Decembe 21, 1908.]
execution of this important undertaking is a very gratifying sign of the times and perhaps this resolve in itself has done much to persuade the shareholders to pay up as they are well aware that the sooner the line is in operation the sooner are they likely to see a return on the capital invested, HONGKONG'S OPIUM QUESTION.
|
443
The
CHINA OVERLANDR TADE REPORT. political system, and even its most ardent | Peers themselves recognise this. Hereditary admirers realise that the time is nigh when right, it is recommende !, should not entitle it should be moulden in conformity with modern ideas on Con titutional Government, Piers should elect 200 of their number Peer to sit in the Upper House. The At present the reform of the Hous of to sit in the legislative assembly, to be Lords is contemplated both from withia | known as Lords of Parliament. Neither and without. The Government have not is this principle a new one. It obtains only expressed the conviction that the veto both ia Scotland and Ireland. When the of the Lords must be restric ́ed, but have | English nud Scottish Parliamen's were indicated their intent on of introducing a unit d, te S'ottish Peers were not al'owed · (Daily Press, December 18th.) The quiet re-iteration by the Under Premier, Mr. ASQUITE, has declare that had to elect sixteen of their number to bill to give effect to this. Ny more, the to enter the English House of Lords. They Secretary of State for the Colonies of the this will be the dominating issue in the next represent them it at august assembly. familiar phrase, "The Government is now session of Parliament. Consequently the This arrangement was due to the fact that in considering the Governor of Hongkong's question is likely to be one that will rouse recommendations" with regard to the closing a little acbate in the immediate future. sat together.
the Scottish Parliament Lords and Commʊns of the opium divans in the Colony must be The reform proposals made from without British and Irish Parliaments, the Irish Again, ou the union of the a little wearisome and disconcerting to the the Gilded Chamber are of varying degree, peers could not enter the British House of Anti-Opium League, and in particular, to from total abolition to a mere limitation of Lords en masse, Mr. TAYLOR, M.P., who is at regular intervals the numbers who shall sit in the legislative eight of their number. So, it will be seen, They had to elect twenty- put up to ask the questions which elicit this assembly. The reforms proposed from with- the principle is not altogether new. The stereotyped reply. It was early in May lastin, however, are the most concrete before us, chief advantage will be that it will make the that the Government telegraphed its per- and they are not without a merit which will house a real body of legislators. emptory order to the Colonial Government doubtless commend them to all but the spasmodic legislator, the peer who only to take steps to close the opium divans. To most extreme on both sides. The Com- participates in the consideration of measures the community, at any rate, it is of some mittee of the House of Lords in its report in an idle moment, will be excluded, and interest to know that the Imperial Govern- makes certain recommendations, the most will give place to a more earnest body of ment is still considering" what H.E. the important of which are the abolition of the politic ans, because it follows that only those Governor has recommended, for, though the hereditary right to a seat in the Hous of who are keenly interested in politics will nature of these recommendations has not Lords; the introduction of the elective prin- offer themselves for lection. been made public, we may be quite sure that ciple in providing that the peers themselves time it has to be remembered that even the they are not in accord with the Imperial should appoint two hundred of their number Government's original ideas on the subject to the positions of Lords of Parliament; the of the majority of the peers. If the majority recon- titute I house will reflect the opinions As the Home Government has just received invitation to self-governing colonies to each the Report of the Straits Opium Commis- send a representative to this Imperial Assem- taken for granted that they will secure the of the Lords are Tariff Reformers it may be sion, it is conceivable that no final decision bly; and the recognition of the knowledge return of a preponderance of Tariff Re- will be reached regarding Sir FREDERICK and experience gained by men who bave filled formers to the House of Lords. There is LUGARD'S recommendations until the Straits Report has been carefully digested, Colonies by giving them seats in the recon-
gubernatorial offices in the various Crown one innovation, however, which may be ex- for the policy pursued in both colonies stituted Upper Chamber.
pected to receive universal approval. That is likely to be much the same.
