INCONSISTENCY OF OUR LEGISLATORS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 317, 31 May 1913, Page 4

INCONSISTENCY OF OUR LEGISLATORS.

A paragraph appeared in the .papers the other day to the eiTecJt that Mr. Roderick McKenzie,. late Minister for Public Works in the W&rd Cabinet, had received a contract for erecting a Government bridge. There is nothing legally wrong in'the former Minister undertaking the contract, but- it does seem to us anomalous that a member- of the body thfit makes our laws should enjoy rights which he and his fellow members deny ■to those beyond the portals of Parliament. Not so long ago the Legislature, in a virtuous moment, passed, a law forbidding members of a public body having any business connection with that body, ostensibly with the idea of defeating the operations of the log-roller and keeping the atmosphere surrounding local bodies pure and wholesome. With the merits of that enactment we-' are not at the moment'concerned. But we are concerned with the inconsistency of the position. If it is in the interest of the general public to prevent a man on public bodies having business dealings with them, it must certainly be desirable, that a member of Parliament should not be allowed to take contracts from the Crown or act for it in tjie buying or purchasing of property, giving legal advice, or accept service under the Crown in any way whatever. What is sauce for the goose should also be sauce for the gander. And the sooner the sauco is administered the better. One result of the Hine Enquiry was a recommendation that a law should be passed preventing members of Parliament accepting payment from the Crown for services rendered outside the House. And,, in our opinion, it was a recommendation that should have been given effect to by the then Government. The Opposition, the present Party in Power, who strongly favored this course being taken, will, we presume, now that the opportunity is given it, take measures accordingly, and place members of Parliament on the same footing as Parliament has placed the rest of the community. As we said, Mr. Roderick McKenzie, in taking the contract, is acting perfectly within his rights, but if he were a member of a local body requiring the building of a bridge ho would be debarred from tendering, a condition of thing* which is both inconsistent and absurd