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Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 88, 14 August 1878, Page 2

It is somewhat of a coincidence that while tho Victorian Parliament are at tho present time engaged m discussing the important question of tho lleform of their Upper House, the ex-Superin-tendent of Nelson, Mr Cmras, has tabled an important notice of motion, affecting the constitution of the Legislative Council. Although thero are six clausos or seotions m tho motion, they may be narrowed down to three, as follow; — That tho number of members constituting tho Legislative Council be fixed to ono half of that o£ tho House of Eepresentatives ; that vacancies shall be filled by persons elected by ballot of tho House of llepresentativos ; and that when any Bill passed by the House of Representatives has been rejected by the Legislative Council m two sucoesaive Sessions, it shall bo competent for the House to require that the Council and House shall sit together for the further consideration of such Bill, and if a majority of two-thirds- of the united body shall vote m favor of tho Bill, the same shall be submitted to the- Governor for his assent on behalf of tho C.-own. Those aro the main features of tho proposd changes designed by tho member for Nelson City; but before making any comment upon them, wo might briefly refer to the intended reform m the Australian Lords. As is well known, there is no such thing m Australian Besponsible Government as a nominated House; the two branches of the Legislature are elective, the Upper, or Legislative Council, is composed of members who are elected for ten years, who represent different portions of : the several provinces, and whose terms of office is not effected by dissolution, or the effluxion of time which rules the Lower House ; neither do they all retire together, but the vacancies "are so regulated thab there are always a certain number of members m retention of their seats. As we have said before, it is an elective body, theTepresentatives being chosen by a certain class of electors possessing certain qualifications, and the proportion of Lords to Commons is about four to six. It is proposod to reduce the qualification for voting, and lessen, the tenure of office from ten to six years, besido decreasing the members of T the Upper House to one-half that of the Lower. Those aro the .changes sought to be effected m the higher branch of the Victorian Legislature. Now we will briefly advert to those nearer home. With Mr Oubtis's firstiproppsition' we agree, but we cannot see that leaving the filling up of the vacancies to a ballot of the Assembly wojuld be inuoh i of an improvement upon the nominee system. Certainly, by the flpst proposition, the -great evil of flooding the Higher Chamber by political supporters would bo destroyed, and if that- alone were carried, we hold that. a grand good would have boon ejected ; but while the matter of refcrm is to be dealt with; it were better it should be done wholly,. arid not m part. Wo do not believe .'in giving a man a life m. terest m the Upper House, and it should be within the power of the people to recall horn political life aa incoinpeteiit,

an incapable, or a ne^leef.f nl representative, bo he a membor of either body. Mr Curtis has not gone far onough, and if the Council is to bo changed, or the Constitution to be altered, let it be to somo effect, and a reform introduced which will. deal vvith fchoso points which aro so capabio of amendment.

Mr T. P. Rothebman, the General Manager of the Wanganui-Manawatu Lino is cortainly tho very ea9ence of consistency. Evor since tho unfortunate hour m which a junction of the two sections of tho line was made, and ho was placed m charge of the Foxton end, ho has set him studiously to ignoro the wants and necessities of the southorn Beotion, and wo .must cortainly give him tho greatest credit for tho determined manner m whioh :he has sinoo stuck to his programme. Wo may write, settlers may remonstrate, but his mission soems to bo dividod. botween giving the greatest inconronwnce to the public :of Mannwatu, and an effort to prove that this Beotion of tho line cannot pay, and it must bo admitted ho has worked hard towards both objects. When Mr Rothehah took charge of tho whole lino, 'he inaugurated his ret/imo by ordering that all the concessions granted to the settlors between Feilding and Foxton should bo abolished. Letters, and verbal petitions wero unavailing, and mon like Mr Cjhustopiieb Simpson, who had invested thousands upon tho strength off promisos made by the Railway Departs ment, found that with tho advent of tho new autocrat they wero marooned m the bush. However, pressure was brought to bear m Wellington, and the more flagrant cases of oppression were mitigated ; still, the disposition to thwart remains, and no occasion is lost to snub or sneer at a request made by the people of this county. One of tho greatest wants which hasbeen'ex' perienced has been tho necessity of a platform at Terraoo End., for the despatch of sheep or cattle by raU. Week after week/ droves of sheep pass through the towii front the Napier country, 6» route to Rangitikei, and elsewhere, and the owners are loud m, their oomplaints at the •want of facilities for sending them to their destination by the train. A public mooting bold some time ago strenuously pointed out tho absolute necessity that existed for some provision being made, but when Mr Daibxmple, who is considerably interested m the matter, mentioned the subject to Mr Rotheeam, that gentleman, of course, elevated his nasal organ, and pooh-poohed the idea. Sometime ago a most influential meeting of the principal settlers m the district invited the Commissioner of Railway to pay a visit to this part of Ma charge, and listen to a few of the grievances to which they had been subjected, but so far Mr LAwaoir has turned a deaf ear to tho suggestion. We would suggest that as the chairman of Iho County Council is now m Wellington, he should interview Mr Lawson, and request him to pay tho same courtesy to the people along this line, as he has to all the other districts m the North Island. If the " mountain will not come to Mahomet, than Mahomet mnst go to the mountain," and Mr Thtnnb should certainly not leave Wellington without first having enlightened tho Commissioner as fco the peculiar method employed m managing the Manawatu line.

