POLITICAL NOTES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 195, 17 August 1912, Page 3

POLITICAL NOTES.

(From our Parliamentary Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, Friday

THE BUDGET DEBATE

The political atmosphere has been quite mild and calm this week. So i:ar as it has gone the Financial Debate has been singularly, disappointingly tame, save for the speeches of Mr G. W. Russell and! the Minister ■for Marine, and yesterday, Mr Wilford. Both of the former are hard hitters, and: each seems to _ take a special pleasure in watching the •other. Before the session is over I fancy the House will witness some very pretty "scrapping" between the two. Mr Laurenson made an earnest, and, in parts, almost impassioned speech, which was all the better received in that it was lacking in the personalities with which the Member for Lyttelton has, during the last year or two, got into the habit of pepperins- his orations. Mr Buddo was the old mild Mr Buddo on "Wednesday. Mr' Thomson's speech was more a scientific disquisition than a political speech, and Mr Statham, his boyishlooking fellow-Member from Dunedm, was more painstaking than brilliant. But with .the advent of Mr VVilrord yesterday came a distinct change, lne Member for Hutt not only mad© what is known as a fighting speech, but he put forward what everyone m the House must have felt was Jie strongest case against the Government that has yet been made. It has been said that the speech was a bid for the party leadership. This may bo an exaggeration; but undoubtedly Mr. Wilfosd has made the best speech so far delivered in the Financial Debate. He was specially destructive on tho "sham" of the new graduated land tax. The remaining speeches, by Messrs Nosworthy, 0.-.X. Wilson, and others were not in any way notable either in matter or in delivery.

WHO SHALL LEAD?

So far th© question of the Opposition leadership has not been settled. Mr G. W. Russell was at one time said to be in the running; but it is quite clear that Sir Joseph Ward thinks tha-t he is the natural leader of the party, and indeed he acts as such, although I believe at the Opposition caucus the other day there was no definite agreement arrived at as to the leadership. Occasionally a Minister or a Government Member tries to work off some small joke—your average Parliamentarian's humor is generally very thin—about there being no leader of the/Opposition, or of there being three or four ; but for the present, so utterly disorganised is the Opposition, that it really matters little who is the nominal leader, or whether the party; has any leader at all. There seems to be no heart in the Opposition just now; but before the session is over things may brighten up a little.

"TO THE MANNER BORN."

Ministers have now settled down quite comfortably into their stride, and to see them answering questions;, or dealing with the ponderous piles of papers before them in their desks, one might imagine that they had been in office for some years. For one thing they should be given credit, and! that is for their freedom from indulgence in verbosity. Mr Massey is not a man to be easily "drawn" by asides and interjections, whereas Sir Joseph Ward, especially towards the end of his Ministerial career, allowed his "leg" to be "pulled" far too easily.

THE "LORDS."

The Council is having a holiday this week, our "lords", not, being duo to re-assemble until Wednesday next. Meanwhile, however, it is understood they are busily engaged in a careful study of the measure which, if passed in its present form, will, so materially change the constitution of the Upper House. - The debate on the Bill, which, as you know, provides for an elective Chamber , the election to be carried out under the proportional representation system, will last some time, and a certain section of the Council is likely to offer very strong opposition to the measure as it now stands'. On the other hand, Mr H. D. Bell, who leads for the Government in tho Council, has great suavity of manner and tact, and more than, one Councillor who at first was inclined to regard the Bill with suspicion, if not open dislike, is eaid to have already been converted into a supporter of this latter-day Self-Denying Ordinance.

