The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 25, 1903. THE WAYS OF PARLIAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 254, 25 November 1903, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 25, 1903. THE WAYS OF PARLIAMENT.

"The way of the transgressor is hard." Parliament has transgressed for some five months, and not even the most ardent supporter of the present Administration cam feci satisfied that 'during the Session the inmates of the .great Wellington talkshop haw applied themselves properly to the business of the country. Members have had to suffer for this now, the Premier 'having resorted to the old practice commonly known as legislation hy exhaustion. The wretched loss of time from June to the middle of last week has now to be made up, if possible, and legislation is being turned out at tan- enormous pace. The Parliamentary correspondent of the New Zealand Herald has furnished to his paper a most interesting account ol' Parliament's doings on- Saturday night. In- the •dying' hours of the session, he siays, we have had measures of farreaching import introduced and rushed through an utterly exhausted House. We have had Bills dealing with preferential trade, the Dank of New Zealand, national scholarships, and the authorisation of new railways, involving the colony in further heavy expenditure of loan money. One would have thought that the culminating point had been reached tho other night, when an expenditure of over a million and a half was rushed through a sleeping and .snoring and utterly exhausted House ; bait it was not. The culminating point was reached last night, or rather this morning, in an extraordinary scene. Probably never in the •history of the colony has such a state of affairs obtained, and it is most devoutly to be hoped that nothing approaching it will ever occur in the futuro. The House became somewhat excited as Saturday evening wore on. It was asked to swallow new legislation, not in homoeopathic doses, but holus bolus. It jibbed, however, at the Railway Authorisation Bill about which some very wry faces were made even by Mr Seddon's most ardent supporters. Hour after hour went by and there was still no sign of the Supplementary Estimates. Some of the people's representatives had already deserted their posts, and others were anxious to go. The Southern steamer, detained for the convenience of the Parliament till midnight, was waiting at the wharf, and members began to cast anxious eyes at the clock as the hour hand crept slowly but sure iy roun , d towanl Slmd morning. At last, at twenty minutes past eleven, some half-dozen copies of the Estimates made their appearance in the hands of the Pi-, mier. He walked across tho floor c «w House, handed one to the Leader of the Opposition, another to Mr Buchanan, and the other to members on his- own- side of tho House. Then he ventured on- a brief explanation of some of the new items. The pi-ess representatives- were'without a single copy of the Estimates. Presently a few more copies of the Estimates made their appearance, 'but only some 20 copies all told, and then the House proceeded to vote away £221776 at lightning-like speed, practically without knowning what it was doing. Some members complained that they had no copies-, others were doing their best to follow the business with one copy among three or four members. The press had still not. a .single . ■ ~,,,„ items WW v passed in a few seconds One heard only hulf the items as the -Airman reeled then. off. When the iU'.OOO for the Queen's Memorial vhs reached Mr Laurcnson, a strong government supporter, rose to- protest against »tbi s scandalous expen- " ' »re 0-1 pn-Wie money _„ Potest. He said the Premier had committed the colony to this exp L , *ture The Prenrier BnW *us not committed. Mr Tarln,. P-on'Htly: ''Then ! move thati *»m bo struck out." No JJ* Ins! r IM, , . U!lle WE >S the vouces- there, was apparently « ■najonty of "Noes" \. the question o-f scholarship; cam, I 1« discussion, and the House seen «1 dissatisfied with lh« w -Ppnedby t ,eC T. t t°ar iOll nienu y Mr Taylor doscri W^ 7 Ceed « a colonial scandal f there was one thing 11101 . 0 U Z ll other, he said, thatVoufai^;;: -rough this oxpe„, it u: e n °Vr2 * ay lor was speaking m,. ~, der Tim vj„„ • ' ciisorthe Premier was hea lT j * mate a remark t '> *"d to ul , did not hurry 0 would have to stay for t,, ■ * K ' y How long this soiVo - n n ' ght/ ' have gone on it ;i lng WOU W -tat members from th £* Z oak ! } ' frUah • earnest and hj,,- , an rtllU BUSUM'Ks-l ke p„ '»**■• Th-e Premier h al L. ,°™ raewxl deal of import ' Up " "»*■* the ' „;": ticm of flic -L-IMlin (m ' s ~ the Legislativ,. r , aitcuibwn of *■!,»*- +1 Counci1 ' andwehoim that these questions will collle * j early so that they can be ful v , ' -telligenUy discussed. S " m ' legislation i„ this m " 1 not tlw. s„h „r u "'"""er is tueir doubts as to its s , wlKi '" ;

wed for greater expedition in ptish-■in-g on with loan improvement works. Fault was found with the

"go- slow" policy, as- it was termed, of the old Coiuwil, and changes wito made in the personnel of the powers that be. Ratepayers will probably remember with i-egrel that tlie work of administering' the affair.* w'As at least carried out thttrcmgihly, if with extreme caution This can bandly toe sa'id to be exttctly the case now, as remarks 'm'&de at Monday's meeting, of the Council tended lo show. At present the borough- is passing through a very trying' period of its history, a largo sum of lean money being: in- process of expenditure On various works, and it is just now that careful management is required in directing' tnat expenditure. Works 'in progress' a.t present involve iin- expendituit) of £67.000 of loan money, arid surely tho ratepayers wTuo Irave to pay interest on this sum may be expected U) evince a little concern in tho matter. But they seem quite prepared to jog along in their accustomed rut, seeing nothing beyond the immediate pi-eseitt. As our correspondent states, it is quite logical t'o anticipate a total lack of, or at least only a part'ml, representation In the West Ward in the near future, and t-lnis must militate against the ratepayers there receiving just treatment by tho Council in carrying out loan works-. A special instance is given relating to drainage, which should servo to open ratepayers.' eyes to the unfortunate position In which they may bo landed if they persist in their present indifferent attitude. There is an old proverb about " a word to the wise," and we trust it may be taken to heart at this juncture.