FROM THE LADIES' GALLERY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 698, 24 December 1909, Page 8

FROM THE LADIES' GALLERY.

: '"JENNY WEEN IN PARLIAMENT." ; . Desperately, ' (feverishly, 7 tlio legislate* machine has boon working theuo last few days, every moment, minute, nnd hour, almost; bo-:' ing nothing but a wild whirl of Bills. Protest is of little avail—"on with, the dance, J ''no mat- '/; tcr >vliat happens,- so long: as members can get away to.' tUeirhomes'for Chrikinas.';The "piedv piper", plays .his magic pipo^',and tho partf, with few oxocptions, follow lnin through witJl. ■ ing ways,' with' strange, sudden turnings and retracings, hnd; many'steep , desoenfs, that lcavo ■ them broathlfss and deqily bewildered, but tlio fiiper plays oil, oiid - they can only blindly .fol--017,;, in-' tlio hope, of , a paradise:..to. come. ■ . Ify. the paoe is breathless, and exhausting, tho end?; of the journey is now at band, and- such 1 a chasa - ieayes no time for is not.V Wanted; only blind obedionce. Those who would - obstruct them in-the frenzy of the dance must be crushed somohow, anyhow, and all the forces and strategies than, can-;be invoked are brought into play for; that l purpose.

Kaihau at Last. •' Considering tho many -hours"thejr had'becS. /-, sitting on Friday and Saturday last week, nuent. bers on tlio whole looked 1 surprisingly l alert, and - oheerfnl' on: Monday;—probably ithoy had made one long sleeping time of Sunday, and sogained a fresh supply of energy for tho beginning of- the 'week; and ; tho worries ' that it brings.. The first thing to. .lie .attacked m tho l . morning. Wero tho';;Estinia,tes, and it'.ihust surely have been record time'in which tho.Pnb. . » lie Trustee's acoourit 1 for 537 was palssod, the discussion only taking four minutes and: a half, while tho Government Insurance Depart- ; ment, for sixty-spvon thousand ■ pounds j odd, - took four niinutcsj and the Government Ajxh- 1 dent two minutes, the same thing occurring! in regard to lairger amounts even. Four minutes, , . five/lninufces.- sL-t;: minute, -see thousands agi tens of thousands'of poimds scattered: abroad, It must be very fascinating dealing with suoh large 6ums of - money, and 1 probably members ■ begin-to 1 develop .quite a contempt for ,them as- - the result of such familiarity, pirfaonlarly when .they do not influence their own pockets. -The; ordinary sums of daily life must seom ; a i. very, poor, tamo . affair alter these 6tais ot 1 magnitude, surely. • , The ; appearance of Ktuhan created, quite a little stir, so long had ho .been in putting in , an appearance in Parliament this session. Not that he: ever seems to do anything moro than, vote ,for, the Government on matters that affect the general publio J welfave. ' Heavily, stolidly . he, gits in his ©tot'.for'ia little \yhilo, then feets ; up,- and may be seen later on sitting on- a seat'. at tho main l cntrance,_: and-, smoking,.. alwayt': : ; turning up'when tho division bell goes. What does it matter what-it is.all about? Yet ho, a acts no differently to many other members of f: tho party, and with just: about as Jittlo know»'ledge,

