The Gisborne Times PUBLISHD EVERY MORNING. GISBOBNE, SEPT. 14, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1860, 14 September 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHD EVERY MORNING. GISBOBNE, SEPT. 14, 1906.

[ The true inwardness of political proj fessions when put to the test are too frequently found to have no solid foundation in honest intention, and this has been most glaringly demon* 5 strated by the speeches and votes of | Ministers on the Legislative Council j Election Bill, earned through its second reading in the face of Ministerial opposition on Wednesday night. If the author of tho Bill, Sir William Steward, has achieved no other success by his persistent efforts to carry this E il through than to show that political professions, at least as far as Ministers are concerned, are mere wind and nothing more, his efforts have not been without useful result, for it is shown beyond all doubt that the prating 3 of Ministers during recess and from the election hustings are mere insincere babblement. The creed of the late Bt. Hon. B. J. Seddon in regard to the Legislative Council was thatitshould be “mended or ended,” and the present Cabinet profess to have appropriated his political mantle. Indeed, Mr HalUJones has declared his preference for its abolition, Messrs McNab and Fowlds I haV? already voted for a similar Bill I to that against which they .cast their votes on Wednesday night; but they were not then Cabinet Ministers. The Premier himself has spoken strongly in favor of some change, and we know of no Minister who has been hold enough to proclaim his views in favor of the present constitution of the Council. We do, however, vividly remember the fiery expletives levelled against it in the days when the other party controlled the nominations, and

tho violont demands tlion mado by tlia Liberals for reform. In fact “JI .-form of tho Legislative Council ” was t.lion ono of the main planks of tlio Liberal platform, and tlio man who opposed it was at once branded as a hidobound Conservative and an onomy to the progress of tho country. Jiut all this is now chan god, and wo have tho curious spoctaclo boforo us in tlio latest division list of tho profossod Liborul Government voting to a man against this Liborul proposal in distinct opposition to thoir orstwhilo political outpourings, and the loader ol tho real L bonds walking with the majority into tho right lobby in favor of tho reform. Thero is not a Labor organisation in tho colony that has not sanctioned it, and there is not a socalled Liberal organisation in existence for any time that has not made it one of their planks in some shape or form ; there is not a Cabinet Minister who has not favored it by vote and voice or refrained from opposing it for his own safety ; and there is not a Liberal Government that has not only had the chance to effect the reform but failed to do so; and more than one such Government has prevented others from passing it into law by voting and using its influence against it. Where, then, is the honest intention in political professions of the so-called Liberal order, and who are the real Liberals ? Just glance over the divL sion list on this measure, and you will hud that not a single member of tho present Cabinet comes within that category. Six out of the eight Ministers voted against the majority

on that Bill, the seventh was absent, but no doubt paired against it, and the eighth, being a member of the Chamber which it is proposed to reform, could not vote on this occasion, but will doubtless wield the Government influence against it when the Bill reaches his sphere of operations if his colleagues do not cut it short on the third reading, as they are most likely to do, for they have done it before. Whatever, may be the fate of the Bill, the position clearly places the Government in a quandary from which there is but one hope of honorable escape. The House, by large majorities, has affirmed the principle of the Bill, which clearly implies that there shall be no more appointments made by the Government to the Council, and the country has in more than one election emphatically endorsed that view. If, therefore, the Government flouts the expressed and emphatic mandate of the House and the country it will be a curious manifestation of democratic government which we are supposed to be enjoying, and which, indeed, we are enjoying if we are to believe the peurilities of political speeches made at Ministerial banquets and other places under the promptings of John Barleycorn. The position is this now, that, although the law has not been altered, the Government cannot logically make another appointment to the Legislative Council, good or bad, without grossly violating the principles of democracy which rigidly adheres to the axiom of “ government of the people by the people for the people.” If we are to have that fundamental principle flouted and disregarded by <the making of fresh appointments to the Council in the face of the repeated votes of the House which represents the voice of the people, and of the people themselves after their clear expressions through the ballot box, the sooner Democracy wakes up to the necessity for preserving its privileges the better it will be for Democracy itself. But Democracy is in reality “ as dead as a door nail.” It exists only in name, and political pettifoggers walk over its corpse into the halls of the Legislature clothed in many-colored mantles that do not blend with the genuine original hue, though they still cherish the name of Democracy as the “open sesame” without which the hall doors would remain closed against them. Those old doors are now creaking on their hinges to admit some more Legislative Councillors, for in June next only 27 of them will remain without the violation of principle of which we have spoken, and death may reduce that number still more. What will the Government do under the circumstances? There is but one honorable course open, that is to reform the Council and make no appointments until it is done. Democracy should see that the honorable course is adopted or place on the Government benches a set of men who will obey her behests.