Talk in Parliament.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 561, 24 January 1891, Page 2

Talk in Parliament.

. Loquacity is the dry rot of Parliamentary inI stituiions. It the Legieiaturee are, as nut»s bars are fond ot auertiog, truly reflective of ' tfie character ot the country, there would seers to be reason for the tear that in these days words are taking the place ot deeds. If representative govern mt nt is doomed to failure, it will be due to the meaiarelees aonI tempt into which it is liable to fall through the dreary drip ot irrepresaible imbecility, Possibly, it members were wise, they would not be anxious to emphasise tbie phase by their demands for lengthened reports and an enlargement ot Hansard. These ponderous tomes bear silent witness against them, showing such a flux of words to such a tpiaimum of action. The Victorian Legislature during the past season displayed an improvement on previous records, but the New South Wales Assembly was able to fill the vacant position ot the drunken Helot. Ao inquiring mind has made an examination of the mass of matter contained io the six bulky volumes ot 6719 pages to wbiob the New South Wales members may point as evidence ot something attempted, something done to earn the right to the recede. The session's labors represent 5,500,000 words of which it is crpelly said that more than one-half hae bean devoUd to impeding, and not expediting, the work of lejlelat|on. Under these cjraumeiance it natural tb»t the most useless member o( Hja House should appear as the woet industrious. The member tor West Macquarie, Mr Crick, holds this proud poeiticn, Notwithstanding at, unavoidable absence tor nearly a moutb, caused by circumstances over wbiob ho held no control, ha outiahted Mlniticore ano privets membere and came in ah easy winner tor the talking stakes -g case really of Eclipse first and tbs rest nowhere- Not eountiug questions innumerable, with and without notice, MrCrick in 210 speeches succeeded in covering something like 190 pages of H-usard, or In using 157,700 words, which, if sot in continuous column in Hansard, would run the length of j'd yards. If all ths 137 members In the Assembly had exhibited equal wind, and had exercised their right in the tame degree, the eesalou cou'd notlieve brought to aoanolusloa within one year or two, and the record of its deliverances would have required some 26,000 pages of print In 24 bulky volumes of over 1000 pages each, while 21 580,000 words would have been spoken In Parliament during the session,—Melbourne Leader.