So much baa been Baid and written-with regard to tho extended tour made by certain members of tbo Ministry daring the Bece33, i tbnt we bavo gone to considerable trouble to furnisb the following'tables fop the sake ofi comparison. From those it will be seen that the triumphal progress of-the Premier and his Fid as Achates has swallowed up movethan one-half of the expenses incurred. According to tho return, the Hon. Mr. Sheehan would appear lo have been a veritable Captain Cook m tho magnitudes of his voyages, or. a Sir Julim Yogel m his utter disregard of cost. The Niilivo Minister must either hnro travelled double the distance covored by his Chief, or his retinue or mode of travelling been a mow imposing one. In the matter of Ministerial residences, also, while Sir Georgo Grey has been satisfied to have his head ooverocl and his body lodged at an expense of £19 15s. 2d., tho housing of his henchman has cost the country no leas a sum than £57 ss. 2d, But to the Hon. Mr. Macandrow must the palm be awarded m the item of house allowanoo, his littlo bill reaching tho modost sum of £119 153. 2d. As the Minister of Lands was not given to roaming over the country, it might possibly be imagined that, that was the reason why his Ministerial residence should prove such a charge upon tho country. Unfortunately for this solution, it appears that Messrs. Ballanceand Stout—neither of whom havo put the Colony to a pound's expense m the matter of travelling —are only debited with £12 Is. 7d. and £8 179. 8d respectively for Minsterial residences. Referring back to the return laid before the Houso last Session, we iiud that et»oh member of the Atkinson Government had received beyond actual salaries, by way of house allowance, travelling, or other expenses, during the financial year,, tho following sums : — i i !

Making a grand total of £1,436.85, It will be seen by the above that the Hbn. Dr. Pollen waa the Grand Llama of the past Ministry, and his working expenses reached just one-third of the remaining eight members of the Cabinet. Now for the particulars of tho expenses of the present Ministry : —

The whole making a total of £1,652 183 7d or a paltry £166 10s 9d: m excess of th-amount-,expended; by- their predecessors Considering the clamor and. outcry whicl has been, inado about the pleasure soekin, of the merobers. Ofi the: Government at th expense of the country, tho two statemont published wjill. take-most people by surprise Certainly the action of the Government sino>' the opening; of Parliament supplies ampl< evidenoe that, notwithsiauding the^ Ibn^ conbiuueel absence of t^ Pr^wr iiud Ma-

five Minister from the seat of Government, the affairs of the country were nob at a standstill, and m leaving the severaldepartments m charge of the Treasurer, his capacity for work was, not over estimated. Decidedly since' the commencement of the Session the two members of the Cabinet who have come moat prominently forward are Messrs. Balance and StpuV; and it is rather remarkable thatwhilethey appear to have done all the work— the former being especially resident m Wellington during the prorogation — their united^ claim? for compensation, over and abovo their salaries as Ministers, will not nmorintrtd' twenty guineas, while those of Mr Sheohan roaohps five hundred, gviinpaav. .

i Pollen, travelling.., £422. 5 6 i L, house ... 104 8 8 ,• 528 14 2 G-. M'Lean, travel 148 14 0 „ houso 106 510 254 19 10 Whittalser, travel 12 12 0 „ house 100 0 0 ~- — - 112 12 0 Atkinson, travelling 72 2 2 Bo wen, travelling ... 192 5 6 Reid, house ... 73 15 0 Richardson, travelling ... 133 16 0 Ormond, travelling .., 23.12 0 D. M'Lean, travelling .., : 91 11 0

SirGK Grey, house „.£l9 15 2 „ travel'ng 292 14 6 312 9 8 Whitmore, house ... 24 3 0 „ travel'ng 147 0 0 171 3 0 Sheehan, houso .., 57 5 2 ! „ travelling 508 16 0 566 12! Maoandrew, house 119 IS 2 „ travelling 75 12 0 ——195 7 2 Fisher, house ... 28 4 4 „ travelling ... 150 12 0 , — 187 16 4 Lavnach, house „. 25 16 2 „ travelling 173 16 6 >^ — mr . — 19912 2 Stout, house ... v ... 817 S Balance, house . ..; , : „. :12 1 7