POLITICAL STONEWALL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 278, 21 November 1913, Page 2

POLITICAL STONEWALL.

LEGISLATIVE AMENDMENT BILL PILES OF AiVIENDMENTS. SECOND BALLOT REPEAL TUSSLE. OPPOSITION BLOCKADE TACTICS. SIR JOSEPH MOVES -ADJOURNMENT. COMMITTEE SKIRMISHING RECOMMENCES. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.. WELLINGTON, Thursday. Amendments to the Legislative Amendment Bill, material for the monumental stonewaU were piled up in alarming proportions as soon as the House of Representatives met this afternoon. Considerably more than a hundred were noted in the first fifteen minutes. Mr. McCallum (Wairau) putting 72 in one hatch. Every member of the Opposition seemed loaded to the muzzle with amendments, and Labourites also showed active interest, Mr. Payne moving a few amendments of his own. while Mr. W. A. Veitch dropped a friendly note to your representative that he proposed to give notice to discuss the whole lot "without prejudice." Mr. Seddon led off with a hold announcement that lie proposed to move a number of amendments—very important amendments—in the Legislative Amendment Bill. The phrase was repeated monotonously by other members for many minutes. Mr. Forbes provided variety with an explanation of his technical amendments. Mr. Poland took the House into his confidence regarding a. whole bill which lie had brought out from among the rejected manuscripts. While Mr. Payne announced shortly that he had '"sundry amendments." CHRITCHIRCTI SANDWICHES. Mr. Eli was very much like a sandwich. liis announcements regarding new proposals came in between every other speaker, but the Hon. Mr. Fisher (Minister in charge of the hill) endeavoured to set an example of brevity with the announcement that he would move a "short" amendment. The Hon. A. T. Ngata presented a series of propositions relating to the duties of clerks of Parliament. Mr. Ell revived the initiative and referendum, reading the whole bill. Mr. Speaker stopped the outrush momentarily with a suggestion that members need only give notice of amendments without reading them. Sir Joseph Ward remarked that upon an important occasion such as. this, .in which the whole country was interested, the whole country should know nil that was being proposed.

Mr. Speaker replied that it was most unusual. It was his duty to maintain order in the best possible way, but if ever}- member of the House wanted to read bills that had been rejected, they would not be carrying out their duties. He merely made a request, leaving it to the good taste of members to comply.

Sir Joseph Ward pointed out that each member was responsible for bis action to his constituents, and the House was I enjrased in discussing a principle. So long as they did not offend the Standing Orders, though they were adopting Rn unusual course, no doubt Mr. Speaker ■would see that members had full opportunity of expressing their opinions. "NOT CONSTITUTIONAL." "I would just like to say," observed the }'rinie Minister, "'that*, in my opinion, and I think in the opinion of many other people, what has been going on is not in accordance either with constitutional custom or privilege. It is quite clear that the whole object i- tn waste time so as to prevent the opinion of the majority of the members of this House bring expressed in the Statute Book of this country."' Sir Joseph Ward rose to a point of order. The Prime Minister, he ohjeeted, duty of members on the Opposition fide of the House roeri ruins an important bill. Mr. Speaker said ho had never done anything."to interfere with thn debate in any shape, but all that was necessary in giving notice of amendments was to mention that they had certain amendments to move. ■ NOT FRIVOLOUS. ITr. EH, who immediately rose tn add to the long list 01 proposed amendments, protested that of his nrnpnilments not one wa.; of a frivolous nature. Mr. Anderson: They arc all frivolous. This interjection raiseJ (lie ire of the member for ' bristchurcli >outh, who appealed to tlit.' < bair. Mr. Speaker expressed tlie opinion that the interjection was not exactly out of order, but he requested members to refrain fiora interjections. ADJOURN THE IIuOSE. When the first uruer ot the day was reae'.i'i! at 3.JU p.m., Liu' LriilT uf the Opposition moK-J ths aJjoui-muCJii ot the Ili-use. and he xa» I '■- I with a ptiin: .ii order ii-iiii liin ['rime 'Mimster. M,:i. irii.il.i-iri bccuiu' mi*. iv.:!i eupioe of -,-.'