ABOVE THE CHAIR

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3099, 15 September 1899, Page 3

ABOVE THE CHAIR

_- — #■ ■ . ■•■ _....' (Br Autolycus.}. ; •_;■ On Friday the House, >yras ; occupied entirely with A the. consideration, of the report of the Marine Gbmmissiony The Leader of the Opposition led off the debate by stating that he only intended to deal -with the report in a cursory manner. My ! readers will please note that there is nothing new in the Opposition treating the Government in a cursory, manner, : but som c * day the curses will come home to roost. He spoke very briefly, and contended that the Commissioners ihad glossed over the pressure which the Premier and his colleagues had put on the responsible officers of the Marine Department to induce them to grant a certificate tb Captain Jones, of the Duco. Mr John Hutcheson, who amongst his familiars is known as " Jack the Bigger," and was the cause of the Commission sitting, naturally took up the running after the gallant captain. He ironically observed that the report was as clear and intelligible as if it was a problem in Euclid. He submitted to any impartial man that the charges he had formulated in the House — that persons who were incompetent were being granted certificates, and that those who were qualified to sit for examination had been denied facilities to be examined — had been substantiated. The member for Wellington claimed that the story related by the Premier as to the interview he had had with the late Captain Fairchild was purely apocryphal, and expressed his (Mr Hutcheson's) surprise that i* should be accepted by the Commissioners as " proven facts.'*' It was an insult to their reason and their common sense and judgment to ask them to believe that the Commissioners had observed the mandate of the House. Was there ever, he asked, with some dramatic effect, such a wishy-washy, inconsequent, and impotent thing as that report ? Mr George Hutchison followed, and | also lifted up his dramatic voice and recited his tale of woe by complaining Mr Chamberlain Hutchison as a politician lives on complaints ; he is j yearly growing fat on this somewhat gaseous dietary. His latest complaint was the unfairness of asking a salaried officer of the Crown to inquire into the complicity of the Premier and one of his colleagues. It was only to be expected that Ministers would get absolution under such circumstancesThroughout the whole business the hand of the Premier was apparent. It was Mr Seddon who was the real culprit, and his colleague of Marine was the plaint instrument in his hand. The Premier's telegram was the key to the whole position, and the Commissioners' finding amounted to a verdict of " Not proven " and not of " Not guilty." This provoked a smile from the Hon. Mr Hall-Jones, which caused Patea to observe : " Beneath that smirk there is a shudder." He then reviewed the evidence, reading over many passages till the tinkle of the Speaker's bell brought Mr CTiamlerlain\ Hutchison to a brief ending. He was followed by Mr Pirani, who went over the same old, old, old story that has now become as tiresome as the incursions of MarlTwain's cow. Mr Tommy Taylor put a little electricity into the dead bones of the Marine Scandal, by moving— " That this House is dissatisfied with the administration of the Marine Department as shown by the evidence of Mr HallJones in the marine inquiry." In the course of his remarks he made a bitter personal attack on ministers. MiTaylor is nothing if not abusive, and he never rises to his feet without mistaking superlative abuse for highclass argument. Throw mud and plenty of it, he seems to think, and some of it is bound to stick. Mr Tommy Taylor is the political larrikin of the House— and seems proud of itHe was at his larrikin best on Friday, for he simply revelled in personal attacks of the lowest order. Here are a few specimens: The Premier was associated with midnight brawls. It is a most distasteful subject to touch — Ministers of the Crown drifting about from bar to bar collecting evidence for their superiors in the Cabinet. It goes to show to what a low level Ministers I of the Crown have drifted to at the present time. Mr Taylor was followed by three Opposition members. The anti-ministerialists began to get blue and cold looking at the singular silence of the Government party. The tension of thoir feelings was removed when the burly form of Cavershap Morrison arose, and went for Mr Taylor j and the Opposition. He declared Mr Taylor's speech was really intended as one of want of confidence— it was the most paltry' that had ever been put in that House. It said little for the trength of the Op^psitfon as a party

:t_T^"itT:fiMWg§t : ihe : -Left: Wing ta lead it on this question. . Both the Premier and Mr .Hall- Jones,.... he contended, could stand the most exhaustible enquiry with respect to their action in the matter. * Mr Scobie Maclcenzie, ; who was in his best" ! f 6rm , did riot : sit ; in his usual seat, but stood so as^to face the ladies'O giallery/ ■A He took : up ? the running in . the evening/ with filled galleries which maketh glad the heart of ; an orator. He made •a . slashing attack, on the Government, but did not contribute anything very new to the debate. It wiss mote the way he put things thin their freshness that told. As to the charge that the Opposition were continually raising up scandals, the fact was that the Government had been living in an atmosphere of scandals for years, and when the Opposition took the Treasury benches they would first have to be morally fumigated. In the I marine inquiry the Government had ; appointed their own judges, and their report had naturally absolved them» although he asserted that the report was a deliberate distortion of the evidence. The Premier, followed, and declared that the debate had proved a contemptible one, but the amendment had been seized upon by a backboneless Opposition, who had followed themselves to be drawn into a trap set by a member of the Left Wing. The Government had been charged with a scandal in connection with Captain j Jones's examination, but was the action of the Government consistant with the assertion that they had been guilty of any wrong. The Opposition never expected that the Government would prosecute the offenders in the case, or that they would appoint a commission to inquire into it. Was that like the conduct of guilty men. He condemned the attempt that had been made to malign the commissioners who held the injuiry. What inducement could Judge Ward have in bringing in a biassed finding. He was independant of the Government ; and, as for Mr Giles, it was well known that he was politically opposed to the Government. A number of other speakers on both sides, including Mr Hall Jones, then followed, but it would only be a waste of space to re-hash dry hash The amendment of Mr Taylor was lost by six votes and the motion that tiie papers lie on the table was carried. Exit the Oppositions dead marine of a scandal.