THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1901. THE CLOSE OF THE SESSION.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 126, 9 November 1901, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1901. THE CLOSE OF THE SESSION.

! THE second session of Parliament has come and gone, its closing hours marked- with the usual " scramble." Measures that should have received consideration a month before were crowded into the last week, and that very, important Bill providing for increasing the honorarium of members was rushed through at the latest possible moment. On this much-debated point weagree with the Premier that you cannot get men to do work unless you pay them, and as we have before remarked, there is no objection to members getting 'an increase}; let them be paid an honorarium

which will cover the heavy expenses contingent on removal to and living in Wellington, bat that should cover the conntry's liability* Instead, there is a rush to get oil Commissions of Enquiry, whether it be in New Z«a.land Or abroad, and these are all heavy extras to the country. If a roau is engaged, at a certain wage, that wage should purchase the whole of his time, and it should not be necessary to pa,y him extra if he has to leave what he was piid for and tak«. up Borne other work. Kither one remuneration should i>e sufficient, but there is no justification for the payment of hoth. However, what. has been will be, for a time at all events, and " perks " will continue until a readjustment puts the payment of members and their duties on a sure basis. At present members are popularly supposed to do four months' work in the year, and iiave an easy, idle time "the rest". I'o any thinking mii\d- the ibsnrdity of this idea is apparent, tfach voter thinks he has a right to deluge his unfortunate member with absurd letters and petitions on every possible subject, and that he. has a right to a prompt and satisfactory answer. The members know that if they do not reply to each and every one there will be trouble ahead. This tends to make themmere secretaries, and by filling their time with parochial affairs absolutely prevents their best attention being, devoted to the colony as a whole.

The clobo of the session was. marked by an entire change in the socialistic tone which characterised its earliest weeks and'ran \v.4l into the session. Not so long ago people were in a perfect lever of anxiety as to the laws that would shortly be foisted on; the country, to its lasting disadvantage, but, as in most fevers, time brought relief, and at present labour legislation is taking a wellearned rest. This, of course, was due to the activity of members in response to the appeals of their clients to stem the tide which, threatened to overwhelm them, and we feel certain that, even under the present regime, the labour legislation of the future will be more carefully studied before it is accepted as the law of the land. One hopeful sign of last session was that a commencement was made with the much-needed work of consolidating the laws under which we are governed... Little work was don* in this direction, but we will look for an earnest start next session. The country would not suffer any retrogression it no laws were put on the statute book, but it would be saved a great deal of labour if it knew exactly the laws under which it is governed. It is said that "in the multitude of connsailors there is wisdom," but in New Zealand, at all events, it is true that in the abundance of counsel there is confusion. When ' that counsel (emanating from a multitude of counsellors of varying degrees of wisdom and foresightedne3s) is enforced as law, the result would be chaos in any place save Utopia. And that, in spite of Borne biassed assertions to the contrary, is not yet another name for New Zealand.