MR BRYCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIII, Issue 2711, 5 July 1892, Page 2

MR BRYCE.

The old saying that " too many cooks ..poil the broth " has been well _ illustrated m the recent proceedings m the House of Representatives with regard to Mr Bryce. There was firstly Mr McGuire's notice of motion that the vot<; of censare'on the hon. gentleman bo expunged from the records of the House; then Mr George Hutchison's notice that Mr Bryce be heard at the bar of the House ; and finally Mr Bryce's own petition. Dither of the two motions might possibly have been assented to by the House—indeed we have good ground for believing that Mr McGuire's notice was not given without previous consultation with the Leader of the House—but m his petition Mr Bryce attempts to justify himself and to show that the House was wroncr, and m the face of this it was manifestly impossible to remove censure without altogether sacrificing the dignity of the House. Mr Bryce simply re-asserts his view of the case, and prays that he may be allowed to support his allegations at the bar of the House. He still declares that he was censured not for disobedience to the Speaker but for disobedience to the Premier. He still cannot or will not see that on the Premier as Leader of the House rests the responsibility of moving m matters affecting the dignity of that House, and persists m regarding him m. his personal or ministerial capacity only. Mr Bryce will not see that he was to blame for what occurred, although he now shows some approach to agreement with the general opinion < that he threw up his seat and the , leadership of his party without any reasonable cause. In his petition he " admits that it is not improbable that he may be over-sensitive to injustice either to himself or to others, coming from a source he has been accustomed to regard with respect." The petition has m faot greatly increased the difficulty of the House m dealing with the case j it is very unfortunate that it was ever presented, and it is to be hoped that Mr Bryce will for once! allow himself to be persuaded and immediately withdraw it. We believe that with this difficulty out of the way, and the notices of both Mr McGuire and Mr G. Hutchison withdrawn, a way would be found to arrange the matter m a manner not derogatory to the dignity of either the House or Mr Bryce. Mr Ballance has said that he has no desire to perpetuate the stigma which Mf Bryce considers was placed upon him by the vote of censure, and we may be sure he sees his way to a solution cf the difficulty. The course which has been hinted at, that all votes of censure on members now standing m the journals of the House be expunged—a general amuesty— might not be of a special enough nature to please Mr Bryee, but it will commend itself to most other men as being a reasonable and practical idea. The loss of prestige which Mr Bryce has suffered by his course of action is a punishment which the House did not wish to inflict upon him, and everybody will be heartily glad if the record of the censure be expunged and no more heard of the matter,