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Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8990, 27 November 1907, Page 4

Speaking upon the subject of granting gratuities to four widows of deceased members, the "Daily Press" remarks:—"The payment of this money has established once and for all that once a man enters Parliament he can rest assured that the Stale will look well after his interests and see that if he dies a spendthrift and penniless there will be plenty for his wife and family to live on. We have no hesitation whatever in saying that the payment o!' these compassionate allowances will be seriously regretted in years to come. A man who has given his life to the service of his country certainly deserves some consideration when he retires from the sphere of usefulness, by death or otherwise, but the ordinary member jof Parliament ought to be able to earn enough money to keen up payments on an insurance pt.licy big enough to leave his wife and family free from the charity of the country." When Sir Joseph Ward "came to the throne," says a northern exchange, it was anticipated that he would revolutionise the old method of legislation at the point of the bayonet, but events have proved that even the model business man has failed to bring the Parliamentary machine up to the proper standard of efficiency. The end of the present session has been equally as bad as any that have gone before, and we can see no grounds for the belief that the present Premier has shown much improvement on Mr Seddon in the despatch of business.