GOVERNING BY COMMISSIONS.
A Wellington correspondent writes— The scheme of local Government brought down last session by the Colonial Treasurer has been condemned on all sides, and he dare not risk a similar scheme again. What is he to do ? He has no notion evidently of what the country wants, and one of two courses would suit him exactly—either to avoid discussion on the question, by proposing some kind of makeshift to serve till next year, or to throw the onus of providing a policy on a committee of the House. The system of governing by committees and commissions seems to be encroaching on the well-defined functions of constitutional government. Government by committee is the American system, and ausweres well enough where the head of the State has an effective controlling influence. But it is diametrically opposed to the English system, and the two cannot live together. A Ministry that has not the courage of its convictions, that has no clearly defined policy, but snatches what it can from the Opposition, is a constitutional being of very low organization, and though it may have a prolonged life, it cannot have a very useful one.
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Patea Mail, 21 June 1881, Page 3
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194GOVERNING BY COMMISSIONS. Patea Mail, 21 June 1881, Page 3
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