y separately published work icon Aerial and Terrestrial Transit : An Inquiry Thereinto by a Paid Select Committee of Members of Parliament, Elected by Members of Parliament : Qualifications:- Strictly Non-professional : A Series of Records of Their Distinguished Labours. single work   novel   satire  
Issue Details: First known date: 1895... 1895 Aerial and Terrestrial Transit : An Inquiry Thereinto by a Paid Select Committee of Members of Parliament, Elected by Members of Parliament : Qualifications:- Strictly Non-professional : A Series of Records of Their Distinguished Labours.
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'He brought out his pamphlet most elaborately. It covered 227 pages, and selected as his subject for committee inquiry the questions of aerial and terrestrial transit. On the title page this appeared— Aerial and Terrestrial Transit.— an inquiry thereinto by a paid select committee for members of Parliament, elected by members of Parliament. Qualifications strictlynon-professional. A series of records of their distinguished labors, by Varney Parkes, MP.

'Mr. Parkes went on to say that if these Committees are to govern the country, the responsible Administration and Parliament had better be abolished, and the Committees take their life direct from the people in which case the butcher and the baker will not be required to 'Judge engineering work and the softgoodsman will not be delegated to promote scientific agricultural progress.'

Source: Bethel, Walter. Son of a Famous Father- Career of Varney Parkes. Newcastle: The Newcastle Sun, 1939.

Notes

  • This is a work of political satire by a sitting member of the New South Wales Parliament in the guise of fiction. Parkes was chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works in 1894 and this work may have been based on that experience.
  • Author's Preface: Living under responsible government the taxpayer rests confident of the wisest use of public funds, because the taxpayer knows that he has a hand upon the rein; but when parliament creates irresponsible and often most incongruous committees to guide vast expenditures the taxpayer loses his hold upon the rein, for responsible government when brought to book for errors committed falls back upon the committees and the committees are beyond reach. If committees are to govern the country the responsible administration and parliament had better be abolished and the committees take their life direct from the people, in which case the butcher and the baker will not be required to judge engineering work, and the soft goodsman will not be delegated to promote scientific agricultural progress.

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Works about this Work

Miscellaneous Graham Stone , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 101-104)
— Review of The Invasion W. H. Walker , 1877 single work novel ; The Last of Six : Tales of the Austral Tropics Ernest Favenc , 1893 selected work short story ; Ashes : A Tale of Two Spheres Hume Nisbet , 1890 single work novel ; The Harlequin Opal Fergus Hume , 1893 single work novel ; A Son of Perdition : An Occult Romance Fergus Hume , 1912 single work novel ; The Gentleman Who Vanished : A Psychological Phantasy Fergus Hume , 1890 single work novel ; My Weird Wooing David Fowler , 1887 single work novel ; The Clairaudient : A Story of Psychical Research C. Ernest Robin , 1896 single work novel ; Aerial and Terrestrial Transit : An Inquiry Thereinto by a Paid Select Committee of Members of Parliament, Elected by Members of Parliament : Qualifications:- Strictly Non-professional : A Series of Records of Their Distinguished Labours. Varney Parkes , 1895 single work novel ; Recognition : A Mystery of the Coming Colony Sydney H. Wright , 1895 single work novel ; The Yellow Wave : A Romance of the Asiatic Invasion of Australia Kenneth Mackay , 1895 single work novel ; Artabanzanus : The Demon of the Great Lake : An Allegorical Romance of Tasmania William M. Ferrar , 1896 single work novel
Miscellaneous Graham Stone , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Notes on Australian Science Fiction 2001; (p. 101-104)
— Review of The Invasion W. H. Walker , 1877 single work novel ; The Last of Six : Tales of the Austral Tropics Ernest Favenc , 1893 selected work short story ; Ashes : A Tale of Two Spheres Hume Nisbet , 1890 single work novel ; The Harlequin Opal Fergus Hume , 1893 single work novel ; A Son of Perdition : An Occult Romance Fergus Hume , 1912 single work novel ; The Gentleman Who Vanished : A Psychological Phantasy Fergus Hume , 1890 single work novel ; My Weird Wooing David Fowler , 1887 single work novel ; The Clairaudient : A Story of Psychical Research C. Ernest Robin , 1896 single work novel ; Aerial and Terrestrial Transit : An Inquiry Thereinto by a Paid Select Committee of Members of Parliament, Elected by Members of Parliament : Qualifications:- Strictly Non-professional : A Series of Records of Their Distinguished Labours. Varney Parkes , 1895 single work novel ; Recognition : A Mystery of the Coming Colony Sydney H. Wright , 1895 single work novel ; The Yellow Wave : A Romance of the Asiatic Invasion of Australia Kenneth Mackay , 1895 single work novel ; Artabanzanus : The Demon of the Great Lake : An Allegorical Romance of Tasmania William M. Ferrar , 1896 single work novel
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Last amended 31 Mar 2016 08:22:45
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