THREE NOTABLE EVENTS.

Evening Star, Issue 12883, 4 August 1906, Page 2

THREE NOTABLE EVENTS.

. ..[Fbqm Qoe Special Cokeespondent.] ■ ,'... ~. - .SYDNEY,, July 28. Three events of the week which have attracted ronadexable publ.Vattenfcon have been the suspension of SfrCrick, the ex-Mihister of Lands of New South Wales, as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the State in connection ,with ihe great land scandate • the return of the much-wanted Mr. Willis from South Africa in the same relation; and the rejection of Mr John Norton, the editor of 'Truth,' by his Surry Hills constituents. This remarkable trio have done much to lower ihe tone =of tmblic life in New South Wales—for Willis was not long ance a .member of Parliament—and their present respective positions form matters of general comment, not only in this State but throughout the, Commonwealth. .As representatives pi, the people in, Parliament they have been .notoriety seekers who have for long.held. a. charmed political life that only thoee acquainted with the pepuliar public morals of this State cbidd thorousrhly understand. Certainly for some time back Willis has not held a seat in Parliament, but when he was there he was just as blatant a poser and seeker of notoriety as the other two. As for Crick and Norton, they have figured as a species of democratic demi-gods—political libertines whom: it was impossible to, keep in order, and who presumed to an amazing extent on the confidence whjch was supposed to be reposed ■in them by electors who forgave their rough and violent speech on account of their superlative audacity and aggressiveness. They havefilled the Tole of political prize-fighters, and electors have looked en at their strange parliamentary performances in the same manner as a crowd not troubled with overrtfinement would view a bout of fisticuffs in the ring. It is to be hoped that those who have hitherto supported them have at last become tired of their blatant methods, and that they are permanently banished from the political arena. THE DEFEAT OF NORTON.

T » COM to details in chronological order Mr Norton was ignominiously baaten in the election fight be voluntarily sought. When ho brought a long list of charges against the good name of Mr Holman, the Labor member, he was flushed with the remeu. bnmceof former dramatic coups, and boldly offered to resign his seat at Surry Hills and run Holman for Cootamuntka as an earnest of the seriousness of his attack Holman, instead of applying for a committee of inquiry, ..as he -miarht have done, took up the challenge and also resigned. Two bye-ejections therefore became nectseary, and Norton was nominated for both, c'onstiruencie?. Four-candidates stood against him for Surry Hills, and the election there left, him fourth on the list with only 679 votes as against 1,109 polled by the winning man -rMr A. Bruatntll-whose victory, has been particularly grateful to the Temperance party. Mr Bruntnell was formerly an officer of the Salvation. Army, but has latterly devoted himself devoted himself to the temperance cause, and on this account he b? d the brewing interest solidly against him. The public-house votes went mainly to Mr R. D. Meagher, -who also had a Roman Catholic following. This candidate was second with 961, and 888 votes went to the third man, Mr H. Lawton, the ex-tram conductor, who had the support of Labor. No doubt this combination considerably weakened the support which might in other circumstances have been given to Norton. However, he was badly beaten. And that he feels crushed for the time, at any rate is evident from hia retreat from the Coota' mundra field. The battle that he so buoyantly called out for he has actually run away from. ~ It is a fair condurion that the gauge he threw down to Holman was only so much bounce to impress the general public, who are not too ready to give weight to any of his allegations. At any rate, he has got his deserts, and there is a feeling in many quarters that Holman did a great public service when he took a course which has resulted in Norton being relegated to political obscurity. How Holman ha? fared will be known by the time this letter is in print. [He was re-elected by a large majority for Cootamundra.—Ed. E.S.] An awkward competitor came forward against him in Mr Fitzgerald, anomineaof the Farmers and Sutlers' Association,, and it is suggested that Norton, knowing he; himself had no show against Holman,. .withdrew so as to improve the chances of his being beaten by the other candidate. He is, of course, quite equal to dodgery of that kind, but my own impression is that his fate at Surry Hills so humiliated him,, and his preliminary meetings in the Cootamnndra electorate were so unpromising, that he felt quite unequal to continuing the combat. A fact which has been commented upon in relation to the hurry Hills contest is that only 3,680 electors voted of 6,954 on the roll.' This apathy is typical of most elections, and illustrates how the Labor party have been able to make such headway in Australia with their organisation and vigilance. EXIT MR CRICK.

