55-527: The New Zealand Legislative Council ( Māori : Whare o Runga , lit. 'Upper House') was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of legislative councils for the colony and provinces existed from 1841 when New Zealand became a colony ; it was reconstituted as the upper house of a bicameral legislature when New Zealand became self-governing in 1852, which came into effect in
110-516: A Labour MP, argued that other political reforms in New Zealand such as the strengthening of the select committee system, and the introduction of proportional representation , provided adequate checks and balances, which would simply be duplicated by a second chamber. The Legislative Council Chamber remains the location of the speech from the throne —as following the British tradition, the sovereign (or
165-531: A Legislative Council appointed by their predecessors. In 1891, life membership was replaced by a seven-year term by the new Liberal Party government of John Ballance . While many Liberals apparently favoured outright abolition, it offered minimal political benefit for a ruling government, and such a radical move would have unnecessarily provoked fears about the new administration . Instead, term limits were introduced primarily for practical reasons, as Ballance's conservative predecessor, Harry Atkinson , had stacked
220-568: A by-election in the Grey and Bell electorate. Atkinson was elected to Parliament unopposed. In 1864, he was made Defence Minister in the government of Frederick Weld . He was highly active in this portfolio, advocating a policy of self-reliance in the conduct of the war. In 1866, however, he retired due to the death of his wife Amelia (whom he had married in 1856). The following year, he married his cousin Annie. He returned to parliament from 1867 to 1869 for
275-629: A further eleven members in 1951 after abolition of the Council. It was specified in the Constitution Act 1852 that the Council would consist of at least ten members. Although not actually a part of the Act, instructions were issued that the number of members should not exceed fifteen. One member was to be selected as speaker of the Legislative Council , corresponding roughly to the position of speaker of
330-450: A government. John Bryce , Robert Stout and William Rolleston had all lost their seats. Sir John Hall said he was too old. Sir Julius Vogel 's policies had been rejected by the voters. So there was no alternative to Harry Atkinson, and after two weeks of negotiations he announced a ministry on 11 October. Only two ministers had served with him before. The Scarecrow Ministry was not expected to last, but did. The years 1887 and 1888 were
385-633: A human, professional translator. Douglas Hofstadter gave an example of a failure of machine translation: the English sentence "In their house, everything comes in pairs. There's his car and her car, his towels and her towels, and his library and hers." might be translated into French as " Dans leur maison, tout vient en paires. Il y a sa voiture et sa voiture, ses serviettes et ses serviettes, sa bibliothèque et les siennes. " That does not make sense because it does not distinguish between "his" car and "hers". Often, first-generation immigrants create something of
440-456: A literal translation in how they speak their parents' native language. This results in a mix of the two languages that is something of a pidgin . Many such mixes have specific names, e.g., Spanglish or Denglisch . For example, American children of German immigrants are heard using "rockingstool" from the German word Schaukelstuhl instead of "rocking chair". Literal translation of idioms
495-573: A protracted struggle for the leadership. A strong counter-offensive by Atkinson enabled him to unseat Stout again after only twelve days. Stout, however, was not so easily defeated, and took the Premiership again after seven days. This time, Stout held his position for three years, defeating Atkinson's attempts to oust him. There was confusion in Wellington in September 1887 when the members gathered to form
550-721: A representative) does not enter the elected House. The usher of the Black Rod summons the members of the House of Representatives to attend the Opening of Parliament in the Legislative Council Chamber, where a speech is read usually by the governor-general. It is also used for some select committee meetings, as well as meetings of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and other official functions. Most of
605-454: A revising chamber, in practice, debates and votes typically simply replicated those in the lower house. It was abolished by an Act of Parliament in 1950, with its last sitting in December 1950. The Council's chamber is no longer utilised as a debating chamber , but it is used for certain ceremonial functions, such as the speech from the throne . The first Legislative Council was established by
