"TAMMANY HALL"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 254, 26 October 1945, Page 7

"TAMMANY HALL"

STATE APPOINTMENTS MR. WATTS' ALLEGATION Parliamentary Reporter WELLINGTON, this day. A recommendation from the conference of the Labour party last year that the National Executive of the party, in conjunction with local members of Parliament, be consulted when Government appointments to various boards and committees were to be made, and that in the case of overseas representatives the party caucus and the National Executive be consulted, was quoted by Mr. Watts (Nat., Riccarton), in . the House of Representatives last night. During the Electoral Amendment Bill discussion, he contended that "Tammany Hall" was going to rule, and that outside pressure groups, who were really running the country, were going to tell the Government who had to be appointed to the one representation commission proposed in the bill.

The bill was a cola and calculated effort by a political party to retain power, said Mr. Watts. It had been said that "power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts," and there was no doubt that was true in the present cat a. There was no doubt that the fc.ste of power over the last 10 years had corrupted the Government. The Minister of Works, Mr. Semple, on a point of order, asked if Mr. Watts were saying that the Government was corrupt. The Speaker (Mr. Schramm) called upon Mr. Watts to withdraw the remark, and Mr. Watts did so, but Mr. Osborne (Govt., Onehunga), on another point of order, drew attention to the fact that Mr. Gerard (Nat., Mid-Canterbury) had said: "So they are." Mr. Speaker said it was a gross breach of the rules of the House, and ordered Mr. Gerard to withdraw his statement and apologise to the House.

Mr. Watts said the Government had been influences by the power it had had, and was ready to use the bill to retain the power it could not get along without.