council had showed so clearly that ho ought to be saved from himself that ho (Mr. Jones) felt lie could scarcely voto against the motion. Thoro was;. however, a . "subtle influenco" pervading', tho political atmosphere. He had never known in his knowledge of the Council any influenco brought to boar on members coiiccniing the choice of a Speaker. No party' feeling was exercised. Ho ventured'to suggest that an attempt was being made to put a certain honourable gentleman in tho Speaker's chair, an honourable gentleman ; '.whom the Leaded- of tho Council would not havo eared to propose openly, horico the need for amending tho Standing Orders. '; A Detail Objection. The Hon. W. Earnshaw suggested that if a. member did. not .wish to bo elected Speaker he should bo allowed to withdraw his name. ■--■ .. • Sir Francis Bell - said that, this lad been considered, but. ho. feared, that the elimination- would: be -too drastic in its effects.; and a-.member/suitable for tho office would bo-excluded because he, having' promised- to voto for somoother member, would withdraw his name., . ' . Tho motion was . carried. V '