SINGING IN PARLIAMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 81, 7 April 1931, Page 8

SINGING IN PARLIAMENT

(To the Editor.) Sir, —As many people in the Dominion iirc nudcr the impression that the singing by Thomas Bracken o£ some lines from Alexander Rodger's poem, "Behave Yourscl' Before Folk," was the one and only occasion upon which such an unusual proceeding has happened in the New Zealand Parliament, it lias occurred to me that it might prove an interesting historical reminiscence if, .through your columns, the circumstances attending the first singing of a. .song on the floor- of the House were made known to your readers. The occasion dates back to over 63 years ago, so that i'ew, if any, now living would have any recollection of it. In the House of Representatives on Thursday, sth September, 1567, Mr. Stafford, the then Prime Minister, moved the adoption of an Address to His Excellency Sir George Grey, who bad been recalled from the Governorship of New Zealand by the Home authorities. The Address was somewhat lengthy, and its text resounded with such high-sounding terms as "intimation," "administration," ''appreciation," "acclimatisation," the concluding paragraph being as follows: — "In contemplation of the termination of your official relation with the Colony," etc. The Ministry responsible for this document was composed of highly educated men, and this habit of alliteration at once attracted the attention of Mr. W.-T. L. Travers, then representing Christciiurch City, who, immediately the Erime Minister sat down, rose in his place and. said, he would second the motion, but would like to see the Address shortened. All that was necessary might very welf^.be compressed into three or four paragraphs, leaving out about three-fourths of the memorial before the Mouse. He would further like to see-the Address couched m language of which the educational element in Parliament would not be ashamed. The last paragraph, in particular, he said, reminded him very much of the old song, "The Groves 6£ Blarney":— The Groves of Blarney, They look so charming, Down by the purlings Of sweet silent brooks. He thereupon, in the rich brogue which is the heritage of the Irishman, chanted the final lines of the Address to the air of that ballad:— In contemplation . Of the termination Of your relation To the Col-on-ee. The whole thing, Mr. Travers said, reminded him of penny-a-lining, but this remark was lost in the peals of laughter which followed his novel method of showing that the Address was not couched in that sweetly simple language which ho deemed suitable to the occasion. In the debate which followed Mr. Travel's impressed upon the House the propriety of expressing itself with more "point and terseness," and on the motion of the Prime Minister, the debate, to the great glee of the Opposition,,'was adjourned till next day, when the Address was brought dowji in an amended form, the final paragraph being altered, to read:— "In contemplation of the early close o£ Your Excellency's official relation to the Colony." If, Sir, you wil] grant me the necessary space, I will to-morrow recount a true "stonewall" story of a song that just missed being sung in the House.—l-am, etc., ,T. LINDSAY BUICK.