The Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPT. 17, 1877.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 433, 17 September 1877, Page 2

The Evening Mail. MONDAY, SEPT. 17, 1877.

Op all the unprofitable sessions cf the Parliament of New Zealand—and there have been many such—the present session has so far been the most iinprofita'-le. The General Assembly has been in session nine weeks, but as yet not a single measure of any importance likely to benefit the Celony has been passed into law. It is true that the Ministry have brought forward a few large, measures,but for the most part they have proved abortive, and not. at all in accord with the wishes of Parliament or public opinion. They are crude and ill-con-sidtred, and are indicative of the utter incompetence of the Government. They are the only feasible outcome of the wilful waste of time practised by Ministers during the recess—time spent in pleasure excursions instead of in framing measures for the good government of the. Colony and the peace and prosperity of its inhabitants. Had Parliament, however, set industriously to work to remedy the evil d--ue by Ministers, we might by this time Lave had. something performed of a tangible, and benefiting nature. But our le<4sl4p|p-'liays} no'; thongi'it it worth their whilel?fc3 ! ' ; do anything of the. kind ; and. tlie attitude assuniecl by the Government has, to a considerable, extent, •'precluded the possibility^ ; such a course being followed. When motions? having for their object much-needed financial reform were brought forward by private

111611113618, they were shelved absence juji-sufficiehi/cbucage of the Ministry to'iineet itppenchiigfdiffi-" cullies. " We will deal with the matter l§j£t year," said Ministers ; and a majority of the House, > anxious- to pcatpuiie,;;tha evil, day as long as !possible, t agreed to leave the matter to to consider, dining the rtcess. That they will'not trouble':'themselves any further about tlie matter untilr.gain brought under the notice of the House by a member we have not the- least doubt. Their intentions may be good, but good intentions unfulfilled are of no avail when prompt and energetic action is required. A wise old sage has declared that " Hell is paved with good intentions ;" our Ministers of late have' shown.-- a great desire to keep that pavement in good repair. Session after session they have made solemn promises, only afterwards to be totally disregarded. Ko wonder, then, that the H.mso has become impotent for good, and powerless to successfully grapple with, the financial crisis looming- over the Colony. ISTo wonder, too, that personal abuse and evil-speaking have usurped the place of calm deliberation. There is a saying that Nero fiddled while Rome was burning ; our legislators have been guilty of far more reprehensible conduct. They , have indulged in personal bitterness, and allowed the Colony to drift down the stream towards an ocean of utter ruin. Our finances are in a crippled state ; our millions of borrowed money have nearly been, expended ; our credit at Home is nearly exhausted; our public works are far from a state of completion ; our revenue for the past year shows a falling oil', while our expenditure has assumed proportions of altogether unwarrantable greatness. Everything points to the absolute and urgent necessity for financial reform and prudent administration. ' And yet, with all these facts staring them boldly in their faces, with the ghastly spectre of prospective ruin stalking before their very eyes, the Government and the Legislature have wasted nine weeks of precious time in the indulgence of personal feeling and the besmearment of each others characters. This is the kind of thing that has taken the place of a desire to grapple with the urgent necessity for putting the affairs of the Colouy on a sound basis. Wrangling and unseemly scenes are the only things that have been at all conspicuous during the present session. The House is no more like unto its former self than is the present Premier unto Hercules. Personal abuse and invective has taken the place of calm deliberation. Chaos has supplanted order and decency, and the demon of discord holds full sway in our supreme Legislature. This is the Parliament of which but a few years ago we used to boast, and that, too, not without good reasons for so doing. This is the Parliament of which we were wont to declare that for administrative ability, for the high tone of its debates, and for the sound practical sense of its members, there was not its equal ■ in any of the other Colonies. We were then proud of our Parliament and of our politicians ; now we look upon our Parliament with contempt, and upon many of our politicians with distrust —distrust for which, unhappily, the grounds are only too good. Many of those who in former years adorned our Legislature have passed away, some to "that bourn from which no traveller returns," while manj' that remain, notably Messrs. Staffokd and Fox, are but the ghosts of their former selves. That there are men of moderate ability and integrity in the House, we cannot deny ; but they are in the minority, and lack the power of doing that amount of good for which their talents so well fit them. As we - have said. -Parliament is in a disorganised state, and very strong measures indeed will be necessary to purify the political atmosphere. The initiation of the public works policy has been attended with, baneful results. That policy, together/with the power of expending millions of pounds where w-e were formerly only able to spend thousands, appears to have turned the brains of .our rulers. The House, too, has become demoralised,'and instead of that large expenditure receiving calm consideration, a general scramble has taken place, in which those most gifted in the noble art of log-rolling have received the largest share of the plunder. The Ministry, instead of insisting upon: those .■millions being expended prudently have used the enormous sums of money at then- command for the purpose of purchasing political support and personal power. In this way the Parliament of New Zealand has degenerated. With a Premier lacking the power and tact to lead the House, but rather allowing himself to be led, and a Ministry of

carinbt hppe; for a nipre afi&jrs.-. One an'd-all of : €ne members of the with each other in their efforts to make representative Government in this Colony 3V.abam.and.a mockery, instead.of a glorious reality. We have been treated to the undignified spectacle of Ministers of the Crown standing, up in their places in Parliament, and, livid with rage, giving utterance to groundless calumnies against political opponents, immeasurably thoir superiors alike in honesty, integrity, and singleness of purpose. The} 7 have done this, too, in language unknown to, and unpractised by, gentlemen. We may now hope that Parliament has touched the lowest depths of its degradation, ami that the work of regeneration will be soon set about. How that work is to bu performed we cannot say ; but it cannot be done while the present Ministry is allowed to remain in power. Perhaps the best means of obtaining a solution of the difficulty would be by a dissolution of the House*, and leaving the task of solving the problem to the electors.