PROGRESS ON GAMING BILL

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 100, 24 October 1924, Page 8

PROGRESS ON GAMING BILL

KEEPING' UP TME STONEWALL

i;TO-DAY'S ADDITIONAL TALK.

■;< T-hV: principal" : cla'use in 'the .Gam- , ; Jingl Aniejiciijiejit^ Billi; p'foyide? for irfctfi'se'in the" nunlber~o£ totalisa;;.tor permits by 31 —12 to racing ■■"•clubs and 19 to trotting clubs. It <;is this" .provision, in Jlie BilL!which"V ]Jis armisin^ Hhe/oppasition ,x>f "a sec— ~ 'jtion in the House of Representa- : utives. The Labour Party is also the Bill because it desires jfto see curbed the powers of the __■ Conference. The "stonedt'.wall" on the Bill has been in pro-," " Jigress continuously (with pauses \t(s.r;:~ l\ meals) since '2.40 p.m. on W.edi)es*£day, j^6 on^y progress made;/up/;to >/ ■■ 'ithe time of writing being<- L-that the nshort title was agreed iSaS.StufinglC'. "the early hours of ,this morriingft" ,;The overnight proceedings are rej'ported on page 5 in this issue. After ..^breakfast, the House was talking on ; :r|an amendment that the references v»to hunt clubs in clause 2 of the ijßill should -be ' excised. Jithe; Chairman.. ,pf vf Gommittees ruthjjlessly ordered' members to resume i 'their.' 'seats ,*atv /the. slightest ". indica-.', ;!tion pf' "vain,..repetitions." ,','■; jJMr. "#.'" E.' Parry"'(Auckland' 'Central) protested against the elimination of hunt c^lib3 from the scope of the Bill. His idba was -'Wit' ihe" farmer's "should '.'. not be/deprived c of i a chance of indulgence iiij "this" traditional sport.''^ Members wjuld understand that" 'it " was a, ■"traditional sport." He trusted that his argument would have eome support fibm the Government benches. It was. also necessary to considerythe breed of racehorses. That was one reason why '/ he; supported the clause. It was ;all very-well-for r Mr. Isitt to-'.'fisa.'3n'!.''hist fury' and denounce hunt clubs, but ...that .would not assist him. '[\y' ' -, /JMr. G, ,Witty (Rjccarton): .'!He never : "rode a horse over a fence in his life." ¥>A voice! "Under a-fence." (Laughter.) ; _ JMr. A. Harris (Waitemata) succeeded ii^i extracting an admission from the Hon. R. F. Bollard that hunt clubs : ha'd not:requested extra permits.' : ]i . ; BOGS, WALK IN. ■'-./ • ;Mr. M'Combs „said he thought hunt , clubs were frauds if they did not have a.i£ack of dogs: He thought hunters ought to carry a minimum of 12st ;or 14st.' : ' (Laughter.) ::..-.,: ;.. J^lr. Parry: "They should be able to ca*ry the member Jor Taiiranga." (Laughter^T f»,.;-,T,7.1Y,." '■'/■'-^'l” ".'"" 'Mr. M'Combs: "Yet sGloaming, ran in a',hunt club event." -*> '■»••■ ■■■*■•• <;•■.*••■ ;Hunt clubs were favourably commented •on by Mr: "W. J. Jordan (Manukau). I'Ke "gentleman .riding' out\ in"ifront -in th'4 red coaKaddied 'jpicturesqu'eness/to (% couniryfljde.ii ''ifeitho.ught such clubs should be encouraged. Lady Jelligoe was no indifferent hunter. Hunt ■ djfbs were useful social; institutions; They indulged in afternoon tea and social intercourse ;fhe Chairman: "That.-has;nothing to do.; with the amendment." ';'BJi-^ ri[&3L.