Spons for the South. , - Tho Public . Works Statement, which wa», read by tho Hon. R. M'lCenzio, tho same evon. ing, was not a ; very interesting -thing to: listen ,to, '.not ~ lending .-itself- : .'t<r- flights •of orator jv Indeed, i one; would' not expect that from tho (Minister.:: Railways; roads, and bridges,. with ■■ all the sums of money; they cost, iiowod. along for ever till- one began to ask . oneself whether. , New Zealand was not: a Continent • instead of - a.hilly little islang group, plumped, downiathe i middle of mighty ocean.. , -The . neoessitr.' of retrenchment-was also impressed; upon every*, once, also that tlie public expenditure on railways • ;was greater than .for. tho.-last quarter., ot a. century, also that tho money spent on mak-. . ing roads was a record for tho Dominion. Ono . can only feel that any attempt to' make lift a littlo easier for the settlers who are buried' • awaj inland, shut in by impassable roads tor months anil months at a time, must bo, money well spent. ■ Ono thing that has caused a groat amount of dissatisfaction is the fact that there is a 1 difference of, .£120,000 between tho railway. allocations' of tho two islands, and, considering that, the South''has already four hundred \ miles, moro /of railways (somo; of which aro far .-from paying) and that the., North: Island - has more,:land', to' bo- opened; up, is more pro. : ductivo, and has'a. larger population, it does scemi;thafcthore[is sometiing| to bo dissatisfied.; tho various Bills dealtVVitli'lKvas itho CustiAos Duties Bill, and,. again, an Alteration-' was >imwlo' in the matter ;of .taxation.' v It was proposed: that the surtax Xtn . tobacco,; cigars, ..and cigarettes should', bo. 'one;per (sent added.-to the duties imposed upon theso goods, ; instead of 24 Per cent. Truly, it is ,a;GovcrnmOTt", of..infinite variotv and plia. bility. Lost in'a sea -.of difficulty and bewilderment ono; puzzles over tho diiferonco bo-. ■twoen tobacco and cigars. 'and cigarettes.: Is it •'only tho Parliamentary mind that' cab. 6olvo it?-'To still: needed rovniio, a surtax of ,21 po'r cent, is to bo added to other dutiablo goods,' which sdoms to spread the taxation over a ; ,considerably larger area—probably' to the housewife's disgust.,' '■ . .Conservation and Destruction. Tho Old, Ago Pensions Bill and the Dcfcnce' Bill, ono a; humanitarian moasnre, and the other somewhat tho reverse,, wcxo dealt with, tho most ; interest being centre! in tho last; human nature being , what it ,is. ;'tTho, Old Ago .; Bill; strikes iino as:being far from in easy ono to grasp, perhaps that'was why it did not toko up a^ great amount'of time. Sir Joseph stated; that' its. object was ,to allow. owners' of homes ' up X 340 ■ in.'. value,: together, with their.' wives, tho opportunity • of receiving. the full pension. Beyond that amount, the pension would; be, reduced by a sliding scale until jCGOO was, reaohed, .when there: would' La eo ! pension' at, aIJ, for, single : people. i.No doubts the Old Ago Ponsion must remove a nightmare of hor-' ror. from .the, minds of > lonely, people who aT# ' poor and aro getting old and feoblo, and one ■would not for anything in thi world To ahy.'.; thing to take away ;; that comfort, but alreadj theris are impositions vthat -have been winked at, and. this. Bill, seems to open th» ' gate even a- littlo wider.;.- Moro and. mord, it. seoms that self-reliance . and the cnercy -to' , hght . out. ways for, oneself are being; discoiir-' v ogca, aua. we. aro • becominp: a pooplo propped up, and fed by the State; tijLl there is no'backibone, no, poiycr m us as a ncoplo. ■ >. People have, boen 'intensely" interested in tho, •Defence..-Bill;, and'wero keenly watching it» ' progress--throughi the.lfouse,!fearing that per.' •haps after, tho. friction aroused •by ono of its ■ • clausos, it might hot bo gone through, with this session, if, at.all. ; A forlorn'littlo band of throa ' roMlious spirits, Mr.. T. E: Taylor, Mr. Hogg, . and _Mr,; M Laren, tried: to stem; the tide of opinion by.,.holding forth, profusely.: and sug. amendments,.- having r tho fiofd" all to; themselvos, -.but craduaUy the-'stonewall • diod down, and .the, Bill,i shorn at .tho'beginmnfc:of the debate;: of. the -disturbing clause' ■ was finished wjth by tho House- r -Even the Boy ' Scouts aro .brought under, the; eaglo-eyo' of the Defence, Department. The ; canteenv ■ question certainly, caused sotno discussion, Mr./Wright ; • beiiw insistent upon tho point of liquor-being. prohibited in tho camps:. Altogether. a > very •' big day s work was done that day,-the biggest-.; to tue credit ,of ParbDmcnt yct rccordcd thii session.-;'/ I;v. "...

A Time of Storm. , On WcdMsdny numbers of Bills were passed, mostlr local Bills, and in the, evening Governor sltirasages ; scorned fairly. plentifuL as did nmenameuts. Indeed, it WM vihrough' a Gov- - , ernor s. Message that a very pretty-storm came to -pass, in the evening,/ The Government had twjco been defeated, over a.clanso in the Guar- ' anteed Advances Bill, taking'away' tho control over the'' sinking ..funds:.of,v.local- bodies. Last night it was . introduced again among a - largo number of amendments.'. Almost before .- i Ihcy ;kne\v it, ■ the .'objectionable*clause was >passcd. ' Only. then did siembcrs- appear to , i wake up ;to what had * happened, 1 and then a ver* toe followed^the-methods- which • i had been .practised coming inVfor some exceed* ingly : strong criticism.' : A particularly, hcatod Mcurred_ behram:Mr'..; Luke and > the -v Prime Minister,' both', being very much worked yp« not being 1 a 'strong poiat of the GoTornmdnt, somo of those' who had voted -' with Mr, Sidey 'throw * him ; over, and voted the other, way.-Ahd yet tho Prinic-Minister says' ovorybody is as fit as; possible, 1 nothing th» ■ for 'i thework they have gone through. i i 7 i.r lo were Ijoingdis- : • cassed, thr Public Works.VStatement) beini heavily criticised by j sonxo'• of' the' members.' Mr.; Massoy spoke of the absurdity! of such nh' : important subject coming downfim tho dying hours* of the ' session, vrncnV monitors wen jndod mentally and" physically; andunaolo to concentrate themselves upon referring 1 also to the Unequal amount of money that'had ' been set aside for tho -railways' in tho north and .the south, tlio .south havintr'a considerable ~ ' advantage over; the former. '■ Tlio Prime Minister said it was nonsenso to say' that men* borsworo ln. of nShaustion—never wfir« thoy so At; and,; ns for - tho present Houso, i" was most comfortable/and tho health of mom.' bersi,had suffered vpry little' compared to past .Parliaments, i Ho also Said in -reference to th» statement.mado ; by 'Mr. Massey, :i that it wai- '- .through Parliament • : boiug :. prorogued thnV i businesshad boon scampered through, that ■ Mr; Massoyi had votod. for his goinjg Home tr attend'' tho conference, forgotting to' add.' thai ■'> ,Mr. Massey had.not voted for Pariiamcntb*'''' ing prorogued. • •