THE VICTORIAN REFORM BILL.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR.") you allow me to call the attention of such of your readers as take an interest in Victorian politics, to the present aspect of the Constitutional struggle in that colony P The Legislative Council has passed a Reform Bill, the chief points of which are that its own numbers are to be increased, the franchise reduced, and the electoral districts multiplied. It has rejected three times over the proposal to incorporate the representation of minorities in the 13111, though the leaders of the Conservative party strongly supported this innovation. It has also twice rejected proposals to guard against dead-locks by concurrent dissolution of the two Houses, and by the so-called Norwegian system, under which in cases of dispute the two Houses are to sit and vote together. In a word, it has rejected precisely those reforms which the Times, on the authority of Mr. Haddon, declared it would adopt. Statements will probably go home by this mail, in the summaries of Conservative papers, that a majority of the Council is prepared, in spite of its acts, to accept the Norwegian system. The only politician who has publicly avowed his belief in this, admitted to-day, in the Assembly, that he could not guarantee' a majority on this subject in the Council, and was not prepared to bring in a Bill to test the point.
In the Assembly, Mr. Berry's Bill has passed its second read- ing by a large majority, but is not as popular as the Bill of last year, chiefly on account of the proposal to make the Second Chamber nominee, instead of elective. We are at variance with English feeling on this point, as also in our admiration for the plebiscite, which has already been naturalised among us for certain municipal matters, and is not found to produce any dangerous effects. I hope it is understood that under Mr. Berry's Bill, the country is only to be appealed to when the two Houses cannot agree. Meanwhile, it should be clearly under- stood that though most Liberals prefer the plebiscite to the Norwegian scheme, we would almost certainly accept the latter, as a compromise. But it has never been offered, and, so far as we can judge, from the Council's acts, would not be accepted.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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