^ent-pu;jto talk of .thevirtues ofhounds, aud mentioned.diseases among dqgs. Th.a,phairman.i.,'.'l.ask. the. lion..memMei' to. resume his seat. He'is talking »bout diseases^among.dc^s."; (Laughter.) SAt this stage" the Chairman announced i^iat references to the need for hunt clubs fteing£ established ;in th;e" iriiarests of ■ s&rmers; would be'ruled'out. of order. ijMr. D. ,G. SullrvraiL. (Ay_pn) .sought certain information1-'front the^-Minister of Internal Affairs. f The Chairman: "The hoh.' member is opt of order. -He is asking forVinformatjpn from; the Minister.''' •I Mr. Sullivan said he would' ask Mr. .Harris for the information: He said something about cricket clubs and per-- . njits, but was. ruled out"of order'for j. being: irrelevant. \. : . ■. a-».. ..-.■ '. I CUTTING THE SPEECHES. "'■•' |.The Chairman of. Committees, in reply t§ Mr. Sullivan, said -it was' his business' to conduct the business before the Comnjittee as he .thoughfc-iproper,.. and it ■nfes the business 61 'ffiemDers "to make 6jjeeches.; He would"nave;nc hesitation i« ruling members out of order when he thought fit and without'"giving reasons. iJMr. Sullivan was attempting to dehis theme.from another aspect, but vras.summar.ilyierd"ered'.?o'»sit down.- -• - , . 2"lt seems ,to me that an.extension.of polo felttbs* '<mig})}»';b6 ■ 'in \ thje -infcre^t-' of thfe country,-' remarked Mr. Harris. Seen several times warned for' '" t . various'peccadilloes'; Mr." Harris was at once- told to resume his seat. rpled out of order, or told to sit down," Monieith, who. had three warn.iftgs, managed to fill "his ten minutes/." Jgwas becoming increasiiigly^iimcult,' ( hflwever, for stonewaU'era^ to ■■ atfoid" the ..-—nfeny pitfalls under the title of "tedious rgbetitkm." •: ■SVIr. H. E. Holland (Leader of the ; labour Party) remarked that the list of items on the "expurgatorius" was be<[«nipg so numerous that one was find- : : iag it hard to discover fresh subjects ;■■: tjigtalk about.,,,, ..; , A „. -• Y-\% "NO COMPROMISE."^- ---: hThe Hdri. •W. Noswbrthy, at 11.30 §i., in reply to Mr. Holland, stated' t .there was no change, no prospect. ... any compromise, so members would ; , ' knbw what,.was.in front of them.!*.(Hear,. '-l^ar.) "~ :;,,..,,,..„,.,;, „.,;.„. „:■, sMr. Armstrong: "It is the only thing you are ' concerned about.' \Vg know tW-"""' '' :"- V :■' ' ' gMr. LrM'llyride; (Napier)-: "I am very eorry there is no prospect of any com.p|pmisg r( because/,it .means^ thaf thisv der iliafce will continue "for an.-indefinite.per-. icjd, and that will be of no advantage to .Ijnjs House 0r,., the country." He-spoke itt| encburagenient of hunt clubs. ' |l'l,iVould.:not; have spoken had'it aot Tse^n for the brutal reply of the Mini?ter^>of ■wAgEicu]ture< in^,replying-to- an interjection by the Leader of the Labour- Party. •as_ : tQ._-lw^ether-_Bonie, pr.pgr.ess, could'riot Tie reacfied/' remarked Mr J Etfie (Clu'tha). ;Yoices:,.' 'What Has- ■ 'that»to do .with the clause?"' " " ' ■]&Ir. Edie: "It has everything to do ■with thfliclaiiSe.s WeChre.here to' try tdjge; this thing fixed up somehow." . _.{M.r. S.;G? Smith.((Tarrinaki) : "Blocking it: '.You'idon't.want ".any^'more permits." ■ ;Mr. Edier "I-object'to the word 'blpcking.' We are not here to block it:i Is it'-'notI;'possible for the Government to arrange a meeting to carry this thing through?" fMr. Edie was ruled out of birder. An amendment that the .Chairman letfve the Chair was moved - by: Mr: Harris, who urged that this would providean opportunity for tlic. Minister to Be? if th'e .clubs wanted^ any more permife^i--(,i'.)i; ■ „,'. .^i.;'*"■■■ •'■;>"' '• J'v. .-■ )Th.B.* Minisfej1.; ■'".Thcy.liave not ni'ade' an % application." ' " • rKie_76.hairman:Tefused- to/accept;, .the tmendinent oh the ground thai jn«i'iffi.