We get
is the inclusion of nominees of the self-go- no idea
verning colonies and ex governors of Crown of the probable date of a decision from Colouel SEELY's statement
Colonies. That will have the effect of investing the new House of Lords with that "the correspondence will be laid on the table in due course.
an Imperial character and its deliberations One might
will, incnsequence, have greater weight. suppose that the information elicited on the
Even the voice of Hongkong can be bead opium question in China during the last
then. Therefore, on the meagre telegraphic six months gives the Government reason- able excuse for delaying their decision until
dations we may regard the outline of the information we possess of the recommen- they have had an opportunity of learning the recommendations of the International
fairly satisfactory, and, if reform is to be propo el changes in the constitution as Conference which takes place at Shanghai
introduced, such a scheme will, while mak in February next.
ing the assembly more represent stive, retain the historical character of the Upper House in the constitution of the country.
}
<<
}}
(4
REFORM OF THE BRITISH HOUSE OF LORDS. (Daily Press, December 19th.) Any change affecting the 'Mother of Parliaments is a subject that naturally attracts more than
a national interest. When extreme measures of the Radicals, forced through the House of Commons by sheer weight of numbers, have been rejected by the Upper Chamber, "Down with the Lords!" has been a favourite cry of the
disappointed politicians. The feeling of which this is the expression is no new one. As far back as 1832 when the House of Lords impeded the passage of the first Beform Bill threats were made to alter the constitution of the House, not so much by ending it as by appointing new peers who would vote as required. The dissenting Lords, however, absented themselves on the day the Bill came up for its final reading and this contingency was not resorted to. Since then there have been repeated agitations for the abolition of the House of Lords, but they have never crystalised into action of any kind, and the Gilded Chamber continues to exercise its influence on present day legislation. Admittedly the House of Lords is not all that it might be. It is one
Looking at the first proposal mentioned, the abolition of the hereditary right to a seat in the House of Lords, it must be regarded as embodying a very drastic change. It goes right to the root of the constitution, and, were the principle accept- ed, it would have far reaching effects in favour that it is only a return to original British polity. It may be urged in its principles. That may or may not appeal to the ultra-Conservative, but it is a matter of history that neither our Saxon nor Celtic forbears recognise the bereditary principle until feudalism had become established. They preferred to elect their rulers, and, it is interesting, to say the least, to see proposals being made to re-introduce the old system. Disguise it as we may, the co-existence of
elective ehamber aud a chamber, is
hereditary other countries and other peoples have an anomaly, and, though done us the honour to accept the two- chamber principle the mother of Parliaments, none of them which distinguishes have followed our example by instituting
an
80
very
assembly. No, they have established both elective assembly and a non-elective
houses on an elective basis. The franchise broad, but still the principle of election is on which they are elected may not be there. Had the House of Lords no dis- charged its functions with some discre- tion, it is safe to say that it would not have remained as at present constituted for such
long period." mistakes, but so has the lower house
Of course it has made Naturally, when the upper house vetos a measure which has passed through the lower chamber there is a large body of opinion which regards the action of the Lords as directed to the constitution of the House. mistaken," and attention is consequently Different ideas to those formerly held on the subject of popular representation
44
At the same
RANDOM REFLECTIONS.
1
0:
"To spit or not to spit" that is the question. The Sanitary Board worried over it and dodged
Now it is exercising the minds of our
ask themselves in the words of our old friend Hamlet" whether it is nobler in the mind to or take up arms against a sea of trouble and, by suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous habita
Shakespeare. His language is still applicable to opposing, end them." How great a poet as
the present day even in this distant outpost of Empire.
legislators who wear a look of perturbation and
But seriously, why all this bother? The Chinese in Hongkong, and those who come to conditions and different laws to those prevailing our haven, naturally expect to find different
on the mainland, and if we are to be deferred by an altra tender conscience from looking after the interests of the community by asking the people to be a little less offensive in their The proposed regulations will not be as objec habits we are in a most unenviable position. -
tionable to Chinese as some of the sanitary laws - to which they have been subjected, and I hope the subject, will see it to a satisfactory conclusion. the Government, now that they have taken up
Different men, different appellations. The
part of the constitution of Great Britain prevail nowadays, and public opinion inclines / Hon. Mr. Hewett has the honour of introducing
which has changed least with the progress of the country and the growth of the present
to the belief that, if the House of Lords is the angust chamber of the Legislative Council a little variety into the formalities of debate in to remain, it must undergo change. Even I see that on Thursday he referred to the Hom.