THE Temuka Leader. TUHRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1892. THE PREMIER.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2396, 8 September 1892, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUHRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1892. THE PREMIER.

We are extremely sorry to learn that the Honorable the Premier is seriously ill, so ill that he is obliged t j refrain from work, and take a rest. There can be no doubt but that the worry, the anxiety, the l».o»t.a] strain, and the late hours have brought on his illness, for though Mr BallauCe" «> a W «, Strong man, his health is by no ineaiiS robust, lie is not an old man, being we believ«j under S§. but the late hours and annoyances to winch he js so frequently subjected are enough to break down a constitution stronger than his, while the mental strain necessaary -to be ready at all times to answer such questions as are being pub to ministers this session, and to explain away groundless charges, must be great indeed. There is one"thing which the outside public think could'be avoided, and that is bite hours. Why should members sit until $ OX 4 o'clock in the moaning, and not begin to work until 2.30 in the afternoon 'I is a matter which the outside public cannot understand. This is becauße the outside public cannot see what is going on behind the scenes. First of all ministers must attend to departmental business during tho forenoon. It frequently happens that there are deputations to receive, people to see on business, and a variety ot other things to do. Then there is committee work to do. Almost all measures, have to go through a committee, the public accounts have to be examined by a committee, petitions, and a largo number of other things have to go through the committees, and on these ministers and members are engaged during tJie forenoon. From this it can be seen that members are not at all idle up to 2.30. They are working on committees and hard work it _' •• too. But there is no doubt that even t 7 + " House could adjourn at 12 or 1 then tilt, -Mominsj only for useless o'clock m tne- ~.. slstru5 lstru £ fcivo tactics, waste of tune ana l._. , me down For instance, the Governing*::- tv.

determined to carry certain measures, u* do certain things that sitting, but the moment they set to work some member raises some side issue and the whole evening is wasted on this. The Government know that if they adjourn they cannot carry on the business, and consequently it becomes a matter of necessity with them to sit late. This is more especially so, at the pi'osent time because the great objects of the present Opposition is to prevent anything being done. That is thti • aim and object, and the worst amongst them are Messrs Fisher, Fish and George Hutchison, the renegade Liberal.?. The

Government know I hi?, and they know also that their only chance of doing the work is by sitting so late and thus tiring out tho Opposition. The late hours are the result of the wasting of time, and over that tho Government have no control. In the face of all this it appears to us that there is nothing for it but to apply the cloture. We hate the cloture ; it is a curtailment of liberty,and a weapon which usedunserupulously may do harm. But in the face of existing facts in the face of the eternal unending waste of time—-it must bo regarded as absolutely necessary, and we should not at all object to see it adopted. The illness of the Premier is a serious matter just now, but he has very able and zealous Ministers, and they will be able to carry on in his absence,

| ELECTORAL TEMPERANCE. ; A sr,H!rrr little storm rose up in Parliament the other evening between two I honorable members. Mr Saunders while i in committee on the Electoral Bill moved | a resolution to close up all public ho. ises on | the day of a general election and spoke very strongly of the drunkenness which went on in liia own district when ho was recently elected. Mr E. G. Wright, member for Ashbutrton, made a tremendous onslaught on Mr Saunders for this, and asserted that his opponent was too honorable a man to resort to such a course to secure his elction. Mr Saunders replied that he had not accused his opponent of having done it. Money was spent by his opponents friends in giving drink to people on the day of the election. This made matters worse, for Mr Wright said he was one of the friends of the defeated candidate, and he certainly had not spent his money as stated. Mr Saunders insisted that the money was spent, and the storm went on but the ultimate result was that a majority decided against closing the public houses on election day. We may say that we regret this, and it has astonished us that they were not closed. There can be no doubt but the man who can spend the most money fares best by the public houses being opened and notwithstanding Mr E. G.Wright's assertion to the contrary, he would not object if his friends spent money liberally on that day. Mr Wright has the reputation of being very liberal with his money at election times and as he has plenty of it to spend it must give him a great advantage over a poor candidate. If the public housea were closed on election days there can be no doubt but it would be much to the advantage not only of poor candidates but of the people at large.

THE STUPID PARTY

No party could have been more foolish than the present Opposition. Only that they are extremely stupid they could see that the points on which they are everlastingly wasting time, cannot weigh one way or the other with the electors. What do the electors care about those fine points of constitutional usages '! "What do they care whether Mr Ballance wrote to the Agent-General or not ? Nine-tenths of them don't care one straw about these trifling things on which Mr Rolleston gets so terribly angry ; and the point of view from which they will look on them is that too much time is being wasted over nothing at all. Then they will ask who is the cause of all this waste of time, and who can they accuse but Mr Rolleston and his followers. The Opposition, therefore, by the adoption of such foolish tactics are simply cutting their own throats and they will find it out in the course of time.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS. The clause conferring the franchise on women passed through the House of Representatives, and it is said that it has a very good chance of passing the Legislative Council, It cannot, however, come into operation until the first of June 1893, the object being to prevent a dissolution taking place in the meantime. If women wre enfranchised immediately, a dissolution of Parliament would at once be demanded so as to give "women the right to vote. In order to avoid that the operation of the clause has been delayed to the first of June next year, when unless the Legislative Council rejects it women will have the right to vote. It is at any rate certain that before long women will be enfranchised, so they wsuld do well to begin at once to study politics.