■ -"ramMiiE urdir*. .v.d Sir J.«epb Wurd i'-aneti upon .1 j.ne nE "llaDriurde" whii-ii he had prepared to reinforce hw pcr=r' :on. The I'rimc lliniiter declared that the jnorii>Ti '.'.-!- .in inn'ivnilon not contemplated by :h" Standing Ordrrs as revised. The ailjwurnmijit ei.uld, hn conlendcd, on'.y be move.l .it the oonrinwon "i buei-r.p.-'S or upon ;'ie i-Irciilatinn of qureti'.ni-. Prerfii"n!S 'n favour of the ctiMi-u vfrc quote.! by t'.ir llm. A. T. X c ,;, ~nl Mr. a. W. Knwseil, who con-j tdidid :!i.it rx-e.u'sr- Ihr power hnd lain dnrm:ir!t for w,rs ins no re:isor. why tie shnuM not exercise its Vr-vUfge. The Hon. \Y. 11. Herries endeavoured to c!cmoi;etrate that the adjournmen-t ln-iitiiri -:nly related to questions. -■'*. ""'"eiiker ruled thnt the adjnuramer.' ■ ~]!■] b e moved, but the speeches imwi be kept strictly to the point of adinnmrneTit, which had neon the practice Cot 20 yearcs. _ The Prime Minister: This is a very important matter, and I will ank tou to give a i.nie tune for omuidwation. members: The Speaker has

I Mr. Mf.espy urged in reply that tentative rulings could be given. A DOUBTFUL POINT. 'Mr. -Speaker announced thai he had been looking carefully 'through the points, and he could <cc no authority for a private member to move the adjournment of the- II -use. He wished to postpone his decision on that phase of the question until to-morrow. "In. that ease," remarked Sir Joseph Ward, "is it nor. reasonable to postpone consideration of this bill till to-mor-rawf Answering a comment from the Prime Minister which was not. hnard in the Press gallery. Sir Joseph declared that there was a full right oi free speech in Xew Zealand, and he was surprised to hear the Prime Minister 6uggeet that something unusual would bo done. He would like the Prime Minister to cay how he came to know about it. "We want 'to be perfectly sure of strict impartiality, fair treatment, and no collusion." he concluded. The Prime Minister explained that h : 9 suggestion was that hie opp-on- nt did not po=eeee a full and proper knowledge of the Standing Orders. There were some he did not know, and they would be quoted when the time came. He did not know, nor did he want to know, what Mr. Speaker or the Chairman of Committee would <io, and he was not the man to bring pressure or influence to bear upon them. WAS COLLUSION SUGGESTED? Mr. Speaker remarked that he did not suppose the Leader of the Opposition meant it, but some idea might get abroad of collueion between 'the Speaker, the Chairman of Committees and the Government. Therefore the wished to say that he had never taken instructions or directions or received any advice from the Government. Mr. Ifanan (to Mr. Malcolm): I have heard 'Ministers prompting you in committee. Do they deny that? Mr. Malcolm (Chairman of Committees): Most , certainly. Ministers have asked if a member is in order, but in no way whatever has the Government attempted to influence mc. Sir Joseph Ward explained that when the Prime Minister made so definite a statement in the direction of inferring that the closure won! i be applied, iie went back in his mind over the whole time since he had be-.'ti in Parliament, and. although he remembered many stonewalls, he could remember no case Oi a closure beinj applied. The Premier Totortcl that there were proceedings on record in "Hansard" that went to show certain powers were given to the Speaker and Chairman of Committees to prevcrvt obstruction by a minority of men in the House. That had been done on more than one occasion in the history of the New Zealand Parliament. THE CLOSURE. Opposition Members: Is that tha closure? The Prime Minister: I am not going to say if it is or is not a closure, but it has been done. Mr. Maseey then referred to the interjection by the member for Invereargill, of which he said some notice should be taken. Mr. Hainan declared that the words he used to Mr. Malcolm, were: "Have Ministers when in committee prompted you?" and the Chairman of Committees replied: "Mo, certainly not." Cries of *Xo, no," from Ministerialists. Mr. Mas-sey: Well, if that interjection was made it wae an improper one. Mr. MaJcolm said that his recollection of the interjection was somewhat different to what had been explained by the member foT Invercargill, and he went on to assure the House that, although he might sometimes vary the