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#1732851334359660-456: A seven-year term. The new members were Charles Johnston and John Davies Ormond on 20 January; and Harry Atkinson (elected as speaker), James Fulton , William Downie Stewart , and John Blair Whyte on 22 January. John Hall had written to Ormond: "It will be a serious disaster if the Council is not strengthened before the Reds get into the saddle." Petitions were tabled against the "stacking of
715-453: A translation that represents the precise meaning of the original text but does not attempt to convey its style, beauty, or poetry. There is, however, a great deal of difference between a literal translation of a poetic work and a prose translation. A literal translation of poetry may be in prose rather than verse but also be error-free. Charles Singleton's 1975 translation of the Divine Comedy
770-757: A village in England where he had lived as a boy, although—as his father worked as an itinerant builder and architect—the family did not settle anywhere. Atkinson was made a sergeant of the Taranaki Volunteer Rifle Company in February 1859 and then commissioned as a captain in March. He led No. 2 Company throughout the First Taranaki War and saw action at the Battles of Waireka , Mahoetahi and Kaitake. He
825-406: A work written in a language they do not know. For example, Robert Pinsky is reported to have used a literal translation in preparing his translation of Dante 's Inferno (1994), as he does not know Italian. Similarly, Richard Pevear worked from literal translations provided by his wife, Larissa Volokhonsky, in their translations of several Russian novels. Literal translation can also denote
880-549: Is metaphrase (as opposed to paraphrase for an analogous translation). It is to be distinguished from an interpretation (done, for example, by an interpreter ). Literal translation leads to mistranslation of idioms , which can be a serious problem for machine translation . The term "literal translation" often appeared in the titles of 19th-century English translations of the classical Bible and other texts. Word-for-word translations ("cribs", "ponies", or "trots") are sometimes prepared for writers who are translating
935-586: Is a source of translators' jokes. One such joke, often told about machine translation , translates "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (an allusion to Mark 14:38 ) into Russian and then back into English, getting "The vodka is good, but the meat is rotten". This is not an actual machine-translation error, but rather a joke which dates back to 1956 or 1958. Another joke in the genre transforms "out of sight, out of mind" to "blind idiot" or "invisible idiot". Harry Atkinson Sir Harry Albert Atkinson KCMG (1 November 1831 – 28 June 1892) served as
990-521: Is clearly not a phrase that would generally be used in English, even though its meaning might be clear. Literal translations in which individual components within words or compounds are translated to create new lexical items in the target language (a process also known as "loan translation") are called calques , e.g., beer garden from German Biergarten . The literal translation of the Italian sentence, " So che questo non va bene " ("I know that this
1045-424: Is not good"), produces "(I) know that this not (it) goes well", which has English words and Italian grammar . Early machine translations (as of 1962 at least) were notorious for this type of translation, as they simply employed a database of words and their translations. Later attempts utilized common phrases , which resulted in better grammatical structure and the capture of idioms, but with many words left in
1100-457: Is regarded as a prose translation. The term literal translation implies that it is probably full of errors, since the translator has made no effort to (or is unable to) convey correct idioms or shades of meaning, for example, but it can also be a useful way of seeing how words are used to convey meaning in the source language. A literal English translation of the German phrase " Ich habe Hunger " would be "I have hunger" in English, but this
1155-534: The 1963 election . In 1990, the National government of Jim Bolger proposed an elected Senate, an idea advanced partly as an alternative to New Zealand's electoral reform process . Unicameralists in New Zealand, like former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer , argued that the country is a small and relatively homogeneous unitary state , and hence does not need the same arrangements as federal states like Australia or Canada . In addition, Peter Dunne , then also
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#17328513343591210-515: The Charter for Erecting the Colony of New Zealand on 16 November 1840, which created New Zealand as a Crown colony separate from New South Wales on 1 July 1841. Originally, the Legislative Council consisted of the governor, colonial secretary , and colonial treasurer , and a number of senior justices of the peace. The Legislative Council had the power to issue ordinances ( statutory instruments ). With