THE DEFENCE ACT

Christchurcli Members have always beon inclined to sympathise with those well-meaning but narrow arid wrong-minded people who will persist in opposing the compulsory provisions of the Defence Act, and both Mr Isitt and Mr Witty were questioning the Defence Minister on Thursday afternoon as to what is to be done on the question of penalties for the young men who are passively resisting the la\v, by deliberately absenting themselves from parades, or actively defying, the law by refusing to give in their names for registration. The apologists and champions of the Shirkers' Brigade will, however, not get much "change" out of the Minister for I>sfence, for Mr Allen is a keen supporter of the compulsory system. "Military detention" is, however, to be substituted for ordinary imprisonment, arid it may be that this may meet the objections of some of those who have been posing as martyrs for conscience' sake. But the Bill, altering the existing law, has yet to be introduced, and until we know exactly what is meant by "military detention" no one can cay whether tho amending legislation will be "accepted by the obstructives.

RACING PERMITS

Unless I am much mistaken, there j j will be "ructions" over the Bill which j : has been introduced by Mr George j Hunter to deal with the racing permits question. There has been a good deal of ."wire pulling" and lobbying going on in support of an increase in the number of racing days, and a removal of the present embargo on the' publication of the "tote" "dividends. But there is a strong and compact party in the present Parliament which will not hear of either of these proposals being carried out, and if the worst comes to the worst, and they see that Mr Hunter is likely to get a. majority for his Bill, there will be some very strenuous work done in the way of stonewalling. The totalisator itself is said to be in danger; "but I have heard that story in so many previous sessions that it does not trouble me very much. I fancy, were the truth- known, that Mr Massey is now mightily sorry that he ever gave way to the request for reinstatement of the Ran^itikei Club's meetings. He is, it is understood, giving a free hand to the members' of his party on Mr 1 Hunter's Bill; 1>h x the Hnnso has a right to expect the Oovormucut to

take one side,or the other, and this "free hand" business will be denounced as weakness when the proper time comes.

THE LATE MR T. E. TAYLOR. A large photographic portrait of tho late Mr T. E. Taylor, M.P., ft to beunveiled this (Friday) afternoon, in the Parliamentary Library. Why Mr Taylor's memory should be specially honored in this way I can hardly understand. He was, it is true, associated very intimately with a great social reform movement; but outside the temperance question and a certain capacity for fault-finding on political subjepts of all kinds, I fail to see that he was in any way a distinguished Parliamentarian. He was certainly never a popular man with his fellowMembers. He was a political Ishmael, and even some of those with whom he was most intimately connected politically disliked and distrusted his methods. There are dozens oi past and gone New Zealand Parliamentarians, whose portraits should be placed in Parliament House before room is found for that of the brilliant but erratic Member for Christchurch North. ■~'■■ PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS. A Hawke's Bay Member, Mr Campbell, is very anxious to know, you know, all about the cost of all the work of alteration . and rebuilding which has been going on in connection with Parliament Buildings. I expect when the total amount already expended is known most people will be somewhat astonished. But what's the good in crying over spilt milky Jtxad the late Mr Seddon been alive when the old House was destroyed by fire he would have probably stood out on the lawn the next morning, surveyed the scene calmly, and then, waving that big right arm of his in the air, would have said: "All right, build her up again at once, and minct you be ready for the session;" He would, of course, have nominally consulted by "urgent Ministerial memo-telegram" the "faithful Commons," and the consent would have been forthcoming before the day was out. All the same, as a Wellingtqnian, I shall never regret that the best site in the city is no longer monopolised by Government House, and when the new building is up—even the first porrtiqn' of it—and the; broad carriage drive provided by the plan is made and the grounds are laid out nicely in flower beds and lawns, with a light two-feet fence—l wouldn't have a Fence at all—the place will become a beauty-spot which all the city can enjoy, and New "Zealand's Legislature will be housed in an edifice (not ex> travagantly costly) which will be a credit to the Dominion—which the old House certainly was not. At present the whole groimds are in that state which_ in pre-linotype days the longsuffering compositor was wont to describe as "pie." Within a few months all this will be changed, arid there will be a cessation of grumbling. TKe total bill will /be pretty heavy, no doubt; but the plans will be carried: out by this Government, so I venture! to predict, with but little material alteration. j