The New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4840, 26 September 1876, Page 2

The New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26.

Sir George Grey's Bill to provide for triennial Parliaments in New Zealand deserves more than passing notice, not only because of its historical association and the feeling it is likely to rouse in the minds of those whose sympathies are still with the great political agitation of 1838, but also on account of the importance of the subject to the country at large. It is excellent policy for a party to go to the country with a good sounding cry, and for electioneering purposes " triennial Parliaments " will do equally as well as "payment of members " or "manhood suffrage." In introducing this Bill Sir Georoe Grey has in all probability taken this fact into consideration, and if he is unsuccessful in his endeavor to push it through Parliament this session, we shall hear more about the corruption of governments and the rights of the people who disapprove of the present to rectify the future. It is, however, very undesirable that the matter should be dealt with from a party point of view at all, the real question being, how will it work? Will the legislation and business of tho country proceed more expeditiously and be done more effectually and economically if the scheme is adopted than is the case at present 1 From the time of William 111. to the first year of the reign of George 1., the English Parliament only sat for three years, and then the term was extended to seven years. Notwithstanding the Chartist' propaganda, the duration of the British Parliament remains unchanged ; and although lately Dr. Kehealy has adopted the same platform as Sir Geo. Grey, from all appearances the same period is likely to continue. We have then a good precedent against triennial Parliaments, for no one can say that the Imperial Legislature does not do its work well, and in fact better than the legislative body of any other country in the world. The great expense of contested elections, both to candidates and to the country, is another matter which should suggest itself to the House in considering the Bill. It was only tho other day that another point in the charter—"payment of members"—was raised, and received the sympathy, if not tho support, of Sir George Grey ; and then we heard a truly pitiable story of the impecuniosity of certain hon. members who were virtually "ruined by being compelled to stay in such an extravagant place as Wellington for three months in the year. Unless some payment, or rather honorarium, was given to gentlemen who were

at the trouble and inconvenience of legislating for their country, it would be impossible to get good men to come forward for the various constituencies. : But if in addition to their lavish expenditure in the Empire City the burden of an election c6ntest every three years is to be cast upon the representatives of the people, then in all probability no one at all will feel a desire to contest such barren honors. The expense is not only confined to candidates, for the cost of a general election is a serious item in the Estimates ; and at the present time any increased expenditure should be carefully considered. The people generally throughout the country also suffer in pocket considerably at election times, and the violent animosities and prejudices excited by a contest are not altogether a good thing, especially in small young communities such as the electoral districts throughout the colony. Our experience of the working of past Parliaments is such as not to create an impression in favor of Sir George Grey's proposal; for it is a fact patent to all that of the some three dozen members who come up for the first time on the opening of each new Parliament, the majority require two sessions at least before they are broken in to the business of the House. The present session has well illustrated the utter incapacity of most of the new members to adapt themselves to the business of the country, and before a determination is arrived at to educate amateur politicians every three years, the matter should be well thought over. If the duration of Parliament should be limited to three years, the same difficulty which exists under the piesent system will arise, viz., that during the last session of Parliament representatives seem hardly to act as free agents—the ordeal of an appeal to the constituencies apparently being continually before each individual member, his acts and speeches being studied with a view of producing a desirable effect in his own electoral district—and together with the time occupied in educating the new members, will operate so that the business of the country will ii"t be done either so well or so expeditiously as under the existing state of things. Altogether Sir George Grey's measure does not commend itself either for practical purposes or on economic grounds, and although we may be told that the frequent introduction of new blood into the Legislature will excite throughouc the country an ambitious yet laudable desire to enter upon and emulate others who have gone before in the world of politics, resulting in benefit to posterity and the Anglo-Saxon race, we believe that there is a life and vigor thoroughly diffused in the community, which under the present system will bring '•' the good men and true" to the front when the exigencies of the State require, and that no such change as that suggested is necessary at the present time.