PEEPS IN PARLIAMENT

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 265, 5 August 1929, Page 7

PEEPS IN PARLIAMENT

WOMEN AND THE BUDGET

(By

Mrs. Malcolm Ross.)

Someone has called Parliament the national gasometer. But a gasometer gives grateim Heat and comioruug light u> tue puDlie, ami so tar our L’arliaiueut has done neither. The House is still having an easy time, auu the Council has gone off for three weeks’ rest. Uu j.uesuay, alter a very short sitting, devoted to the Kent Restriction Bill, to which mere was no opposition, ami to an appreciation of the late Mr. Arnold, again members were sec free until the next nay. On the heel of the conscientious objectors discussion, followed the first private members’ Bill. Abolition of compulsory military training, fathered by ‘Mr. Jordan. lie made an earnest appeal for his Bill, and opened the iloou-gates o£ the Labour Party, who spoke ioud and long in favour of the measure. According to them, military service should be voluntary, and sport of all kinds should be relied on to make our lads fit. It was a curious debate. Only one Reform man spoke. Their opinions on the subject were understood, and the member for Clutha, Air. Waite, voiced the opposition to the Bill. Interesting speeches were made by Mr,. Bushworth and Mr. Barnard, two returned soldiers. Both were in favour of the-measure, and spoke as men whose opinions had been formed by tragic experience. Krom the gallery s viewpoint, the piece de resistance was the oration of Mr. Makitarana. He was energetically patriotic, and so earnest that he was not easy to follow. He got on to Joshua and the Anialakites, but the Speaker gently led him back to the right path. The next moment he was back with Joshua, and revelling in all the bloodthirsty episodes of that age. It is difficult to understand the attraction the reading of the Financial Statement has for women. It is always a dreary and rather incomprehensible flow of figures, and finance is not the strong point of the average woman. As the Prime Minister went steadily through the Budget—which in these days, is no longer contained in the leather . satchel from whence it got its name —his voice became very tired, until at theend of the statement was well-nigh inaudible to the galleries. It was little wonder, for he spoke for nearly two hours. As a rule, the House adjourns immediately after hearing the Budget read, but a keen debate followed on this occasion, hinging on ythe proposal to double the primage on imports. The president of the Farmers’ Union, amid some astonished interjections, avowed his intention to vote for the resolution, and later, Mr. Martin, also a member of the union, hotly resented Mr. Polson’s action. The idea of extra taxation, Small as it may be, was condemned by many—especially after the glowing hustings promises. ( The latter part of the week saw some interesting visitors in the Speaker’s ladies’ gallery. Her Excellency and Mrs. Boyle attended on Thursday afternoon, and had the dreariest entertainment, and on Wednesday evening Viscountess Melville was delighted at witnessing a division—to see which she waited till after midnight. It was very different from the House of Commons where, until lately, women had to peer through a grille. There is a good deal about the deport* ment of the galleries in Standing Ordersk though it is humiliating to note that the compilers take no heed of women. It is possible, by a motion, to clear the galleries. Tears ago, on the occasion of a stonewall, Mr. Seddon moved to this effect. All the galleries were cleared with the exception of the ladies’ gallery, occupied by one lonely woman scribe. Presently Mr. Seddon said: “Mr. Chairman, I call your attention to the presence of a lady in the gallery.” Mr. Guiness, looking at the nervous female, said: “I see no lady in the gallery”—a remark that might have been taken as anything but a compliment. His idea was that the ladies’ gallery, as in the House of Commons, is outside the House, and therefore not within his jurisdiction. And all night, till breakfast time, the invisible She sat, taking surreptitious notes, the only recorder of the doings below. The alteration of the Standing Orders was accepted by the House with complacency, the only objection made being to the circulation of newspapers in the chamber at 4 o’clock, which some men declared —Mr. Holland in particular—caused disturbance. It was curious to see Mr. Speaker, divested of his wig and gown and minus his official voice, sitting atthe table in charge of the report. Members will now have an easier time and more rational hours, but it seems certain that, if any legislation is to be put through, the session will be prolonged.