monotony in committee by conversing with the Minister, the subject matter never had anything to do with the proceedings. Mr. Hanan's assurance that he meant no reflection on the Chairman was accepted, and a few minutes later Mr. Malcolm resumed the committee chair on the Legislature Amendment Bill, the preliminary discussion having used up the clock to 4.15 p.m. BACK TO THEill STRIDE. Talking rouud the clock, several tenmmute intervals were niied in on the short ■ title clause before the Junior Government Wnip rose to move an amendment. "I move to strike out the ■.void ■1913,'" said Mr. Nosworthy. Had this amendment, been accepted it meant, swing that "lyla" was the last word in tiie clause, a considerable curtailment of the opportunities for stonewalling it. Mr. Kussell gained time for his friends by raising a. point of order on tho ground tiiat it was not, possible to make an Act without mentioning the time when ie bus to operate. The Minister of Marino v>"as beginning to discuss the point of order when the amendment. This was cho striking out of the second word of the clause, the word "Act/ , The Chai'tnan requested further explanation of the member's intention before he accepted tiie amendment, and the Hon. Mr. Herries rose to submit that it was a diroct negative. Upon this Mr. Witty pointed out that on Tuesday last the Senior Government 'Whip had moved to strike out the saunr word, and no objection was taken to ii. Whether Mr. Guthrie moved the amendment on his own initiative or not. it was. of course, impossible for him to say, added Riccarton's member, suggest ivolr. Mr. Malcolm explained that he was not in tiie chair at the time, but he had been told by the oioik thai .Mr. Outline's motion had not come before the Committee owing to a prior amendment. Af:er :i little more argument on tlio point. Mr. \\itty contended that tho member for Napier was quite in order, as he doubtless intended to move the substitution of some won! or words in place of the word "Art." and the Hon. .Mr. Ngata supported thi.-i contention. THE STATUTE OF DELIMITATION. This induced the Chairman to declare his resolve to refuse any amendment which might be put in a spirit of mockery, or which would negative a clause or leave it meaningless. Mr. Brown then moved the deletion of the word "Act," and the substitution for it of "statute," -which the Chairman said he must accept as being a genuine amendment. SHOAL WATER MARKS. When the dinner adjournment was reached the member for Southern Maoris was making somewhat heavy weather of tho amendment. When the Committee resumed at 7.30 Mr. Parata Etill had nearly live minutes to go, and before it torminated the Chairman called his attention to Standing Ordnr 305, empowering the Chairman to direct a member to resume his seat if he persisted in straying from tho text. The "one-word text" was, in fact, giving a deal t>f perplexity to the debater*,

for the Chairman began to pull members up pretty often for submitting trifling arguments and treating the delate in a i frivolous way. j A HOMILY ON SYNONYMS. i Mr. Isitt adopted a combative attitude toward the proposed amendment., :It seemed such a trivial and weak I ! amendment. What did it matter' whether the Act, decree, ordnance, statute, enactment, or some otheri synonymous term were used? Mr. Wilford: You might substitute the word -William" for "Hill". (Opposition laughter.) I Mr. Isitt ignored the interruption, and I continued to speak severely about the ■ substitution of "statute" for "Act." I "However," he added, in a tone of I resignation, and with a covert glance at , I the clock, ''the amendment has been j moved, and it must be dealt with. We cannot, in the interests of the people of this Dominion, sit quietly by and see the Acts of this country weakened by the substitution of words which are not an improvement, but a decided declensior." Mr. Isitt's fluency was interrupted by an intimation that he was taking too wide a latitude, while the yet graver! i indictment of "frivolous argument" was j preferred against him just before the bell rang him down. THE "AYES" HAVE IT. Standing Order 305 continued to be quoted with ever-increasing frequency, , till at 8.45 p.m. a division was arrived at. and the amendment negatived by 38 to 19. THREE-HOUR FLUTTER. As the pace was meant to last, there were no brilliant performances, even with the usual crowded galleries of after dinner