cient reasons had been advanced as to why he should leave the Chair. Mr. Armstrong remarked that he had -no doubt that the Minister in charge of the House (Mr. Nosworthy) prob"ably did not know or care what the e&ect of eliminating ' "hunt clubs" from the clause would be, but he should tell the .House what- he-.thought would happen if the words were struck'but. Mr. Nosworthy intimated that he was not going to talk. • ■ j • Mr. Armstrong".'■ was unlucky. He wanted progress reported in order that the Crown Law Office might be consulted on the.point he had raised, but his amendment/.was. not' accepted. / ON/THE f'HUNT.;' - At noon/ther word/ "hunt" was still being h,unted about vigorously by various members. -■■ . . ' - . Mr. Harris was ruled, out for attempting to make .a. fifth speech, when he had already- made the prescribed four, and. ; then- Mr. Sullivan • sought Ho know ..how the,Minister would administer the ::i?ll.Gaming-;Act, if../the word "hunt" were- cut out--of- clause-•2,' because it "would leave the*, clause-reading "racing, .trotting,, or; clubs,"- which would be somewhat peculiar. , (Laughter.) *-The remonstrated with the speaker for. being irrelevant, but Mr. •Sull l van//raised;-"a laugh by giving a ' 5015 m?,-. assurance that he was "making a desperate effort" to keep himself in order. ■ _The mover of the amendment (Mr. VVright) was not in the House at the time Mr. Sullivan was speaking, but the member for Avon appealed to him to withdraw it. ■ ■. ■ ''The only t%v'o languages I know anything about are .the English language arid •the profane language," observed Mr Parry. "Seeing'that the ■' English language is almost'taboo I think the division on the amendment should be permitted to be taken." ■'. -.- ; . The division was called for at 12.10 p.m., when there was a sudden-scatter from the lobbies. When the Chairman -put- the 'question\ for the second time no one repeated the call for the division and the, amendment/lapsed. GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND ' •- ;■ :■-.'•. PERMITS. ■" . ' : ■ Mr. -Harris then moved an amendment that the Governor-General should distri-bute-permits and not the Minister of In.ternal, Affairs; ; : ■'"My reason is that I have no con-fidence-whatever, in the Minister of Internal Affairs," declared Mr. Harris. ,; He knows nothing at.all about the racing question. Had he any .semblance of knowledge about the racing question he would have been courteous enough -to have'given, information to the House. • . . We have an intimate.knowledge of the present Governor-General, but he is going away, and to a certain extent we ,are working on . the blind. Therefore we have to trust that the new Gov-ernor-General, when he arrives, will have the requisite knowledge of the racing question so that he may be able to distribute th& permits in an equitable and satisfactory way." Sarcastically commenting on the national importance of racing,. Mr. Harris isa'id he would move to'add a proviso later,, that the powers to be conferred on the Governor-General in the matter of:• distributing permits should not be exercised until the approval of the electors by way of referendum'had first been obtained.. That would protect the people against wrongful distribution. Messrs. ' Sullivan and Armstrong supported the .-amendment,- but Mr. Armstrong said he had been wondering whether a Judge of the Supreme Court would not be preferable to either the Minister ' or. the Governor-General. (Laughter.) The Minister of Internal -Affairs was the most popular member in. the House, but he seldom spoke, aid members did not know what his views on racing and trotting were.-- "It is said," remarked Mr. Armstrong, "that more members talk themselves out ■ of' this House than into it. If that is so, then the Minister of Internal Affairs is a 'life'r' " (Laughter.) If there was no guarantee that the Minister of Internal Affairs knew something of racing, then how were they to know that he would not distribute the 31 additional permits unfairly?- ---\ Mr. Parry once more found himself opposed to those in favour of the amendment. He wanted control of permits to be retained by the Government, whereas the amendment would take away that, measure of control which Parliament possessed.. Discussion on the amendment was still proceeding after the luncheon adjournment, being carried on by Mr. M'll-.' vride. He had an argument to put up against the centralisation of permits in the towns, believing that it would place a bar on production. Mr. Armstrong wanted to make eure that political pull was not exercised in' the distribution of permits. "I warn the honourable member," ;said the'Chairman, "that:he has already referred to 'political pull.' '"' • v- Mr. >S. G. Smith (Taranaki) : "Try -another' pull." > (Laughter.) < .-, ■Continuing, Mr. Armstrong remarked that the Labour Party might come into power. Mr. M'Combs might become .AiiHigtg?.-Sf. ; ,lnternal Affairs,..but, being -against- any increase in 'permits, would hav,e difficulty fix -distributing the permits. . On the; other hand, Mr. Parry .might-;be-the Minister, and he would; be certain to favour Auckland. But,, if by some miraculous interference of Providence, the;;,Liberal Party came intopower, Mr. Isitt might be the Minister*-! and that would present a difficulty. The: amendment ...was asking that powershould be given tp the Governor-Geil--eral to grant additional permits, arid he; might do so against the. wishes of Par-' hament:- .-■■'• ; Tho Chairman intimated at 2.45 p.m. that, any reference to a supposititious Governor-General or Minister would be out.of order. •Mr.' Isitt said every reasonable mem-!, .•?P.^;°|,P® H?use should see that tha/ amendment was a wise'dne.' * ' - < (Left sittinß.)