The Daily News SATURDAY, JANUARY 25. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81917, 26 January 1907, Page 2

The Daily News SATURDAY, JANUARY 25. THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Conflicting views, for a few d ly.-, at any rale, will uu doubt be !i -l'<l le yarding the i.i w hatch of itppnii;t m-.'iit> to tlic L'pper I 1011,0. Tin- liist. d : * appointment, and to our mind Ue ma-ii one, is trial viic majority oi tie- g : lit: 1 men are almost unknown to no.wiri lame. We do not hold, ho\vc\e;', mat previous political experience is'necvssuiily a sin-* <}ua noii m a Legislative. ( 'ouneikor. ilipe knowledge. experience, and sound judgment are the qualifications, it seems to us, mo,t ['.veil vial. Added to those general .pialilications, it is essential that the var ions interests in tile colony shad b:: specially represented in tin; Council, in order that the oftentimes ill-con'sidevi-d and hasty legislation of the "other place" may be critically examined. While, therefore, it may be asserted with some tiutli that men of more brilliant attainments might have' be e, "called," the colony need not fur that reason feel disappointed. If noii specially brilliant, it may bo safeiy asserted that good hard-thinking colonists, and men who are l'epresentaAive of the various classes and interests to which they belong, have been singled out for the. honours. The appointment of three eminent lawyers is jnstilied by the analytical and legal character of the work with which the Legislative Council has mainiy lu do. The rural interests have not been overlooked, and udeed —as tiiey are entitled to lie—have been signally recognised. Three gentlemen gaining their livelihood directly oil' the soil, a oilier (now a journalist) who haan intimate knowledge of the farm. aiv included amongst the new councillors. Tiui commercial and industrial inliV e^ts have likewis.' been given representation. as also the labouring and professional classes, not 1o mentioa the special interests of the tcinpeianco party and its visa-vis. Then, again, provincial jhiiins have had Lo he iycognised, and those may bo said to have been treated fairly. While, generally speaking, the principal intere-ls have been judicially noticed, conflicting political vie//* are not strongly evidenced in the new appointments. L may he safely assumed ilr.it the ma joritv -of the new "Lords'' are sympathetically inclined to the general policy of the tJovernment. It was. pentaps. [ almoM. too much to expect otherwise under our parly government system, speaking generally, therefore, and ad mitting that in some in.-tances belLer appointments might have been made, it seems to us that as a whole the new councillors will considerably strengthen the Council and infuse \>x life in that recently sterile and attenuated body."