The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1907. CLOSING “THE TALKING SHOP.”

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2046, 25 November 1907, Page 2

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1907. CLOSING “THE TALKING SHOP.”

Unless something of • extraordin- . ary* moment occurs Parliament will close its 1907 session to-day, greatly to the* relief of the country, which for some time -past lias almost completely lost interest -in the doings of its representative's in ’Wellington, -and has looked upon tlio space devoted by the Press to Parliamentary happenings as chiefly wasted. -It is easy to (understand this apathetic attitude on the part of the public, for the record of the present Parliament lias not been of such a nature as to inspire any great admiration for its achievements. Some solid work lias been done, and (t'lio new tariff, the Land Bills, and the Gaming Act amendment are amongst the most notable evidences that our legislators did -not entirely overlook their responsibilities, but for Hie most part the session is simply a record of misdirected effort. During the first couple of months nothing of importance was -transacted, and any subject at all was good enough whereon to hang long, tedious speeches, or to be made the subject of a bitter party wrangle. Contrast that with the state of affairs during the past week 1 Bills have been disposed of with most amazing celerity, and it will be a remarkable piece of good fortune if this hasty legislation does not prove to be full of flaws. A foav days sufficed to deal with the knotty problem of tile settlement, of native lands; a few hours was sufficient to pass the Supplementary Estimates. These latter involved the expenditure of nearly £IOO,OOO, yet the various items were rushed through • practically without discussion, and obviously without consideration. (Earlier in the week many of the legislators had returned to their -hsunes, leaving tlic country’s •affairs to take care of themselves, and those who remained were evidently grudging every moment that was being devoted to the interests of those constituents whose voltes they had so earnestly solicited before the last election. The proceedings on Saturday night, whilst •possibly excusable in a lot of students intent on celebrating the “breaking-lip” day, were considerably beneath the dignity of Parliament, The fact of the matter is the bulk af the time in .Wellington is /taken up will'd the consideration of matters of purely local interest that would be much better attended to by local bodies, whilst important subjects affecting the whole Dominion are 'constantly being shelved. Thus the Gisborne Harbor Board Bill, which is eminently a matter for consideration by local bodies in this district, seeing that the money is to be found locally, occupied several days, yet Parliament apparently could spare no time to investigate such national questions as those of /population and defence. A retrospect of the session that is just closing cannot fail to leave the impression that our politics are much too parochial, and that if. there js a truly national feeling existent -in this country it centa.inly finds little representation in our Parliament. Under the circumstances it is possibly just as well that “tile talking shop” is closed, and that there is to be a temporary cessation froilr the fruitless discussions on comparatively trivial matters that are a chief feature of its deliberations.