1265-627: The First Labour Government . In 1950, when the First National Government appointed several new members to vote the council out of existence, three women were included; Cora Louisa Burrell , Ethel Gould and Agnes Weston . Māori were slightly better represented. The first two Māori councillors were appointed in 1872, not long after the creation of the Māori electorates in the House; Mōkena Kōhere and Wi Tako Ngātata . A convention
1320-611: The Town of New Plymouth electorate, but in April 1869 he resigned to concentrate on maintaining his farm. In 1872, Atkinson returned to politics for the Egmont electorate; to defeat William Sefton Moorhouse , who was allied with William Fox , a prominent supporter of Māori land rights. Atkinson declared that he would "not see a Foxite get in", and narrowly defeated Moorhouse. Once in parliament, Atkinson soon became involved in economic matters, opposing
1375-470: The governor . As the power of the governor over New Zealand politics gradually decreased, it became the convention that appointments were made on the recommendation of the premier (later prime minister), essentially meaning that councillors were selected by the government of the day. However, the life term of councillors meant that the Legislative Council always lagged behind the House of Representatives—premiers were frequently hampered in their activities by
1430-513: The Australian state of Queensland had done to abolish its upper house in 1922. They included former MPs Harold Dickie and Garnet Mackley . To encourage co-operation from other members, Holland also promised to use the money saved through abolition to set up a fund for retired members. A Statutes Revision Committee (now defunct) was established to carry out some of the scrutiny that the Legislative Council had been intended for. Although abolition
1485-505: The Council with seven conservatives shortly before leaving office. Ballance had considerable difficulty in achieving his reform of the Council, with major clashes occurring between him and the Governor, the Earl of Onslow , who had approved the seven appointments. Ballance's victory is seen as establishing an important precedent in the relationship between governor and prime minister. The structure of
1540-509: The Council" by MPs and by Aucklanders. But the stacking has been seen as assisting the Liberal Government, which "might not have survived but for this assistance ... [which] provided a useful unifying influence in the critical early years" and "identified with dramatic clarity the reactionary class enemy ... and acted as a convenient brake on the radicals [who] were asked to settle for moderate measures." A number of proposals were made that
1595-525: The House of Representatives . A quorum of five members was established. The first appointments to the Legislative Council were made in 1853, when thirteen members were called to the upper house. They were John Salmon , William Swainson and Frederick Whitaker on 26 May 1853; Mathew Richmond on 23 June 1853; and on 31 December 1853 Edmund Bellairs , George Cutfield , William Kenny , John Yeeden Lloyd , Ralph Richardson , Henry Seymour , Henry St. Hill , Henry Petre and John Watts-Russell . Gradually,
1650-509: The Legislative Council prior to 1891 was therefore similar to that of the Canadian Senate (which continues as an appointed upper house, although senators are no longer appointed to life terms, and must retire at the age of 75). The style " The Honourable " could be retained from 1894 by a councillor with not less than ten years service if recommended by the governor. This privilege was extended to one member, William Montgomery , in 1906; and
1705-400: The Legislative Council should be elected, not appointed. When responsible government had been granted at the beginning of the 2nd Parliament , the governor, Thomas Gore Browne , was given sufficient authority to make the Legislative Council elected, but no action was taken. In 1914, a reform proposal to establish a 42 or 43 member council elected by proportional representation for six years
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1760-696: The New Zealand Parliament to amend the Constitution Act and abolish the Legislative Council. However, the Labour government did not actually enact the abolition itself, and lost office in the 1949 general election . In 1950, the National Party, now in government, passed the Legislative Council Abolition Act. To assist its passage into law, Holland appointed twenty members (who were dubbed the " suicide squad ") to vote for abolition, just as
1815-465: The Premiership. One of his first acts was to abolish the provinces . He also took over direct responsibility for financial policy, and implemented a less aggressive strategy for borrowing. He attempted to reform the system by which money was handled, placing all responsibility for borrowing with the government while increasing control of spending at a district or municipal level. However, growing economic problems caused his plan to encounter difficulties. As
