FEDERAL CONVENTION.

Waikato Argus, Volume II, Issue 113, 30 March 1897, Page 3

FEDERAL CONVENTION.

Adelaide, March 2b\ On the Convention resinning this morninc. the Western Australian delegates took their seats ami were cordially welcomed

Mr Holder, of .South Australia, hoped to see a Federation which would give the State everything that was locid and the federal Power everything that was national. He did not regard an elective Governor-General as snapping the link with the Mother Country. The true bonds were the power of veto and the ability to legislate held by the In penal authority, but he opposed an elective Governor-General, because such u man niiyht defy the peop'e. There must lie equal representation in ' the .Senate. Limiting the responsibility of the Cabinet to one House would destroy the balance which should exist between both Houses. Givinc undue authority to the House where State rights might not be fully guarded would do violence to Federation. If the House of Representatives was to control the purse, then they might as well have no Senate at all. If responsible. Government would kill Federation, then he would prefer to dispense with responsible Government rather than loso Federation. He strongly urged that the Constitution about to be framed should not commit them to responsible Government. He hoped the franchise would be one adult one vote from the very first election. While the railways should remain the property of the State, the Federal Parliament should provide against any one damaging another by means of differential rates. Mr Lyne, of Sydney, predicted that the State rights would be the chief bugbear of this Convention. The otherswere the cession of the railways and the pooling of the debts. He opposed equal representation and demanded to know what richt Tasmania had to the same power "in the Senate as New Soath Wales. The will of the people might be overridden. The Senate should not be able to stop legislation but merely to act as a check. He was satisfied New South Wales was going to lose more by entering federation than all the other colonies together, for the present, at any rate, If she was going to lose by unequal representation it was unlikely she would come in. There should be more differences in the franchise for the Assembly and Senate, and he suggested the age of the voter should be raised,say to twentyfive or thirty years for the Senate. He would extend the franchise to women. He would not haud over the railway system to federal control, as it would be more to the interest of the States to extend the railways than of the Federal power. The Federal capital should be in New South Wales, and the locality should be decided by th e present Convention.

Mr Isaacs, ofVictoria.said he thought it was an incontrovertible argument that responsible governnieut was the keystone of the federal arch. He sympathised with the small colonies in their fears of being out-voted in the Senate, while he thought the fears groundless. He thought equal representation was a present necessity. American experience showed that in later years there was an increasing desire to have the Senate elected by the people instead of by the legislatures. Dr. Quick (Vic'oria) said it was useless to discuss federation unless equal representation in tho Senate was first conceded. He felt bound to support tho principle of responsible Government. He contended that the present Convention was charged with fixing the federal franchise. The constitution of the Senate should also be fixed by the federal Convention. The constitution should not be left to the States. He approved of the election of senators by one electorate, and not by districts. Mr Dobson (Tasmania) said he would not grant manhood suffrage at all, and demanded that Tasmania should be treated as equal to the large colonies in the Senate. The Convention then adjourned till Monday. March 27.

Wednesday may see the present flow of oratory ended, and then the committees will get to work to draft the constitution which, it is surmised, will take fully a week. After this the real work of the Convention wiil begin. A good deal of intriguing has been going on to secure the adjournment of the Convention to allow the Premiers to visit England. If this is not brought about it is possible that the Convention will have to continue without their aid.

It is openly laid that Mr Nelson's telegram was sent to bring about the desired adjournment, but the bulk of opinion among the delegates is dead against such a course. The local delegates are much exercised over the federal franchise. If adult suffrage was not adopted it would mean, as tar as this colony is concerned, that the Constitution, when referred to the people, would be defeated, because the women would vote against a measure which disfranchised them.

In the Federal Convention, Mr Trenwith (Victoria) came to the rescue, suggesting a compromise to the effect that the federal franchise should be manhood suffrage, and in the States where the adult vote prevailed that should be the system followed. Mr Louis's speech could hardly be regarded as a conciliatory one. He was not going to let the small States have their own way. Judging by his speech, New South Wales was to be the great sacrifice on the federal altar.