CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 58, 29 July 1914, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

'i'in; u:<;:si.ati\k uh'.wil. (To the Kditor.,Sir.~Tlle• Government, of liiis country lifts a regulation that c0n,,;,!, ail Civil t<> retire, ironi their iluii-s' on superannuation. (~„• oid age p,.„.sion it granted to men at <i» years of ?&:; and to women at 00 veark of age. I'J.oreforc, a standard, so far as ago is concerned, is set up and accepted by I be- citizens of this Dominion. Weli, this being so, why is not this rule followed m regard lo the legislative Council'; .1 find, on looking through the record of the recent twelve gentlemer appointed, tliat their ages run as follows:—One is 77 years of age, another lb. others 75 and 73; five .others wc-o bT, at last birthday; the age of two others is not available., and one in 04 j ears of age. Now, I do not wish for one moment to decry the mental power of any man who lias attained the age of Ob, but I do think that when a. man has reached 70, instead of being taken away from comfortable family surroundings, tr. go to a. 'blustering (in more ways tlan .one) place like Wellington, Hihe P'esent Reform Government should be tried and condemned for cruelty to old inspected and estimable gentlemen, leaving the above view, I would like to draw attention to how political control is being centred in Wellington. Five of the present Ministry are permanent residents of Wellington (Messrs. Bell, Fraser, Fisher, Hcrdman and Pomare). Vhcre are eleven members in the Legislative Council belonging to the Wellington district, and that province lias fifteen members in the House of representatives. With those for«cs to move, it is easily seen how strong such a. centralising political power in Wellingt'onisthe so-called 'Reformi Party. Progressive democracy made a terrible mistake when it vented its spleen on the old Liberal Party «t last election; and it will take years to overcome the mischief done —for a blind person can see that the whole power is practically being filched away from the people by the formation of Boards, which are outside of the control of Parliament. Napoleon, by the establishment of a bureaucratic form of government, destroyed the democracy of France. Can New Zealanders not see what is ahead in this countrv? —I etc., BACK BLOCKER.