IS PARLIAMENT NECESSARY?

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9048, 6 February 1908, Page 4

IS PARLIAMENT NECESSARY?

Public opinion is setting dead against the Government's proposal to add to the numerical strength of the Cabinet, but no doubt strenuous efforts will be made to bring public opinion round in favour of the Government's view. It therefore behoves those who desire to see the dominion's affairs conducted with a due regard to economy to do all in their power to stop t),U extravagant move, not only because it is extravagant and unnecessary in itself, but because if agreed to it will probably carry in its train increased membership in the House of Representatives with additional expenditure in the way of honoraria. : Mr McNab says assistance is necessary to relieve Ministerial strain due to the increased departmental work. ■ We say the overwork of Ministers is due to excessive travelling about the country. The Premier says travel- • ling is necessary to keep in touch with the people. We say it is not necessary on that or any other ground. The member!! are elected to keep the views ■ and wants' of the various constituencies before Ministers and Parliament, and it is dis- [ counting the value of the people's . representatives for Ministers to take the work out of their hands.. It is a distinct reflection upon members of Parliament. It may be pointed out ; that if Minsters find it necessary to ' go into the back-blocks and elsewhere, ' as the Premier declares it to be, to \ enable the settlers to place before them their requirements the logical conclusion must be that Parliament ia unnecessary, and only the Cabinet is . essential. It may be asked, however, ' what are the members for the districts doing that it is possible for the . Premier to make such an assertion uncontradicted? It is evident that they seriously neglect the duties they have undertaken to perform: and if the Premier's asseveration is to be accepted, members themselves must be held responisblc tor the great cost involved in Ministerial peregrinations and the demand for assistance in the Cabinet. One fact is patent. No follower of the present Administration ever raises a voice for economy on the part of tho Government. Extravagance is wr ; t large over every public department and over almost every act of the Ministry. The waste of public funds is the scandal of our time, and it is all at the expense of the people, whose representatives, with few exceptions, remain marvellously quiescent. The appointment of Under-Secretarifs has been hi need at as a means Of relieving the Government of some of the strain of office; but the appoint- j mont of political Under-Secretaries | would add to tho cost of administration in a double sense. It would enable Ministers to fly round the electorates at the public expense without impediment, while highlypaid deputies would do the office work. The Under-Secretaries themselves would doubtless, in lime be found gadding about the country like their chiefs, and a whole army of electioneering agents would be let loose upon the electors at the approach of a general election. Coming back to the Ministerial declarations that additional Cabinet Ministers are essential to overtake tha growing work of the departments, Sir Jospeh Ward gave himself away at the public reception of Mr HallJones on Monday last, for he stated that he ind his colleagues bad had no difficulty in carrying on Mr HallJones'** work between them during his absence. Now Mr Hail-Jones held two of the heaviest portfolios in the Cab-inet-Public Works and Railways. If : Ministers could carry on these and ' their own departments "without diffi- ] culty" for some seven months with- i I out so important a colleague, it must , be obvious that any addition to the i Ministry is unnecessary. s

It is a sad fact that in this country not only have we a diminishing birth-

rate, but a considerable percentage of the children born . are not wanted,, are sadly neglected by their parents, and are frequently thrown upon the care of the State. Dr. Robinson, speaking at a meeting convened in Auckland on Monday last by Lady Plunket, for the consideration of the protection of infant life, drew pointed attention to this scandalous phase of our social life. Time and again children were brought to the hospitals for treatment, and were scarcely out of the instiution before they were in again, said the doctor. Advice was given to the parents, but it was not taken. The children were simply not wanted. "Such cases are not rare in the Auckland Hospital now," he declared, and added, "I should like to see the State take care of such children as these. We, the doctors, see sufficient to show that it is necessary to relieve certain parents of their responsibilities for the sake of the children." This is a grave indictment against the social code of the dominion, but unhappily it is a "true bill." It is doubtless the duty of the State to care for these little unfortunates, but it is also its duty to take such steps as are possible to minimise the evil complained of. Parents who thus < neglect their offspring should, like their children, be provided with a home, but it should be one where they would be compelled to work as a punishment for their criminal neglect, and for the purpose of reimbursing the State for the up-bringing of their "notwanteds."

Masterton is to be congratulated upon the fact that no fewer than four of its District High School pupils have succeeded in obtaining senior scholarships from .. the Wellington Education Board, as being among the first ten of the successful candidates at the recent examinations for Senior Board Scholarships or Senior Free Places. One of the candidates headed the list, a second was fifth, a third sever.th, and the fourth tenth. Altogether nine Masterton District High School students succeeded in passing the examinations—a most gratifying result. It demonstrates the high character of the instruction given in our local High School, and reflects credit upon the teaching staff. The District High Schools of the province have all shown up well in the examinations, and the names of no fewer than seven candidates figure among the first ten on the list of passes.