The surroundings of Mr Crick in Parlia pient wer* sensational up to the end, for when ha. was* called upon to withdraw in obedience to a resolution suspending him until his criminal trial is finished he declined to do so, and had to be escorted from the Legislative Assembly Chamber by the Sergeant-at-Arms. . Nevertheless, the exit was not ungraceful, for it was a formality he insisted upon in view of proceedings he subsequently instituted against the Speaker and the Sergeant for wrongful deprivation of his right to represent his constituents. On them he has had writs served for £2,000 damages, so an interesting trial may be looked forward to, in which important constitutional points will be raised. Mr Crick promoted a long argument in the House as to the legality of his suspension, but failed to carry the Chamber with him. The fact is he had to be got rid of in some way in deference to public opinion, and members were in no humor for legal quibbling. Of course, whether his suspension at the eleventh hour is legal or not, there is little question in my opinion that he ought to have been impeached on the finding of bribery by the Hoyal Commission. The Government, neglecting their duty in this regard on the pretext of precedents which did not apply to a unique case, had to find a way out of an intolerable position The ingenious excuse of Mr Carruthers for not insisting upon the dismissal of the ex-Minister as soon as Parliament met is that he might have been re-elected by his constituents, but now he will be unable to get back into Parliament until the criminal trials are finished—which will be a very long time. THE CASE OF MR WILLIS. Now as to Mr Willis, he is, of course, posing as an injvred innocent. He makes opt that he has in no way been shirking his trial on any charge that can be brought against him. He went to South Africa to do important business connected with the selling of racehorses, and the legal battling he indulged in was simply because he was put on his mettle through the shabby treatment meted out to him by a persecuting Government. " If this business of alleged dummying was not so expensive," he has blandly told his newspaper interviewers, "it would certainly be a good joke, considering that seven-tenths, of the land of the State in the hands of the banks and financial institutions has been secured by the fine, ar *. °f dummying." Willis arrived in Sydney yesterday with the police-sergeant, who has been a pretty constant companion since the initiation of extradition proceedings in Natal, and 10 time was lost in presenting him for trial. In the course of the afterhobh be was called upon to inter-new the magistrate at the Water Police Court, and the following charges were preferred against him :—r That he and ofie George M'Nair and Bernard Hoskins did, at Sydney, on or about October 20; 1~903, "knowinply and with intent to commit a fraud unon provisions of the Crown Lands Act of 1884, and the subsequent Act V amend ing the same, among themselves, unlawfully e nspire torether to make use of one Joseph Bonnom Stephens to make conditional purchase 63-43, of 640 acres, in the- land district of Coonamble, otherwise than for the use; benefit, and advantage '.6 l' the said Joseph Boiuaom Stephens, against the"peace of our Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity. That on or about April "11, 1901, one - Willi am ''"Patrick Crick v -was A. public

officer—to wit, the Secretary for Lands for the State of New South: Wales—and . charged with the administration of the Crown Lands Act of the said-State, and that he (Willis) did. with the said W. P. Crick and one Charles Bath, on or about the said day, at Sydney, in the State aforesaid, among themselves, and with one Peter dose; conspire together to corruptly and extoraively receive and take divers" large : sums of money from divers persons, at>r>licantß for land trader the said Crown Lands Act, against the peace of Oar .Sovereign Lord the King, his Crown" and Dignity. That he (Willis) did, at Sydney, on . February 26, 1904, falsely pretend tc William Charles Hill that a certain person existed named John Reinhardt, who held an improvement lease under the Crown Lands Acts, which he was willing to sell to the said William Charles ; Hill for the sum of £1,677; and that a certain paper, partly written and partly printed, then produced bv him (Willis), purporting to be a transfer of the 6aid improvement lease from Reinhardt to Hill, was a genuine transfer, and that it was signed by Reinhardt. by means of which false pretence he (Willis) received from William Charles Hill a cheque for the sum of £1,677, with intent to defraud. That he (Willis), on February 16, 1904, at Sydney, uttered a forged sig- ..' nature,, to wit, one purporting to be that of John Reinhardt, with intent to defraud. PARLIAMENT DISHONORED. The dishonor done to the New South Wales Parliament by the Carruthers Government in shelving the report of the Lands Commission, and failing to impeach Mr Crick for bribery on it, has not been been allowed to pass by the Reform League> from whom he received so much support. Mr J. Stinson, a pronvnent member of the League, had a meeting of citizens called the other evening, at.H ■the following resolution was passed unanimously :—" That this public meeting of citizens take this early opportunity of entering their most empbaticv protest against the action of the Parliament in adopting a course with reference to the report of the Lands Commission, which in its result brings discredit, not only on the Parliament itself, but upon the people whom it purports to represent." A letter sent by Mr James Inglis to the chairman is worth-reproducing* as an indication of the feeling that exists regarding the extraordinary latitude that was given to Mr Crick in Parliament. It would annear (Mr Inglis wrote) al-

most as if the best elements in the House had been drugged into a fata] ineptitude in regard to the honor of the House, which bodes ill for the future, and is creating a feeling of widespread humiliation and disgust among the great body of the people. The vilest truculence in speech and behaviour has apparentlv been allowed to nass without a clear-voiced protest from the more selfrespecting members. Parliament's own Commissioner, one .of the purest and finest men in the State, has been vilely floated and insulted, and apparently no voice has been raised in effective pro-

test on bis behalf. This is only one manifestation of the lamentable torpor into which Parliament 6eems to have been drugged. I hope your meeting tonight will kindle a feeling of protest throughout the community, and that a purification of Parliament may be one of the speedy results.