THE Wairarapra Age. MORNING DAILY MONDAY, JULY 14, 1913. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REFORM.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 14 July 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapra Age. MORNING DAILY MONDAY, JULY 14, 1913. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL REFORM.

The Legislative Council Reform Bill, which was introduced in Parliament by the Hon. F. H. I>. Bell on Friday last, differs in several material i > epects from the measure that was i - jected by the Council last year. ] stead of the Dominion being divid, .. into two electorates, as was at fb\>. proposed, there are to be two in the South Island and two in the North. The North Island will be entitled to fourteen representatives in the first election (seven for each division), and the South Island to ten. At every election after the first, the North Island will return twenty-two members and the South eighteen. Powells given the Governor to appoint two Maori members of the Council, but it is laid down that at no time must the number of Maori members exceed three. The period for which Legislative Councillors are to be elected is six years, and the elections are to be held simultaneously with thofs in the Lower House. The method" of voting to be adopted is similar to that which is in operation in Tasmania. The elector must place in the squares opposite the names of the candidate the figures 1, 2 and 3, so as to indicate the order of his preference. The powers of the Council are also defimx in the Bill. The Council has not the power to either reject or amend a Money Bill. In the event of a disagreement between the two Chambers in respect to other public Bills, and the Council refusing to pass a Bill that has been passed by the Lower House in two successive sessions, the Governor may command a joint sitting of the members of the two Houses, and a majority shall decide %ha fate of the (measure. If the majority disapproves of the Bill, the Governor aiay dissolve Parliament,, though not within six months of the period of a general election. The Council, in other respects, will have equal power with the House in the matter of legislation. That is to say, it may initiate legislation and send it on to the Lower House after it has passed the Council. In this connection, it would seem that an important omission has been made in the , Bill. Provision has been made for a joint sitting of the two Houses where a measure passed byHhe House of Representatives has been twice rejected by the Council, but no such provision appeal's to have been made whore a Bill initiated by &* Council

is twice rejeoted by tlie House. One would have thought that the same privileges, in this respect, would have been conferred upon both Houses. Probably when the measure comes before the Council fox its second reading, this aspect of the question will be fully represented. It would appear, from the official statement, that the Bill is founded on the Tasmanian Act, and the Parliament Act, 1911, of the Imperial Parliament. The clause relating to the disagreement of the two Houses is adapted from the Irish Parliament Bill, which passed the House of Commons thii year. So far as the general principles of the measure are ooncerned, they are of a democratic character. They as nearly approximate to proportional representation as is possible. The anomaly of the position will be that the Council will be representative of all shades of public opinion in the Dominion, "while the House of Representatives will not, As the Lower House will have a preponderance of voting power, it will be able to dictate practicaMy the whole of the legislation that shall be placed upon the Statute Book. The time will probably come, however, when the proportional system of voting will be applied to both flections of the Legislature. In the meantime, we -welcome the Legislative Council Bill as a step in the direction of reform. It is a distinct improvement on the measure introduced last session, and this improvement may be attributed in no email degree to the admirable euggestiona. cnade by the Hon. R. MoNab; who has made a very close study of the question. The pill may be a difficult one for some of our nominated Ooomci'llors to 'swallow, but we do not apprehend that they will force the CSvemment into the position of having to re-organise the Council, -which it has the power to do during the next few months.