FIFTY YEARS AGO

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 82, 3 October 1931, Page 11

FIFTY YEARS AGO

ITEMS FEOM " THE POST " TALK IN PARLIAMENT Fifty years ago "Tho Post" frequently had leading articles in which members of Parliament were castigated for wasting time: it was a .perennial '. subject on which to write, apparently, when other news was scarce or of small importance. Under the heading "Unsatisfactory Legislation" will be found the following: "It is much to be feared that wo have- entered upon a period of unsatisfactory legislation. That is ; to, say, we fear the experience' of tho lato Parliament in its last two sessions will be a chronic evil for a consider- ... able time to come. One particular fea- ; tu're to which we have frequently directed attention was tho dangerous precedent established by tho manner in which tho legislation of the session had been' effected, three months being wasted in idle, chatter, and then all the real work rushed through in three weeks. The besetting sin of the late . Parliament and session, and-which was unquestionably the real stumbling block of progress, was the intolerable amount of idle and useless talk so freely indulged in. This is the curse of, our political system. It has grown into a frightful abuse. To it we owe the barrenness of: the recent sessions and' the unsatisfactory legislation of others^ The great lesson members have to learn is,how and when to:hold their tongues. '•Very few members of our Legislature are worth listening to, and they as a Tule speak the most seldom. The obscure babblers who occupy the lion's share of the time and of 'Hansard' might well profit by the example set them by their intellectual betters. But it is with the electors that tho chance of'reform now rests. Let them be careful not to return mere empty windbags as their representatives. Let them show to the candidates now socking their suffrages that they value honest •work and not mere 'spouting.' Let,them make it "plain that the man who, if ■elected, wastes time in: talk instead, of facilitating the progress of real work will never again receive their support. Let them return the right class of men to Parliament, and then they will have taken the most effective means to prevent waste of time and its inevitable Concomitant, unsatisfactory legislation." • ■ ■ ' !l "This coming . election," remarks "The Pos^-'1 in a further editorial, "marks a -crisis in pur history, and it largely depends on the judicious choice made by the electors on the approaching polling day whether the future career of this colony will bo one of stagnation, or even of decadence, or of Steady and increasing progress and prosperity." THE NATIVE DIFFICULTY. ) "That the long-standing Native Difficulty on the West Coast of this Island 'has' assumed a new phaso may be frankly admitted. It was hoped that •with the release of the last Native •prisoners the trouble might be fairly 'deemed to have passed away, and become simply a disagreeable memory of the pa3t. Everything that experience .would suggest or ingenuity devise for perpetuating peace and promoting progress in the disturbed district has been done., Keserves of most liberal magnitude and favourable situations have "been set aside, for the Natives, and ample opportunity has been afforded rttiem of setting forth every claim they ■Way have, or may imagine themselves and their tribes to have. . . . But the ■Native Difficulty has entered a. new and !a ,'serious phase of its existence. Te 'Whiti has commanded his followers to resume their encroachments on the confiscated land by fencing and otherwise. ■'Ha has also ordered them to go in. large 'iniunberS.' to, tbjs work; and he. has instructed' them; if interfered with, to resist.' This last is the serious feature; Hitherto he has forbidden the smallest approach to resistance:-. now he inculcates it as a sacred duty. The Natives are in no easel to strike the first blow. But if they, are-pushed, they are to push back again; if they are struck, they are to • strike back again; whatever is done to them, they are to return. Te Whiti. obviously means to push the endurance of tho Europeans to the uttermost, and to.obtain by a protracted course of. worry what, he' knows he could not secure by fighting. He does not mean to fight," because he knows that fighting means destruction. to him, and his followers. - It is questionable,; however, whether he has not ov.er-reach-' ed himself at last., \The Colony will not; any longer tolerate these perpetual harassing alarms with their costly consequences. We have no hesitation-in saying that the Government will have the full support of the Colony in dealing firmly and resolutely with the fresh difficulty that has unhappily arisen." ALL BEADY TOR IT. "An eccentric old gentleman, aged 83 is so firmly convinced of the approaching end of the world that he has ordered-an immense balloon to be made for his own : convenience, by means of which he hopes to witness the destruction of the planet without sharing the fate of its inhabitants or suffering any inconvenience. ■ He will take with him in his ascent tinned provisions, brandy, soda-water, claret, and. other creature comforts in sufficient quantities' to meet his requirements for three years, by which time he calculates his life will come, to a- natural close. He is of the opinion that among, the debris* of the world will be. several large fragments, on one of wHich he will be able to, effect a descent at an opportune moment, and find a refuge for his few remaining years. He proposes to take with him as a companion a faithful j retainer—a gamekeeper. He has warned him, however, that, being only 52 years of age, he will have to shift for himself when the provisions in the balloon are exhausted. Having made these arrangements, the old. gentleman is perfectly calm, and,, indeed, cheerful. ' I shall,' he declares, 'get on better without the world than with it.' "