News from the Front.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 359, 9 November 1897, Page 4

News from the Front.

« - (From Our Own Correspondent:) . • • Wellington, Nov. 3. the estimates. The lightning speed at which the Estimates, which are really the most important functions of Parliament, have been galloped through at a single sitting, has undergone awholesorne change, and last night made it clear to Premier Seddon that the days of bluster and shuffling are over, and that he must answer questions put to him. Last night one salary took from 7.30 till 10.20 to get over, but tho time was well spent. The item was -small enough in all conscience, and was the vote for the Chief Parliamentary messenger, £170 per annum, but there was a great constitutional principle involved iv it, which was very thoroughly threshed out. ' Prom 1862 until 1893, the appointment of all Parliamentary officers, mes- ; sengers and even charwomen, rested with the Speaker of the House. Mr Seddon had so many friends in search of easy jobs, that he made up his • mind to grab the patronage of these minor gifts. With his swamping majority in ! the House he passed a new Act, removing the power from the Speaker, and vesting ' it in the Cabinet — i.e., the Psetnier, but there was a proviso in it to the effect that promotion should go by seniority. So ' far, so good. The year after an ex- j Hokitika-publican', and boon companion ' of Mr Seddon's, felt that the invigorating breezes of the Empire City would suit him better than the damp West Coast, and he accepted a casual messengership as a step towards higher honors. in public life. The seniority clause in the s Act affected five other messengers, two of whom dated back to 1879. and the other in 1884 and so so. But Dan Lynch being an in--: tim'ate "friend wanted a permanent job, and why should a little thing like an Act of Parliament stand in tho way of oblig- I ing him? So he was pitchforked over the ' heads bf the other five older servants.'and i made a recognised Parliamentary officer, with a special vote on the Estimates. \ This was what led to a discussion on tho propriety of the Cabinet interfering in any j way with officers who are specially paid for duties appertaining to the whole of , the members, without reference to party. : Especially does it affect the ' Hansard ' , reporters, for it was shown that Ministers ; obtain special advantages in respect to the ' Hansard ' proofs. And it became pretty clear before the matter was threshed out, Premier Seddon himself was about tired of the patronage! arid for good and sufficient reasons. For one opening for a . casual messonger when Parliament is in session, there are a score, and perhaps two, of applicants. The successful ones ' are gratified and swear by the Govern- I ernment, but the other fellows are as a ' rule, just as much disappointed, and when j told they can be accommodated with a | job on some up country road, as a reward ■ for their loyalty, they usually give way to j brutal remarks, and some of them even ■ go so far as to wobble in their allegiance. ' Some have even recauted and joined the ! enemy. And it is somewhat curious to ' find, that the successful applicants are mainly adherents of the Church of Borne. Mr Tom Taylor was explicit on ibis point last night, and said lie knew of a clergyman who recently boasted of having found billets for no less than 32 of his flock. Finally, after a deal of beating about .the bush, Mr Sedaon gave a half-hearted promise that he would, dur- * ing the present session, give members an ! opportunity of reviewing, the position, and | . ,of returning to the old system of having j ? Parliamentary officers appointed by the ; recognised head of Parliament itself, and | so remove them from the suspicion of being tainted by party feeling. The Premier- finds that a meek and lowly spirit pays best now, and that is a very , ' great^jain indeed. j '"•' • , HIS OWN LITTLE BILL. When Class I, Legislative Department had been disposed of towards 3 a.m., ' Class 11, Colonial Secretary's Depart- I ment, whiph contains three ominous ' items, were funked. Those are the £1000 for Mr Lirnach and staffs expenses to Queensland ; Mr Seddon's trip to Australia, £518, and his alleged expenses Home, £1750. They were left over for another .opportunity, and as there is a great deal . ' of talk in the lobbies as to the £1750, it is as well for readers of this paper to know what is thought of the matter by members. There are