Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 1884. THE HANSARD DEBATE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 237, 3 September 1884, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 1884. THE HANSARD DEBATE.

Periodically the House brings up the question of keeping up Hansard, or abolishing it altogether, or altering the mode of its publication. There is a certain class of hon. members who seem to have an antipathy to the words which they utter jbeing diffused over the colony. Perhaps the fear of subsequently meeting their constituents causes the feeling, wh&fr, after all, is a natural one if they are ashamed of what they say or do as representatives. To the honest, straightforward member, however, the fact that his words and actions will be made; known to all, and especially to his constituents, should arouse no fears. On the contrary, it should only strengthen his hand by showing him forth to the fullest advantage. Mr Seddom was of opinion that free copies of Hansard should be sent to ail local bodies, but Mr Docson went further and extended the proposal to the individual members of those bodies. The view which both these gentlemen took is a rational one m some respects, but for other reasons its practical utility )0 obviously destroyed. It is true that; if members of a local body could watch the progress of a Bill through the House f hey would become much better acquainted with the nature of the measure, and thus the spirit of it would he kept up m the working of the Act when passed. Thus, m the case of the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, m very many places there were Road Boards that knew nothing of the great advantages which this measure really offered, whereas had they watched its passage through the House, they would have anticipated these advantages, and availed themselves of them as soon as the measure became law. This was the view expressed by Mr Dodson.

Captain Russell, on the other hand, pointed out that by reading the debates on Bills, members of local bodies would be no more enlightened than they should be by having the Act, as passed, before them, the reason of this being that members of Parliament took very many . different "views of the same question, which wbitld do more towards puzzling than enlightening the minds of their various constituencies. In this opinion we agree with the latter speaker, and it is for this reason that Mr Dodson's ] views are not sufficiently practical to hold ground. If members find that their constituencies are not taking the fullest advantage of whatever Acts are m force, it is their duty to see that the local bodies are at once urged to do so. If a representative cannot give his constituents the spirit of the Act, after having heard it debated, it is an absolute certainty that Hansard will ndit ( succeed m doing so. Then the question of members making corrections m their speeches as* reported was referred to by Mr TuRNBUfL, who stated that it would be more judicious to leave the whole task of reproducing^ speeches to the Hansard reportetp Under the present system how mem? bers can so " touch up " and qiialif^ their addresses as to render the meaning of them very different to what was actually spoken m debate. Were this not permitted, constituents could be sure that what was actually said would reach them m an exact form, through the medium of a reliable and competent staff of men whose reports would be full and unprejudiced. If hon. members would agree to this mode of publishing Hansard, they would do better than totally abolishing it or issuing it under the existing system, which, to our mind, does not serve a beneficial purpose, proportionate to the cost to the country of its production, that might reasonably be expected.