NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 940, 6 October 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

• "Portugal," said M. Jean Finot,' writing in the Upntemporahj 'life-: view in Marcli, 1908, upon itlie assassination', of King Oaelos, -fin some respects resembles a. celebrated, ancient -historic .castle, lost, in some corner of a province. Everyone respects it, but no one cares about it. (suddenly; a- striking event ! bursts forth m -it. . Tho public interest in it, which seemed dead, is born again. The forgotten- spot rouse's passion, and is everywhere •' talked about. But it soon becomes evident, that the castle is to us full of mystery, and we lament that we know' nothing of the minds of its inhabitants." There could be no more apt, commentary than this upon the startling news 3 which .at time : of. writing wants confirmation from a trustworthy source, that a revolution has taken place in this ancient country. At intervals _ during the year there have been brief reports of an impending Republican revolt, but not, much attention has been, paid to the course of events. The government of the country has for years been in the hands of the professional, politicians of the two main parties, the Conservatives and Liberals, who are regarded by tho Republicans as one party so far as the mass of the people are concerned. It was reported on August 22 that a revolution was imminent, the current rumour, according to the Lisbon correspondent of the Daily News, being that the Clerical Party, siipported by a section of the Army and > Navy, intended to establish a military dictatorship. An enormous number of troop's were under arms in Lisbon, while the surrounding forte were fully garrisoned. On August 26 a Renter message pub; lished in London - . confirmed the' Daily News message. Lisbon advices, it was said, were to tho effect that the Government had taken steps to preserve,, order, and had ordered the warships to leave the Tagus for various destinations. We must await fuller reports, but in the meantime it would appear that the Republican spirit'has been thriving beyond the hopes of the Republican leaders. An armed revolution in a civilised i country in the twentieth century is a fact that is worth a good deal of thought, even when the country is onl.V Portugal, For we

have got into the way of thinking such, things impossible, or rather of not thinking of them or of their possibility at all.

A sharp lesson was administered to the Prime Minister in the early hours of Wednesday morning. At 3 o'clock the Houso had been sitting continuously, for .the customary adjournments for meals, for -12i hours. In addition, many members had been working, on committees some hours previously. Amongst the business dealt with during the time stated was the disposal of the third reading debate on the most important Bill passed this session— the Defence Bill. The Education Bill was also passed through its final stages, and some progress made with the Land Settlement Finance Bill in Committee. At this stage, 3 a.m., it was urged that the House should adjourn. The importance of the measure under consideration was pointed out; the tired condition of members; the empty state of the Houso were all dwelt on. The Prime Minister, however, in one of those fits of stubbornness which cause so much disputation and waste of time insisted on going on. ' Because members had shown every readiness to assist him in pushing through the business of the House' during tne preceding week he Appears to have imagined that he could drive them as he pleased. / He discovered his error. ■ The Opposition refused to be driven into carrying on business a,t such hours and under such conditions. .The result was an all-night sitting. While Mr. Massey arid his followers are to.be complimented on the stand they made -against the vicious system of rushing through business at such hours of the morning, and with members -physically; and mentally exhausted, , we should have ' preferred to .have seen them carry their protest to even greater, lengths. . We are' certain that they would be. backed, by the whole weight of public, opinion ' throughout the country if they refused, to permit any business to be done at such hours as. the Prime; Minister forced, on the House yesterday. It is singularly unfortunate that ■ Sir' Joseph Ward should,have been so lacking in judgment as to adopt such tactics: The House was in a working humour last week,'and hacl made a good beginning for- the "current week, but his tactlessness has, quite changed the. atmosphere. .' All-night sittings do no good to anyone. . On_ the. present occasion-very little .business was done, during the six .hours' which the House, sat after 3 . a.m'. MoreOver, the whole of the morning's sittings of committees was lost, and the afternoon sitting of the House itself had 'to be abandoned. And. in addition, members" are; in ' a had' humour for the ; week's work. ThePrime i Minister has again proved himself a poor tactician..

The discussion-''which took place in the House of on Tuesday last on the method. o£ conducting "divisions" is of .some importance. The Peiiie. Minister was quite ..right in making protest against , the lax mahnfer in : which "tellers," or vote recorders, at'times carry out their duties, but membersas ; a whole are equally to blame. "Both , political parties are very careless in their observance of the rule which says' that "members shall enter tho ' "Ayes" or the '"Noes'' lobby when divisions take place. ; ,Our object in preferring toi the.-matterhow*: ever, is not so much to . call atten-. tion to the need for reform in!this direction as to emphasise a danger which only one member appeared to "note. We. refer to. the/practice -of. members whose " names are not recorded in division .'lists as having voted, .claiming some days later that their names have'; been, improperly omitted—that they actually did vote: Mr. Buick, the member for Palmerston North, pointed out that this practice'opened the door_ to very grave abuse. A member might claim to have voted when he did not, vote, and who could .contradict him days after the division had been taken? Especially on an occasion when several divisions had been taken in succession would it be difficult to get at the truth of such a claim—the member making it might be honestly- mistaken. Mr; Buick's suggestion that any member who neglects at the time, to see that his vote is recorded should have no redress for his own neglect is a sound and wise one. >■