1870-703: The Richmond family. On arriving in New Zealand, Harry and Arthur bought farmland in Taranaki , as did the Richmonds, and also the Ronalds family – five brothers and sisters of Dr Edmund Ronalds . James and William Richmond also later entered politics and the Ronalds sisters married Atkinson's brothers. Atkinson's correspondence shows that he was highly satisfied with his decision to move to New Zealand, seeing it as an opportunity to prosper. He named his small farmhouse Hurworth after
1925-433: The economy declined, Atkinson became more and more unpopular. Atkinson lost power in 1877, only slightly over a year after he gained it. He entered opposition, continuing to promote his ideas of financial caution. He also proposed a number of other measures, including national insurance. In 1883, he managed to make a comeback, gaining the Premiership for eleven months before losing it to Robert Stout . The two then engaged in
1980-495: The following year. Unlike the elected lower house , the House of Representatives , the Legislative Council was wholly appointed by the governor-general . The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 had authorised the appointment of a minimum of ten councillors. Beginning in the 1890s, the membership of the upper house became controlled by government of the day. As a result, the Legislative Council possessed little influence. While intended as
2035-467: The formation of voluntary military units to fight in the New Zealand Wars , and was noted for his strong belief in the need for seizure of Māori land. Atkinson, born in 1831 in the English village of Broxton, Cheshire , received his education in England, but chose at the age of 22 to follow his elder brother William to New Zealand. He was accompanied by his brother Arthur together with members of
2090-563: The legislative process. The Legislative Council rarely criticised bills sent to it by the House, and many believed that it was now obsolete. Some favoured its reform, while others favoured its abolition; among the latter group was the leader of the National Party , Sidney Holland , who introduced a private member's bill to abolish it in August 1947. However, because the Parliament of New Zealand
2145-423: The maximum number of members was raised, and the limit was eventually abolished. The Council reached a peak of 53 members in 1885 and 1950. The Legislative Council was generally less representative of the New Zealand public than was the House of Representatives. Women were not eligible to serve as councillors before 1941, and only five were appointed. Two, Mary Anderson and Mary Dreaver , were appointed in 1946 by
2200-413: The original language. For translating synthetic languages , a morphosyntactic analyzer and synthesizer are required. The best systems today use a combination of the above technologies and apply algorithms to correct the "natural" sound of the translation. In the end, though, professional translation firms that employ machine translation use it as a tool to create a rough translation that is then tweaked by
2255-480: The passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 , the first Legislative Council was disestablished and a similar appointed body was established, effective from 1853. The new Legislative Council was constituted as the upper house of the General Assembly (or "Parliament"), which did not actually meet until 24 May 1854, 16 months after the Constitution Act had come into force. The Legislative Council
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2310-407: The policies of Julius Vogel (who also happened to be a supporter of Māori land rights). Vogel, who supported extensive borrowing to finance public works, was attacked by Atkinson as reckless. Vogel's response was that Atkinson was overly cautious, and would delay economic progress. Atkinson and Vogel both agreed, however, that borrowing by provincial government (as opposed to the central government)
2365-438: The tenth premier of New Zealand on four separate occasions in the late 19th century, and was Colonial Treasurer for a total of ten years. He was responsible for guiding the country during a time of economic depression , and was known as a cautious and prudent manager of government finances, though distrusted for some policies such as his 1882 National Insurance (welfare) scheme and leasehold land schemes. He also participated in
2420-405: The time, it’s an empty space where an important element of a democracy could have been Literal translation Literal translation , direct translation , or word-for-word translation is a translation of a text done by translating each word separately without looking at how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence. In translation theory , another term for literal translation