to stimulate legislators to their best. The member in charge of the bill, the Hon. Mr. Fisher, had a roomy armchair brought in*o the chamber, and slid into its comfortable recesses. He was the ' only Minister to be seen for several ! hours. Arguing that no change should take place until after the people's verdict had ' been given, Mr. Wilford moved an addi- ' tion to the elftuao, "That the bill shall : not be operative till April, 1015," but for a long time his proposition was I smothered in talk upon a motion that progress be reported. This device for wasting time was moved at 0 o'clock, and for three hours ; the stonewaliers raised their wits for : reasons to advance in support of the argument to report progress. The Chairman kept an eye of such lynx-like watchfulness over "lie tongues of the debaters, however, that members were repeatedly , floored in their attempt to avoid tedious repetition and irrelevancy. The end of this little section arrived at 12.10 ajn., : the division resulting in .13 to 10 against the proposal. Mr. Wilford then returned to his amendment, agreement to which he sug- I gested would greatly facilitate the pas- ! sage of the bill. The member for Hutt i went on to inform the committee that j his object in proposing April 1, 1010, i was to enable other members, in the • event of hie amendment being defeated, ] moving further amendments of a similar ; nature, but with altered datee, working j back day by day to the next general election if necessary. At 12.30 a.m. Mr. Bell relieved the chairman, while the only Minister in the chamber was the Hon. Mr. Fraser, who occupied the armchair of the Minister in charge. Sufficient Government supporters i to maintain a House were scattered in various attitudes of recumbency a-bout the eight benches, the Opposition side : being tenanted by half a dozen of what i might be called the p.m. shift, timed \ to keep the ball rolling till about 2 a.m. A STRAXGER IN" THE HOUSE. j Shortly before 2 a.m. a email diversion I was caused by Mr. Witty drawing the Chairman's attention to the presence of ! a stranger in the House. Sleepy h.-ads j popped curiotisly up to witness the rare spectacle: mid proceedings were interrupted until the stranger, who had appropriated Mr. Maunders eeat, was escorted out by a messenger. At 2.33 a division was reached on Mr. Wilford's amendment, which was negatived by 32 to 13. THE RELIEVING SHIFT. Messrs. Witty, Mac Donald, Forhee, Yei-tch, Payne, .MeCalliim, Ell, nnd Wilford, who hud maintained the blockade i since the supper adjournment, now re- | tired, and were succeeded by Messrs. Xgal.i, Poland, Atm-re. Te Rangihiroa, Robertson. Seddon. Wohb, - l: id Glover. At 2.45 a.m. Ohinemnri led off the new Attack by moving "That the Chairman ' do now leave the chair, in order thnt the j bill be got out of the road and important measures on the order paper pushed along." Mr. Lee fActingr-Chairman} and Mr. Webb hnd ,i little quarrel :iliont relevancy shortly after 3 a.m. The latter . pleaded pathetically that the Auckland ! Exhibition was he.ing ruined, but was puller! up sternly with the rebuke the Exhibition was otrteide the question. Th» small hours dragged wearily on. and ne dawn came trieklinc through the win- i dows about 4 a.m. Mr. Atmoro, clad in n mackintosh, addressed a somnolent i Howe, from the Ministerial eid? of ! which snoring, in various keys, played a I running accompaniment to his pleas for a truce. Shortly before .5 a.m. the Hons. Herrift=. TTiTdmnn nnd PomnTe, together with several Ministerial supporters, eniererl the Chamber to Telicvp their fellow-Rcformprs from their all-night vigil. Thn arrival of the new and invigorated rnntingen't lent a Knmpwh.it more "sitting up nnd taking notice" appearance In the Government" benches At fi.?A while Mr. X-rat.l vrae rebuking Mr. Herries for endeavouring to entice ! him info tabooed AiihJMsta, the Premier j entered thr Chamber for the first time ; since the previous afternoon. Tbr> tlivi- : sion bell rang- on the motion at 7.0S nfter : five and a-half hours had been sp"nt on ' its fliepiWKjon. In response to the call i Ministerialists straggled into the Cham- , JiTf' nru] P ict "r"sq"e forms of deshabille. The motion wns Inst by S to 2S, just as the clock struck 'eight TwentT-six hours hart thun been oceup : e 1 in ■passing two words of the bill. The breakfast adjournment waa then taken (Continued on page 7.)