The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1881.
Feom our latest telegrams from Welling 4 ton it will be seen that the Government have been victorious over the stonewallers, aud that practically the Representation Bill has been carried. So determined were the Ministry that they insisted upon the Bill being passed as printed, and reserved to themselves the right to suggest any alterations they thought "desirable. 1 The Premier thus piled all the contempt he could upon the obstructionists, and proved to them how sweeping had been: their defeat. But the question arises' —How was the,defeat accomplished? By fair constitutional mean's, or by; the power which a large majority gave, with the assistance and countenance of a Speaker and Chairman of Committees? We are inclined to attribute the victory to the latter, and doubt the legality of the means employed to beat the obstructionists. We do not at the same time wish it to be understood that we approve altogether of the tactics used by the discontents, but minorities have a right to be heard, and we see plainly that many evils might creep into Parliament with an unscrupulous Speaker, a headstrong Premier, and a demoralised House The transactions of the last ten days are a disgrace to any assembly, and cannot but cause a loss of that respect due to the Supreme Legislature of the State. The Government are, however, not altogether blameless, and we shall not be surprised to find that the country will not endorse this high handed mode, just introduced, of passing Acts of Parliament. We should much rather have seen the cloture accepted by the House, which, while it restrains debate under certain circumstances.does not altogether prevent members from expressing their views, nor allows a chairman, or speaker to arbitrarily decide the mode, of procedure. The Opposition will at least have a good cry to go to the country with, and if, the the next elections result in excluding many of the present members! from the House, the country will not suffer any great loss, and another session may redeem the reputation lost by the unseemly occur' rences of the past few days.
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Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3957, 3 September 1881, Page 2
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363The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1881. Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3957, 3 September 1881, Page 2
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