POLITICAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8489, 17 July 1907, Page 5

POLITICAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

(From Our Parliamentary Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, Tuesday. OUR NEW DIGNITY. "Things without ail remedy should be without regard," was one of the wise sayings of a wise man some hundreds of years ago; and accepting this dictum, it would be unprofitable to say much respecting the question of altering the designation of the colony to the high-sounding one of "Dominion." The motion for the alteration was adopted by the House on Friday last, after one of the tamest and most uninteresting discussions that have ever occurred in the popular Chamber of Parliament. There was not a scintilla of eloquence in the whole "debate," not an illuminating idea or sentence. Even SirJoseph Ward, the mover, was "lame and inconclusive." The resolution was passed as a matter of course; it had been accepted in the Address-in-Reply, and the House could not very well stultify itself by rejecting what it had only just previously accepted; but there was a total lack of enthusiasm which must have been especially depressing to the Premier, who had returned from his visit to England great with a secret which was, heimplied at the time, too astounding to be disclosed, except by the Governor at the opening of Parliament. Truly, of tha whole episode may be written: "Parturiunt montes, naxeturridiculus mus!" What's done is done, and so far as mere designation is concerned the thing is at an end, for the Upper House is certain to pass the resolution when it comes before that body. What, however, many members are exercising themselves about is the question—"Will the matter end where it is, or will it be proposed at some early date to bolster up the colony's new-fledged dignity by adding 1 to the titular distinction of members of Parliament and supporting those distinctions by increased emoluments?" Sir Joseph Ward was not definite on this point. All he said was that "there was no suggestion that by making the change in name we were altering the status of the Government or Legislature." At present that may be so; but what of the future? There's the rub that makes some members fearful. Mr Massey cited the change in the designation of Agent-General to High Commissioner as an example of what might be, for ; in that case an additioral expendir ture of £I,OOO a year was incurred . to support the added dignity. When Mr Fisher suggested that there might be a desire to emulate the Dc- ; minion of Canada in the matter of payment of members of the Senate and House of Commons by increasing their pay to £SOO a year, an hon. member ejaculated, "Hurrah! We'll all vote for it!" Laughter followed what was assumed to be a joke, but there's many a truth uttered in jest; and experience has shown that members have been easily induced to accept any suggested increment of honorarium. PICTORIAL STATE PAPERS. Every sessi . i ,'~sees an increase in the number of iilusti-ated reports submitted to Parliament. This year, so far, we have had pictorial reports on our forests, our tourist reservation and our cadet corps, and other illustrated papers have yet to corre down. From an artistic point of view the photographic reproductions are creditable, but they are costly and it may be doubted if the illustrating of State documents, the distribution of which is practically confined to members of the Legislature, is of any great public utility. The land report is one which is bare of pictorial illustration, but here a few photographic views might be illuminating in a double sense—practical as well as artistic. If,, for instance, there were some pictures showing the traffic disability of the back-bloclcers, and the manner in which settlers in the roadless district "live, move and have their being," it might induce Parliament to insist upon something being done to make the. life of the far-back settlers more endurable. If photographs could not be obtained to give an idea of their troubles in attempting to carve out homes from the wilderness, some special artists might be employed to visit the localities, or they might take as themes for their work such descriptions as are occasionally given by members of Parliament representing roadless bush constituencies. But it is diffi- | cult to impress upon officialdom the "fitness of things." WAIPAWA NATIVE LANDS. Mr Hall, Member for Waipawa, is to move for a return showing all the Native blocks within that electorate, their localities, designations, areas and particulars as to leases, their dates of termination, and names of lessors, together with their applications for purchase and lease now before the Ikaroa Maori Land Council, and the names of applicants. MR HORNSBY'S QUACKERY BILL. Mr Hornsby is endeavouring to get a Select Committee appointed to take evidence and report upon his Quackery Prevention Bill.