Connecticut western news., 1891-06-24
JAPAN'S PARLIAMENT.

At Last Accounts the Government Was Having a Stormy Time in the House. The Japanese parliament or diet, as it seems to be officially called, has sat for nearly five months, and the chief characteristics of the proceedings of the lower house so far are marked hos tility to the government and marvel ous facility for raising delicate points of constitutional law and practice, the discussions on which are usually car ried on with great heat to a resolution of the house, which the government either refuses wholly to accept or ac- cepts only after some difficulty. But when the last mail left matters had at length reached what appeared to be a deadlock in regard to two important topics.
 By the constitution delegates of the government can appear at any time in either house and explain government measures They are also liable to be questioned by the members This prac- tice has led to frequent squabbles, dele- gates refusing to answer. particular questions, the house calling for new delegates and the government support ing their delegates. The first serious difference between the house and the government took place on this ques- tion, and now it has been raised again in another shape. A prolonged debate on the budget having been concluded by the closure, just as the division on the main question was about to be taken, the delegate from the foreign office claimed the right to speak, as delegates conld speak at any time. There were violent objections to a delegate speaking when he could not be answered, and the house voted against hearing him. The following day the prime minister himself ap- pered in the tribune, and declared that the refusal to hear the delegate was unconstitutional, and that if the house objected to the rights given to government delegates the proper course was to make a representation on the subject, and, if necessary, have that provision of the constitution amended. The house appeared disinclined to take this view, but the delegate withdrew,
 observing that, as the prime minister
 had said all he wanted to say, he need
 not stay.
 The second topic is much more seri
 ous The committee on the budget had cut down the estimates in the mos' extraordinary way; offices are abo1isfed
 Gncluding legations abroa0, the staf of departments are reduced to mers
 fraction of their number, sub depart
 ments and bureaus are swept away al
 together, and the salaries of the ofifciah
 remaining, beginning with the primo
 minister himself are reduced some
 times to third of the present amounts
 The sixty seventh article of the consti
 tuition provides that a large portion O
 the expenditure, classed as fixed ex
 penditures," shall not be reduced b,
 the diet without the concurrence of tn
 government, and an ordinance wa
 passed defining these fixed expenditures l The lower house, however, has re
 solved that this ordinance is ultra wires
 and has interpreted this clause of tn
 constitution for itself in sense who'll,
 opposed to that of the government
 and in such a way as largely to reduc'
 the items of expenditure, with which i
 has no power to deal without the con
 currence of the latter. Both the prim
 minister and the minister of finance de
 livered vigorous addresses to the hous
 on the unconstitutional nature of it
 proceedings, and the minister of fnanc
 declared that the government would, i
 the house persisted in its course, an
 nounce it's dissent and take other meas
 ures provided by the constitution.
 l The situation is regarded by the na
 tive press as one of great gravity, bu
 there appeared at the time the mai
 left to be no prospect of the house al
 tering it's position. The house of peer
 had not yet come to the consideration
 of the matter.-London Times.