PARTY RULE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 150, 27 June 1934, Page 10

PARTY RULE.

DICTATORIAL WAYS.

MR. STALLWORTHY'S CRITICISM.

INFORMATION WITHHELD.

"Under a spurious form of Parliamentary government which is only a mockery, New Zealand is under a dictatorship that denies the people the right to know what is being done at their expense or to discuss what little they do know," said Mr. A. J. Stallworthy, M.P. for Eden, addressing a meeting of his constituents at the Gordon Road Hall last evening. Mr. G. W. A. Clark presided. "Probably even some of the Cabinet Ministers do not know the full text of the agreement between the Government and the banks under which the exchange rate was raised, or what it is costing the country, although the facts have been asked for time and again in the House." The alternatives to constitutional government were' either tyranny or anarchy, and the practical politics of this country, with its problems of unemployment, lack of housing and poverty, were intimately concerned with the possibility of those alternatives being offered to the people of New Zealand, as they had been to other countries, said Mr. Stallworthy. With all its defects, the Parliamentary system was the best that had been evolved, but the political machine tried to stifle free speech and discussion, even in the House itself, in pursuance of its own ill-advised plans. The wishes of the people, as expressed by their Parliamentary representatives, were ignored, and even the right to vote had been interferd with by the party machine. Passing.the Milk Bill. Seventeen local bodies had asked that the passing of the Milk Bill should be postponed for further consideration. When ho took their telegrams to the Prime Minister, the latter sniggered, and said "They only want to block the bill." Mr. Stallworthy said that until the afternoon when the bill was introduced, Standing Orders having been suspended, it was impossible to §et a copy of the bill. It was read a first time, the second reading was taken pro forma, and it was referred to a committee, which was to meet the following morning. Mr. Stallworthy said that he obtained a postponement of the committee meeting for two days to enable Auckland representatives to go to Wellington to discuss it.

Out of 47 Government members, there were only 15 in the House when the Reserve Bank Bill was being debated on October 15. For a debate on unemployment the following day, there were never as many as 20 Government members in tbe House. When the Prime Minister was sneaking on the bill two days later, there were only 12 Government members present. During the wholo debate on the bill, the record attendance at any time was 25, yet 41 voted, and there were three pairs. "You can imagine," said Mr. Stallworthy, "what a hazy idea they had when they voted. At the ringing of the bell for a division, they come from everywhere but from their seats, often not knowing what they arc voting on, but just following other members of their party into the lobby." Mr. Coates and Bank Bill. After the lit. Hon. J. G. Coates had promised the House that certain amendments in the Reserve Bank Bill desired by the majority of the House, including many members of his. own party, would be made, it came back from the Upper House unaltered, and, owing to the rules of procedure, it could not then be altered. Through the breach of faith of the Minister, the bill thus became law although considered unsatisfactory by the majority of the House. This sort of thing made people ask, "Are we under Parliamentary rule, or are we under a dictator?'' for the self-appointed Minister of' Finance had certainly assumed dictatorial powers. In direct repudiation of his promises, the first tiling the Prime Minister did after the re-election of the Coalition party was to smash the Arbitration Court, juet when the workers most neceded protection from price competition. Another shock was the extension of the life of Parliament to four years against which he (Mr. Stallworthy) voted, on the grounds that if that had been the party intention it should have been put to the people at the election. The following, motion was carried unanimously:—"That this meeting of Eden electors congratulates Mr. A. J. Stallworthy, M.P., on his independent stand for freedom of conscience and action in Parliament; and expresses continued confidence in him as the representative of the Eden electorate."