2475-609: The wishes of his friends, and on 23 January 1891 he was appointed to the Legislative Council , along with six other men, to attempt to block any radical bills that Ballance might introduce in the Lower House. Ballance became Premier on 24 January, and appointed Atkinson as Speaker of the Legislative Council. The Liberals, who represented the ideas of William Fox, Julius Vogel, and many other of Atkinson's opponents, were to hold power for 21 years after Atkinson's defeat, but Atkinson
2530-623: The worst of the Long Depression, and Atkinson cut salaries, raised loans and raised customs duties. He was not popular with the wealthy, but they feared the Opposition leaders Grey and Ballance even more. During this term, Atkinson was Colonial Treasurer (1887–1891), Postmaster-General (1887–1889), Commissioner of Telegraphs (1887–1889), Minister of Marine (1887–1891), Commissioner of Stamps (1887–1891), Minister of Education (1889), and Commissioner of Trade and Customs. In January 1888, Atkinson
2585-497: Was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George . A Freemason , he was installed as the Wellington district grand master in May 1888. By 1890 Atkinson was too ill to make speeches in the House. In 1891, Atkinson was finally superseded as Premier by John Ballance of the newly created Liberal Party , the country's first organised political party. Atkinson acceded to
2640-407: Was established that there should always be Māori representation on the Council. In January 1891 the outgoing Atkinson Ministry appointed six new members to the Legislative Council, with the object of blocking any radical bills that John Ballance (who became Premier on 24 January) and his Liberal Government might introduce. They were the last appointments for life as the new government introduced
2695-770: Was indeed out of control. The two also believed that provincial politicians were petty and self-interested, and that more co-operation was needed between provinces and the state. It was this shared view of provincial government that enabled Vogel and Atkinson to co-operate, although they never resolved their differences on borrowing by the central government or on dealings with the Māori. Atkinson eventually became part of Vogel's cabinet , but not with portfolios related to negotiations with Māori or to finance. He did continue to express his opinions on these matters, but found it increasingly harder to convince people of his views. Defunct In 1876, Vogel retired, and Atkinson managed to secure
2750-453: Was intended as an interim measure, no serious attempts were made to introduce a new second chamber, and Parliament has been unicameral since. Support for bicameralism is not completely absent, and there have been occasional proposals for a new upper house or Senate . A constitutional reform committee chaired by Ronald Algie proposed an appointed Senate in 1952. The short-lived Liberal Party campaigned on re-establishing an upper house in
2805-509: Was intended to act as a revising chamber, scrutinising and amending bills which had been passed by the House of Representatives. It could not initiate bills, and was prohibited from amending money bills (legislation relating to finance and expenditure). The model for the Legislative Council's role was the House of Lords in the United Kingdom. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 provided for councillors to be appointed for life terms by
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#17328513343592860-536: Was introduced by the Liberals, but postponed due to World War I . In 1920 it was no longer favoured by the Reform government then in power. But the 1914 Act "remained like a sword of Damocles suspended above the nominated upper house, available at will or whim to any succeeding government". By the middle of the 20th century, the Legislative Council was increasingly being looked on as ineffectual and making little difference to
2915-422: Was policy regarding Māori-owned land, which he wished to see taken over by the British settlers. Continued Māori ownership, he believed, prevented economic development for the colony. Atkinson and his Richmond relations regarded the Māori as "savages", and believed in war as a reasonable option for ensuring Māori co-operation with British land-acquisition. The death of William Cutfield King in February 1861 caused
2970-551: Was promoted to major in February 1864. Atkinson first became involved in politics, as a member of the Taranaki provincial council . He represented the Grey and Bell electorate from 1857 to 1865, and again from 1873 to 1874. He was a member of the Executive Council from 1868 ^ and again in 1874 (May to October). He was Deputy Superintendent in 1861–1862 to Charles Brown , and again in 1863. Of particular interest to him
3025-641: Was unable to amend the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 , it had to first adopt the Statute of Westminster 1931 , which it did with the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 . Following the adoption of the Act, the Parliament of New Zealand passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947 , and the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1947 , allowing
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