The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 1910. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 29 June 1910, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 1910. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

lOnoucui topics were set out in the Governor's Speech, ait the opening of Parliament yesterday, to provide leader subjects for ten score of articles ; in it enough hills were mentioned to fill a more voluminous publication than any finished session: of Parliament lias produced; and enough controversial proposals were foreshadowed in it to keep Parliament in almost perpetual session were it prohibited from prorogation until each one 1 i-ntl bce,ni discussed with that degree of thoroughness which is desirable before any hill is made statute law. But the result, it may be -prophesied with safety, will prove very different from this. __ There will 'he a great deal of talk on sonic of 'tihe subjects, but the great majority of them will be passed over with perfunctory discussion; in the penultimate stage the Cabinet will meet to decide upon which ,t'wo or three score of the sessional bills shall be marked foi the annual slaughter; and in the end evciivt a dozen or so of new bills will be added to the Statute Book—awl Parliament members will go home with an unspoken conviction that there has been a repetition of the " great cry and little wool" process that was the lot of the-, Worcestershire e-haw.bacon who shore iliis sow on a certain 'mythical occasion. At times we have wondered why Parliament has never decided to murder its hills unborn; to the end t-hait sufficient opportunities might be ensured in which to discuss exhaustively tike proposed legislation which, prime facie, met with general aipprov.il. If it were not for the restraints hy some perhaps not unnecessary statutes which are now the law in New Zealand, wo would promote a "missing bill" competition, which would make clear, in advance, public recognition' of the fact that a totally avoidable waste of members' .time and puiblic money is certain, to occur in Parliament during the next four months. Any person possessed of enough acumen to keep bis signature off the Powelk<a reprieve petition cn.n see that seven-eighths of the proposed legislation mentioned in yesterday's speech will never reach the Statute Book. Does anybody seriously believe that the " Anti-Tnist Legislation/" will be productive of a;n Act? "What need 'have we for suoh a measure? There aro no "Trusts" in New Zealand; at the most there has I>oen but one, and that association had the merit of cheapening,

not maiding dearer, the commodity i (flour) that .it dealt iin. "Possibly something positive will spuing out ol the proposal to make a substantial State grant towards parenls in poor circumstances wilio are bringing up large families; but wo have soiine doubt ns to whether an equitably effective means to this end can bo devised by Parliament on behalf of Ifche State. A further list of twentyseven bills amending or consolidating the law is quoted in the Governor's Speech, and there is good, reason for doubting if a total of seven will win through Parliament;. Beneath tlje flood of words which will flow over those bills n. few pearls of wisdom may be rolled ; but the flood, we fear, will obscure them. To our mind. the. one'outstanding proposal in the Governor's Speech, /in point of nieretrieiousnew is that outlined in the paragraph' which runs:—"lt has been recognis- " n'd that in a. democratic com- " munity the names of all those en- " titled to exercise the franchise " should he upon the electoral rolls. "This result, it is found, cannot be "secured by leaving enrolment to " voluntary initiative, and it has " been decided to introduce a pro- " vision into our electoral law " whereby sniitnble persons will be "■appointed to insure the enrolment "of all adults entitled to the fran- " clrise." It is quite, correct to say that there has been a tendency in this direction for some years past: but the principle is a. wrong one. The franchise is a precious gilt that should be valued dearly, and in defence of the right to it every free man should bo prepared to fighit. These slinkeis in men's guise who are too indolent to be registered as electors are filling fas non-electors) exactly the place in the politic world that their diminutive merits cnttitle them to. The idea of appointing political stockriders to drive them in and brand them (so to put it) is a deplorable proposal, and we hope that the bill will be dropped with an exceeding great unanimity as soon as it rracili the first appropriate stage lor that procedure.