a few of the Opposition members who are disposed to take a generous view, and who say, " We sent him Home with a free, hand, and thought £1000 would cover the cost, but it would be bad taste to ask the Premier of the colon v to furnish vouchers fur every item of hiis ex- • penses," But there is another aspect. Parliament is the trustee of the people's . taxes, and sentiment has no right to intervene in such a barefaced attempt to best the Treasury. Whatever halo surrounds the visit is due to the contingent and the Bisley team. They numbered 60 men, and cose £3000- ,The Premier demands more than half that sum for himself, pnd he was fed and housed and carriaged at the expense of John Bull. , It was stated in a cablegram that tho expenses of the 11 Premiers at the Hotel Cecil was £7000, but that very much minimised the actual cost to , the British nation. The House of Commons Estimates put down the charge for entertaining Colonial delegates and other visitors, such as Indian princes, and so on, at £80,000. One can hardly imagine, in a country like New Zealand, where 12s per day is about as high life as one can enjoy at a hotel, what a good time Premiers had who took all they could get. Astory is going the rounds just now, vouched for by a rec-int arrival from London, of one of our Premier's family poing shopping in one of. the Koyal carriages with the scarlet flunkeys. After pricing articles of all descriptions, and remarking they : were " too dear," the shopwalker popped out and asked one of the footmen " which «*yof the Princesses that was." " Princess, be d d," replied Je.-unes, " that's one of the bloomin' Colonials," and the shopwalker returned and gave a cabolisticsign whiph altered the demeanor of the coun- : ter-junapers forthwith. ! Them is also a rumor to ths effect that x the £1750 does not include all that has been paid. A question will be asked about this which will come as a surprise j . to those, who still pin their fnith on the' . . greatness of the Premier. AlorPover, it must be remembered that the extra ses- . ' sion, which cost £1650, was entirely the oijitcome of the Premier's refusal to'allow -_ Parliament to meet in the ordinary way, t and his private secretary's expenses are ■ not included in the £1750. So that the ' '&■ cost °^ aan ding this one man home is net- j more than that of the whole of the •*, and the Bnley team together. " *;Then there is the £518 for the Australian - -trip, which was no"-- ninhnr'sed, and added to this are thp expenses of those .who accompanied him. I^VWhen one comes to compare these ■*^. with the time when three delegatps from V-4, this colony were sent ovpv to the Postal ■^yjJClonfarence in Sir H. Atkinson's time, and if||-si'ey were absent two months, nnd the , rhfj^wiiole cosf,. including printing (£305) was ; nVinnt £500, of which O.ipS. Russpll drew £22, one is led to wonctar wh»rfin lies the difference bctwppn an allpgpd Tory and a professed Liberal. Then njjnin Mr Seddon ' a yenr or so ago, made much capital out of «, trip r.nken hv spveral members into the iriWior of the North Island, which .' ; las.tad 14 days, and cos't.£4lo, mosf.ly for ■.■'transit. He hns dropped tHs aubjpct of late, and is probably sorry that, it got into j print, likn many other foolish nnd ungenerous thing* he has said. Anyhow bis cupidity has caused a grpat deal of comment in the colony, and people are now estimating our Premier's character by his impudent endpavor. to grow rich rapidly nf thn country's expense. This is nofcli- ■ iug new in a democracy. Plato pointed

it all out a couple of thousand years ngo, inddrew v portrait of an ancient Gre^ek demogogue, which exactly fits our Privy Councillor. To-night Parliament is; wrestling with a bill to stop working in mines on Sundays. It is an application of the Factory Act to harass an industry already groaning under too many statutes. And Sunday wo king is frequently a necessity in mining. There may bs, and frequently are, circumstances which compol mining operations under ground. Flooded workings, tunnels which have caved in, broken timbering, bad ventilation and others matters of emergency which will not brook delay. And in alluvial workings diggers do not, study Sunday if there is water to work with. Besides most miners are situated in remote gullies, where no goody goodies are about to feel shocked, although I remember a case of an unfortunate Chinaman up the Buller being fined £5 for working on a Sunday — but then, he was only a Chinkee.